Summer Campout 2008

This fourth of July, we met our long-time friends "The Turners" (From Tennessee) at a State Park that was about half-way for each of us. It was one of our favorites, here, Cloudland Canyon State Park. In fact, the first time we had ever heard of Cloudland Canyon, was when we lived in Nashville and it was the Turners who told us about how nice of a place it was. We never got to visit it together (although we did camp out together at another location), so it was fitting that we met up here 7 years later! Here we are looking out at the overlook: Elaine, Jeryl, Curtis, Big John, and EricNow, what happens when two men (who ran marathons in their younger years) and two pre-teens (who are currently both excellent athletes) hike with two moms (no words to describe us)? I'll tell you...about .2 of a mile into it, one BIG hiking group turns into two hiking groups! A fast one and a not-so-fast one.So, Elaine and I are soon on our own in the woods and come along this sign.

Normally, I'm not a rule breaker, but they make it hard when you come along obstacles like these...

Okay, a few tree trunks down, that's not such a big deal...

Oh, so the trail virtually disappears. We're fine. Really. Alone. But fine.An hour and a half later we finally find our way back to the trail! Whew! But if we go back the way we came, it's another 1 1/2 plus? NO WAY!!! And how come our hubbies aren't even worried about where we are?!?!?Well, we just found two OTHER men who happened to be in nice uniforms that would drive us back to camp! We laughed the entire way, because these "other" men made us ride in the trunk of the truck and all we could think about was the movie "Deliverance". LOL!Here are the concerned hubbies as we are pulling up to camp. The looks on their faces were priceless! Almost worth the 2 hours lost in the woods! Seriously, we all had a great time together; pick-up soccer games, fireworks from the mountain top, reminiscing about when the boys were all small, and of course...sitting around the campfire. A perfect camp-out. Aren't they all?

A River Runs Through it

It wouldn't be a trip to the Smokies without a little fishing. Here's John III standing along one of the serene streams they fished in that day.This shot of Eric makes me think of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show.Nana and Paw Paw were sitting pretty, watchin' the fish flop until along came...A rain shower!That didn't stop Eric though, he kept on fishing and here is a big grin on his face when he thought he had caught the big one! It turned out to be a rock fish - if you know what I mean!

On Top of Old Smoky!

We made a day trip to my favorite place, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here's Dixie at the beginning of the trail going to Clingman's Dome lookout (about a 1 mile incline from the parking lot).

Even though it was the middle of June, we all needed jackets!As you can see, they don't call it the Smokies for nothing! This wasn't a good day for a good view. Nothing but fog!

Nana & Paw Paw Came to Town!

We had an excellent start to our summer when Dixie & John Sr. came for a two week visit! Most daughters-in-law would baulk at such a thing, but I'm lucky to get along great with my mother-in-law. She was a terrific helper around the house and especially in the kitchen, where we had many "Sunday Worthy" dinners while they were here.Pandy Sue got to come along for the trip too! She was a little lady the whole time and got along great with Phoenix and Frodo. Here she is in her travel bag. We won't mention that she left a little "tinkle" in the Atlanta airport. Shhhh....The boys read a tribute to their Dad and Paw Paw on Father's Day. They each recited different traits/both physical and personality traits that they had in common with them. I won't go through them all, but here's a few of the funnier ones: Pose-able Big Toes, Acid Reflux, the same name, and Nana's chocolate cake.. Which you can see here we made that day, and ATE that day!