Wonderful Weekend Wrap-up!

This past weekend was the first one that I spent camping since July. CH & YS went last month (we try to get in 1 camping weekend a month), but I didn't go. Our camping group had our Fall gathering at a place about an hour from our house. This was the first time we had visited this particular state park, and it's one we're putting on the list for a re-visit!
We got there on Friday to a heavy downpour/thunderstorm, but by the time we set up camp, it had all but stopped. Even though it was overcast on Saturday, the temperatures were perfect for camping.

We had a campsite that was away from everybody in our group...I have the hardest time looking at a map and deciding which campsite to get! The sites on either side of us were empty, so we had plenty of room (although we really didn't need it).
We spent Saturday exploring the park & catching up on some sleep. There's a really cool dam/bridge in the park that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. All of the material used to build the dam are local; the sandstone for the concrete came by a nearby quarry that is still in operation. It's also the largest masonry structure built by the CCC, and also considered the largest non-reinforced dam in the world. 

Saturday night, we always have a pot luck at our gathering. Lots of good food & company! This was the largest one we had been to; we had over 50 campers this time.

Sunday is always sad for me...time to pack up and get back to reality. The weekend goes by way too fast!

We had a really nice surprise on Saturday when I checked the email for our camping blog. There was an email from a woman who works for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. She saw a picture on the camping blog (Flyin' the Coop) and asked permission to use one of the pictures for a fundraiser. I am so incredibly honored to be a part of it, and was very happy that she asked to use it. I'm assuming this is the one she asked to use:

We took both dogs with us this time. I didn't know how Pepper would do all weekend without Laika. She got to the campsite without having a stroke from shaking and panting! (I really need to invest in some "calming pills"!) She was fine once we got there...she's just not a big fan of riding in the car. We did have an incident where she jumped out of the truck...but we were stopped. I'm just thankful there wasn't a car coming. I think it's safe to say that she is definitely not a camping dog!

So...hello, Monday. It's a busy week of work, a meeting at church, and 2 music practices.  Only 3 more weeks until Fall Break, and Sisters' Weekend!

Exploring East Tennessee

We spent Sunday exploring around another area close by. This is another area that CH has been to many times on the motorcycle, and I have never been to. First stop: a Wind Farm atop Buffalo Mountain near Oliver Springs.

(Don't forget to click on the picture if you want to see it better!)

(I think I need to take a photoshop class to learn how to get the wires out of the pictures!)

Getting there was pretty easy, but you do have to pay (or are supposed to, anyway!) $17/vehicle to get there. You have to go through Windrock Park to get there. They have quite a set up...General Store, 300+ miles of trails for off-road vehicles, shooting range, campground, mountain bike trails, hiking trails, and a remote-control park. The road is 1 way, so you really have to go the 10 mph that is posted just in case you meet someone coming the other way. Part of the way is paved, the rest is gravel, but the road is in really good shape.

Next stop: Wartburg. Not the castle.

{{sigh}}

This Wartburg is a smaller town than the Small Town. The farthest in town I've been is to the high school; STHS used to play them in football. It's actually a very quaint little town with a town square & a store that looks like it came straight out of the 60's.

We had lunch at this little place on the square, and then walked over to the Obed Visitor Center. The Obed River area definitely needs more exploring! We rode over to the picnic area and walked on the bridge.

There's an old Civil War Tunnel that is popular among motorcyclists, but we didn't go by there. It was getting late in the afternoon, and we had about an hour drive home.

Who would've thought there were windmills in East Tennessee? While driving to Oak Ridge from Knoxville, you can see them in the distance, but only if you know what you're looking for. Possibly on a clear day, but even then I think you really have to look for them.

We ended the day with our usual Sunday dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Then, I went straight to bed with a rip-roaring headache. Heat + no breakfast (stupid, I know) + not enough water = massive headache. Good thing I have this to keep me company so I can completely get over it today while doing laundry:

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend saw some tea-drinking (not the norm for me), quite a bit of sleeping, some baking, and a celebration.
Friday, as the day wore on, my throat got progressively worse. I figured it was just the beginning of a cold, so I suffered through it. I drank lemon & ginger tea with honey in it, sucked on lozenges, and kept a glass of water by my bed. I'd sleep a couple of hours, then wake up with my throat on fire. Not what I needed this weekend.
Saturday, we had to get up early for a special celebration:

 MS graduated from UT-Knoxville! OS was able to come in, but YS had to work and then play for the commencement ceremony at his community college. We really missed him.

The ceremony was over 2 hours long...made longer by the guest speaker who apparently thought he was on the stage to teach a biology class. OS leaned over and asked if he was going to get any credit for sitting through it.

After the ceremony, we had lunch, then CH & I went home & I went to bed.

Sunday morning, I was at the Clinic right after it opened; it was filling up fast. After about 1.5 hours, the dr. took 1 look at my throat and said she would be surprised if my strep test came back negative and wrote a prescription. I got it filled, then went home and made some tea. I managed to stay up long enough to get most of the laundry done, then I went back to bed. CH ran out to "our Mexican restaurant" and grabbed take-out. In the meantime, I did a little baking for the office staffs at both of my schools:

These Eggnog Breads with Rum Glaze are just amazing. And, they're really easy, too. The first time I made them (a couple of years ago), I over mixed them, but I got the hang of it after that. You can make one regular size loaf, but honestly, it doesn't turn out as well as when you make the mini-loaves.

That was my weekend. I'm looking forward to getting this week started so it will be over! 

Lynchburg

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we went to Lynchburg, Tn. to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery last Thursday.  If you ever get the chance to go, do it.  Even if you're not a whiskey drinker, the back stories and the process is very interesting.  Not to mention that the tour is free.  You can take the "Sample Tour" for $10, which is what I think we need to do next time we go.

One piece of interesting information:  the county where the distillery is located is a dry county...you can't buy any alcohol there, and haven't been able to since prohibition.

Before we took the tour, we had lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House.  This is a definite must when going to Lynchburg.  This is a very charming place to eat, and just happens to be part of the Jack Daniels chain; so, a couple of the things you eat have JD in them.  Like the spiced apples which are out of this world!  
After you put your name in & pay, you wait for the dinner bell.  Each dining room is called out, and you make your way to your room.  There were 6 of us, so we had 4 other people at our table.  Since we were there for the first seating of the day, our hostess sat down and ate with us.  Most of the hostesses are retired teachers, but ours retired from the Deeds' Office at the Court House.  The food is served "family style":  our room had a lazy susan in the middle of it, so you helped yourself to what you wanted.  The menu changes; we had fried chicken, meatloaf, fried okra, cucumber salad, potatoes, squash casserole, corn muffins, and spiced apples.  For dessert, we had this amazing custard pie with whipped cream.  The whipped cream was supposed to have JD in it, but somebody forgot to put it in there!  The young people working there are doing so on a 2 year internship in return for tuition to a community college, as well as wages.  Want to go?  Make sure you call &  make reservations or else you won't get in!

Our hostess regaled us with stories of the boarders.  She also threw in that Little Richard lives in the area, although he hasn't been a visitor at the boarding house.  She said that he has been spotted at McDonalds in a neighboring town; when he has visitors in, he takes them to Applebee's.  She said that he came into the Deeds Office with all of his bling, sat down, and was the nicest person you could meet.

We took some time to wander around the cute little town square. 

There's a general store that has anything you could possibly want with the JD logo.  Like a doghouse made out of a barrel:

And, it can be yours for roughly $250.

We popped into a little store that had things made in Tennessee.  They also had homemade candy...with a few things made with JD.  My favorite was the chocolate made with Tennessee Fire Whiskey (kind of like Fireball).  The owner takes orders, too!  Click here for the information.

Some of the benches around the town square have metal plates with interesting facts about some of the people associated with JD (the man or the whiskey).  

The co-owner of the store we went in to (that had the amazing candy) told us about their Christmas celebration:  they make a tree out of JD barrels and put lights on it.  That has gone onto my list, for sure!  Especially since there's a campground not too far away from there.