November 18, 2009 We are so relaxed at our rented house and we are literally doing nothing! Today we got up and decided that we should go back into town and get MORE movies to watch…it’s sinful really the movie watching, reading, eating and drinking…Have any of you seen the movie Wall-E? In it there are futuristic humans that have evolved into people that are very large in the trunk but have short insignificant legs and arms…their extremities have atrophied from lack of use…and they roll around in these wheeled chairs…well…that’s kind of w [View Full Entry]

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November 17, 2009 Before I move on to today’s activities…which by the way were minimal…I wanted to tell more about the ride yesterday from West Virginia into Maryland. First I have to confess once more about my total lack of geographic knowledge…I didn’t even know that West Virginia bordered on Maryland which is where we wound up today. But while still in West Virginia riding through beautiful farmland we came upon a sign in the road that said “Smallest Church in 48 states”. We pulled in and there indeed was a tiny church. It had a tiny alter and [View Full Entry]

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November 16, 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT! Today John and Bill actually turned down the free hotel breakfast and we went to Shoney’s. It turned out not to be so great…but at least it was something different! We began our drive through the western part of West Virginia, which is just spectacular. We drove a roller coaster road through the Blue Ridge Mountains…so pretty. This is definitely some of the most beautiful country we’ve seen…somewhat surprising to me. There were farms with quilt like patches of land, straw colored fields, old barns, bales of hay, si [View Full Entry]

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November 15, 2009 “Almost heaven, West Virginia”…after leaving our hotel this morning, we started on our search for Donna’s West Virginia roots! We drove through the western part of the state and arrived in Welch at about noon. This is where Donna was born. After getting herself oriented, Donna directed us to her aunt’s home up a road in an area called “Junior Pokey”, where cousin Jean and her son Randy still live. Of course they weren’t expecting us. When we drove up into the driveway, a man standing there came over to the car…Donna st [View Full Entry]

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November 14, 2009 We met for breakfast at about 9am…the “free” continental breakfasts, which were a draw at the beginning of the trip, are now like a punishment each morning. They all have the same food: a waffle maker, hard boiled eggs (gag), mini muffins (double gag), occasionally a bagel, dry cereal and sometimes a crock pot with gravy for the biscuits (triple gag). Donna and I would love to skip this for a cup of good coffee and a do-nut…but frankly, Bill and John are too cheap to pass up a free meal! Anyway… we started out at about 10am [View Full Entry]

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November 11, 2009 We continue our stay in the mountain cabin. Today is Veteran’s day and we are mindful of our men…boys many of them, so far from home, putting their lives on the line so that people like us, have the freedom to enjoy a trip like this…may they be safe and return to us unharmed. We thank Tim, now home safely, for his courageous service and we send our hopeful prayers out to Tom, who is home from Iraq on leave but heading back shortly. We think of him often and wait for his final safe return. (Tom… DVWCS) [View Full Entry]

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November 12, 2009 Today we went back into town and did a bit more exploring. We decided to go to Dollywood and take a look from the outside just to see what it was about. When we found it, you could see nothing from the parking lot. After hemming and hawing…it costs $50.00 a person to get in, Donna and I decided to go…after all, when would we be in Pigeon Forge again? Dollywood was quite a surprise! I expected a high tech type place with crazy rides. It wasn’t like that at all! If you’ve ever been to Clark’s Trading [View Full Entry]

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November 13, 2009 Today was another driving day…all day. We left Pigeon Forge a bit late because we had a couple of errands to run…so it was probably noon when we left. We drove through Tennessee and in the early evening we reached Kentucky. We had some trouble finding a place to stay, but the road that we were on took us through beautiful Kentucky farm land. Finally at about 7pm we landed in Danville. We were exhausted…Luckily the hotel was a connected to a restaurant so we could just walk over to it. The meal was ok and ended with [View Full Entry]

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November 9 and 10, 2009 We left our hotel in Memphis early this morning. We were on our way to Nashville and had many miles to cover. The ride to Nashville was uneventful and actually shorter than we thought. We had arranged for a hotel on the internet and got there around 2pm. We started to look for tours of the city but we had pretty much missed the day’s opportunities because of timing. We made arrangements to go on a “Music Tour of Nashville” tomorrow morning and head off after that. We spent the afternoon catching up on the blog…thanks [View Full Entry]

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November 8, 2009 “Before Elvis, there was nothing” … John Lennon. Today we went to Graceland and speaking as one who didn’t really know what to expect, it was just wonderful. Bill dropped Donna and I off…he and John had no desire, and we went on the tour. Of course the entire area is built up with souvenir shops, restaurants, souvenir shops, museums, souvenir shops….One wonders what the area was like when Elvis bought the place in the 60s. Graceland itself is somewhat modest as far as estates go although the house sits on some lovely acreage with stables [View Full Entry]

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