"Our Grand Adventerous Trip!!"

So, I've been meaning to write about David and my adventure recently to The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. I just haven't taken the intiative to do it. My Blogs are written to encourage, give hope, give light, as well as to entertain. I wonder does sharing a Blog about an amazing trip fill any of that for anyone? Maybe....hopefully. I guess that's why I've put it off.
So here's hoping . . .

About 2 weeks ago, give or take a day, David and I had the opportunity to take a trip. And this trip came about because David was not paying close attention to the man on the other end of the phone conversation. As he was booking reservations for another trip we took, the man on the other end talked him into committing to a timeshare spill. Yup....just give us two hours of your time and look what we will give you! Um...yeah.
Regardless of THAT part of the trip...we had the most amazing and wonderful time!! So sit back and come along and enjoy our trip with us won't you. :)

Tuesday morning came bright and early - we saw the sun rise as we traveled - something I never see. Such an awesome thing to see how God orchestrates this world He has created! As we traveled, we saw many weather conditions. The chart topper of the day - RAIN. As I mentioned in a previous Blog, rain seems to be the order of the day when we are making a big trip. In fact, there was a stretch of 145 miles of almost solid heavy rain at one point....never seen anything like it. Even our cell phones were sounding off the Emergency Alerts of flash flooding! I decided not to tell my Mom how our drive was going until the next day when all was well....much better that way. :)

So God washed our little Green Ark safely into Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at 11:58pm, after traveling all day for 17 hours! All of 950 miles!! What a trip! As I've said....David loves to drive and I love to ride....but 17 hours IS a really long time.

Wednesday morning was upon us and guess what else was too? RAIN. This was the day that we had planned to hike. Our options were to stay in town and decided on a show or activity there OR go ahead with plan A and hike. Plan A it was!! We traveled to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Rain or not we were determined.

Once in the park, the Ranger was surprised, when David told him we were going hiking, due to the rain. I would say most of all the people there, at that time, were there to only go on the car tour of the historic "Cades Cove" loop. O we were too....but hiking was in our agenda as well. :) We like to be different.

Below, is some of our first sights of the park. How little did we know that those sights would only become much more beautiful the farther we traveled and hiked!

We entered the "Cades Cove" 11 mile loop. This National Park was once a home to many early settlers long ago and there stories and homes have been preserved through time. History is a chart topper for David and I!

There were stops along the loop that you could get out and walk up to the homesite. Many cars were passing that opportunity up due to the rain. Not us! That just meant I got to try out my new raincoat my sweet husband bought. I didn't understand WHY we needed to buy me a raincoat before we left home on this trip.....and now I did! He's so good......

He also made sure we had stay dry hiking clothes and hiking boots.....which all came in so very handy! :)

This was the home of the very first white settler. He lived there 200 years ago! Can you even imagine being the very first white settler on a giant mountain?! We were the very first settlers of our cul-de-sac almost 19 years ago....I'm thinking this was just a littttle bit different. Ha!

And on we traveled......



Next stop? One of my favorites! Old churches and graveyards! Of course!

Someone had a really NICE green Camaro there...I'm just sayin'. ;-)

I found these old tombstones to be interesting. They were so old no writing was visible whatsoever. But they represented a life that was once here. A life that was loved by another.

And on this mountain....if you weren't Baptist then you were Methodist. Here lies the Methodist.

 We arrived at our destination of the day and set off for our much anticipated hike to Abram's Falls! Two things to see 1. the great and mighty falls. 2. BEARS! What an adventure to run into such a wonderful creature!! But first, it was lunch time and my David had prepared a wonderful lunch. He found us a wet log to sit on....but he covered it first with a blanket....and then he fixed our lunch. It was the most delicious peanut butter and banana sandwhich I had eaten. We also had fruit, chips, cookies, and coke. Couldn't have asked for better!

Now....we were ready!

We walked across these streams and the water was AWESOME!



The sights were becoming that much more beautiful with each step we took! But what waited ahead would even be so much more!

Along the way, I took various pictures of plants and flowers I found.

I did this also in memory of my dear Auntie....who also loved to take pictures of flowers along the way of life. :)

And after a hike of one hour and thirty minutes, straight UP a mountain, we arrived at the mighty and majestic Abram's Falls! Absolutely powerful as well as gorgeous!!

It may have not been the tallest waterfall, but it certainly was the most powerful. It had more water rushing over at greater speeds and power than the others.

Yes....it was worth the hike in everyway!!

As we came down the moutain, we got to encourage a man on his way UP the mountain. I had written about this encounter in my most previous Blog. "we were on our way down the mountain and a man was hiking alone up the mountain. He was growing weary from the hike and wasn't so sure his efforts were even going to pay off. He questioned us as we were in passing saying "Is there really a waterfall ahead?? I keep going and can't find it!" We both assured him "Don't stop now, you're almost there! It's just a little farther ahead. Keep going." Later....as we had taken our time coming down off the mountain, we see this man once again. He was SO HAPPY! I asked him "Did you find it?" He excitedly replied "YES! and my friends are never gonna believe I did this! But I got proof....there was a girl there and she took a picture of me on my camera!!!" It was so awesome to be able to encourage this man to "Keep keepin on!" when he could have easily given up and not reaped his awesome reward! In much of life we can apply this mentality - - one step at a time. And in that one step at a time, you know what happens? You get closer and  closer to all that God has waiting for you ahead!! We know that our ultimate reward will be when we see Jesus' face and he wraps his arms us around us welcoming us home! But there are many "rewards" here on this earth as well. Keep keepin on, my friend. Don't stop....you're almost there!"

While on the way down the mountain, I got my hiker husband to stop and pose. Something he doesn't care for, but was pretty darn sweet about it.

The temperature was only 60 degrees, and amazingly it was NOT cold at all!! This girl would have been freezing to death back at home....but thankfully not so here! We noticed that even though we had kept a good pace on the way up the mountain as well as on the way down....we STILL got passed! We chalked up with the assumption that.....Texans must just be plain ole slow. They take their time to take it all in I guess. Ha!

Although, we weren't "fortunate" enough to see any bears....dad-gum-it!! I did take a picture of a picture of one!

We returned back to our car and resumed the car tour of "Cades Cove". We got to see some more beautiful history.



After our tour, it was getting late and dark. We still had to come the rest of the way down the mountain. As we twisted and turned through the paths of the mountain....it began to get dark and foggy and raining again. It made for another nice adventure! :) Back in town....we ate at Big Daddy's Pizzeria << very GOOD! with Baskin Robbins for dessert! Yummy!

The next morning, Thursday, we were off for another hike. Today's hike would be an "easy" hike. We found sunshine after leaving house 3 days ago....Yay!!

Such beatiful scenery we encountered! If only a camera could truly capture it!!

And we arrived to the beautiful Laurel Falls!!

 Note to my Mom:: Don't look at this picture. Or the next one.....

Still keep your eyes shut.....

Laurel Falls was absolutely gorgeous!! And now it was time to come back down the mountain.

I love him SO VERY MUCH!!!!

Mom, the true Mountain Woman!!

Now it was time to get the 2 hour presentation back in Gatlinburg.

Note to self: I do NOT like 2 hour time share presentations and find them HIGHLY a GIANT waste of our time. But we did what we had to do and it was done.

While in Gatlinburg, we found ALL the many tourists!! It was far too crowded for our liking and left quickly!! Back to the mountains for us!!

We were headed to our last and final hike to the waterfalls. This would be Grotto Falls.

I love some of the beautifully twisted and mountainous paths we traveled by foot to get there.

And finally we were there!! It was so freaking AWESOME to actually walk behind this waterfall and stick my hand in the powerful water coming so forcefully down!!!

Ok.....I can NO longer continue this Blog.

There are more stories to share to finish up our grand adventures, but my computer is totally UN-cooperative. You see....I've been working on this Blog for a continuous 5 1/2 HOURS. No lie. I'm ending this Blog and will finish it ......later. I'm pooped!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading thus far!!!

"A Birthday of Love and Special Memories Shared With You!"

Rather than post some pictures, with cute little meaningless captions, that probably no one sees on Facebook, I decided to share through a Blog.
For the week of June 28th - July 4rth would be as my Mother happily called it - "The week to go down in the book of memories for all time!!" You see. . . this was a week especially just for her. It was to be a gift of love from her wonderful son-in-law in everyway as well as a daughter that loves her plentifully. And not only from these two, but I believe from her dear sweet twin sister who celebrated 72 blessed birthdays here by her side.....and on the 73rd one happily watching from Heaven above. I truly believe she was very much a part of it ALL just as she always has been. :) Thank you Auntie for helping God and us to give my Mother such a wonderful birthday present of love! :)

David and I planned a birthday trip for her in advance. First, we decided we would take her and my Dad to see my brother and his family in Enid, Oklahoma for the weekend. Second, we would drive to Branson, Missouri from Enid and stay there for most of the week. And third, this part of the trip was so spontaneous that none of us knew about it until it happened. We surprised her with all of this news and then told her to sit down at the computer and pick out some shows and events she would like to do while in Branson. It was slightly overwhelming, but together we made our choices. We showed her the cabins we would be staying in while there. Soon everything was booked and ready to go. Now all we had to do was wait!!

FINALLY....the big day arrived!!!

David and I packed down my Jeep, made sure all 4 animals had been taken care of, said "Goodbye and be GOOD" to our son (who we left at home for an entire week by himself!!) . . . and we were off. . .

First stop, pick up Mom and Dad in Irving! We ate lunch with them at one of our all time favorite spots "Braums" and of course it was dee-licious! We loaded them up and headed for Enid! Nine and a half hours of driving from Atascocita and we arrived!! My brother Dan was beyond shocked, animated (as always), and quite entertained by the fact that he hadn't seen David since his major weight loss. He was rather intriqued by the whole matter and it took time for his animation to wear down. . . as usual. Haha! There are NO words to describe my brother for those who know nothing of him. He is beyond your wildest imaginative thoughts indeed. . . and me knowing him - he will absolutely LOVE reading those words!! You're welcome Dan. :)
We would eat dinner with Dan, wife Kim, and daughter Megan at El chicos that evening. Later, Dan would come entertain us in our hotel room with Megan. Or maybe it better said - Dan came over to entertain Debby - David watched - Megan fell asleep on the bed. When my brother and I get together - ALL the world becomes a genuinly GOOFY place to be!! :)

(I had to add this picture here so that when you see my Blog it shows her)



Saturday came and we were off on a new adventure! David had found a brochure about a place called "The Little Sahara". He mentioned it to Dan << he excitedly told us he had always wanted to go there. So off we went! The Little Sahara is a place like none other we had seen. It was just about 1 1/2 hrs from Enid and it was simply amazing to see.....sand dunes.....pure sand and only sand everywhere! It was just as if God had poured out his entire sand bucket in one section of his creation! How did ALL this sand get here? Scientist have their theories, people have their myths - but we have God and no one else but Him could have done this. It was a sight! We were there to ride ATVs over the dunes, buuut it was not to be. The place that rented the ATVs said no rentals past 12 noon because it's too hot. Are you serious!! It was hot yes...but not Houston hot! We were told we could BUY a flag for $25 and put it on our Jeep...but that would include a minor detail....DRILLING a hole in it! So, instead we all walked up a steep sandy hill and onto a unfinished observation place. David so wants to bring Levi back to do this sometime....riding the ATVs that is. Better come before noon!!

We had a wonderful weekend with Dan and his family. On Sunday he wanted to wash and wax my Jeep before we left. When I say wash and wax you have NO idea what I'm saying. This boy can put a lasting shine on your car like nobody can! He got his authoritive voice on and even got David scrubbing and polishing! It was fun to watch and observe. As always....Dan makes life fun. :)

My Jeep stayed CLEAN the rest of our trip to Missouri and Arkansas and all the way back home!!

After eating my most favorite place of any - SUBWAY - we were saying our "Goodbyes" and hitting the road for Branson, Missiouri!We arrived in Branson that evening and let me tell you the weather was nothing but amazing....in fact the rest of the week it was amazing! Lows in the 50-60s and highs would be low 80. Awesome!

We were finally at our beautiful cabin and we were pleasantly suprised at just how beautiful it was! My Mother exclaimed that she had found her dream home afterall. :) It was literally on the side of a mountain as if you were out in the woods<<my forever sweet spot in this world- - - but just a block or so from the main strip itself. The best of both worlds I would say!



This was the backside. It had a screened in porch, right off our bedroom, that would quickly become our favorite spot. That pond, although yucky looking from this view, held all the beautiful night sounds that I have loved since I can remember! If I could put my recording of it all on here I would! We even saw a baby deer all alone coming for a few days to drink in the mornings. Beautiful birds as well as coons too.



See...I told you we like this spot! :)

This entry into the Guest Book that I wrote would explain our whole trip and the very reason for it:

Happy Birthday to you Mother!! :)

Monday came upon us and we were up and ready to go start our adventures! First on the agenda: take a cruise! That's right! I've made it quite clear to all my family that I will NOT be stuck on a boat, a plane, an elevator, or anything I cannot get off of at any given time. So, when we were getting ready to board our "cruise" I simply texted my children "Mom IS going on a cruise...believe it!!" Ok...so what if it only was a 2 hour cruise and what if it only was just a paddle wheel cruiser?! We had FUN....and that's what counts!!

Everyone scrambled to the open deck above so we chose the lower enclosed seating down below. It was perfect! Air conditioned, quiet, and to ourselves! We were served a delicious lunch.

The water was so beautiful and the scenery gorgeous!

I love this picture of the two of them. So cute they are. :)

Later, that evening we were off to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede show! I will tell you that my dear, sweet, wonderful husband literally became the "Snicker's Diva" at this one. You know....the commercials where someone is hungry and turning into someone they are not until another person gets them a snickers candy bar and tells them to eat it....and once again returning to their former self. We had been told that this show would have a very LARGE meal served at it and not to eat a thing before the show started at 8pm. Next time we will know better. The tourist lady we dealt with even said "O we never recommend people booking the boat cruise lunch as the same day as the Dixie Stampede show.....too much food in one day. They were wrong. Let's just say none whatsoever of the pre-show nor the show itself was very desirable to my diva-starving-husband....that is until somewhere around 8:30ish and he began to get some food.....mind you we had been here already since 6:45 (told to be early and had a pre-show). Once he got some food in him the show became one of the best ever! Haha! It really was an AWESOME show....there was everything I loved in it.....Indians, Cowboys, Pioneers, real animals, skill, tricks, AND even comedy!! 

Each day was such a blessing in little and big ways! I know God had his hand upon it all and he even had help from Auntie herself. Each place we were led to go to eat seemed like it was hand-picked by those two, for there would be christian music playing or not crowded or even both. Even our times of goin to the shows and events were met with little to slim lines....and Branson is a very crowded tourist place! Just go to Dick's 5 & Dime....and you'll for sure find the crowds there! It's an original 5 & dime and sales all of the old things of long ago forgotten days. Neat store....but far too crowded for us. I spoke of my Aunt helping....funny story.....we traveled alot of the back roads to stay away from the crowds coming in and letting out from the shows on main strip. Sometimes, even David can get lost. :) We were looking for a store to get some groceries from and was getting nowhere. All of the sudden out of the blue we hear a female voice in the backseat firmly and confidently say "Turn left." << it was my Mother's GPS on her phone, but we all decided it was Sandra telling us where to go. David turned left and continued to follow her commands. She got us to a WalMart and once there we said "Thank you, Sandra!" :)

While in town one day, my Dad came upon his brother. See for yourself!

Sidenote: We also came upon one of my very favorite newest store while in town.....a place with two names: "Pennies From Heaven" "The Copper Coin". It was definitely my store! The lady owner that founded and ran the place had a very inspirational story to go along with why she sold what she did....but I won't go into all of that. I will share that she places GREAT emphasis in finding pennies on the ground. In fact EVERYTHING that she sold had one shiny copper penny attached to it. The pennies symbolized her trust in God. For on the penny it says "In God we trust". Her story and reason for sharing the penny struck a mighty BIG thing with me! For a few years now I have collected pennies found on the ground, for they too have helped me to believe that when found - God is reminding me that He knows where I am and that I can trust in Him in all things. The whole place was very encouraging to me....and of course I had to purchase something. My Mother actually bought it for me as a Thank You gift for all that we were doing for her! :) It was quite fitting that she would give it to me for on it had the very words of scripture she gave to me on my birthday - Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thy own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

Tuesday was here and we had places to go and people to see....alot of them dead though!

First stop....my much anticipated event....the TITANIC museum!! As any member of my family knows this girl loves museums....it's usually the people I'm with that become dislikers of them!! I can read forever and that's no exageration! Just 4 hours and 40 minutes into the museum and dear David finally said "Alright...that's it....you're done." Hahaha! He is soooo very patient with me....thankfully! I can remember a time of going through a museum while our kids were still small. David lovingly told me to take my time and enjoy while he and the kids went at their own pace. He then took them outside and played with them giving me all the time I needed. What a guy! Sooo....I'm normally well behind everyone when it comes to museums. Funny thing - - my daughter texted me the other day and said "I always thought I hated museums. Then I went with other people. Found out they weren't that bad." That made me laugh in big ways!! LOL! :) Ah well.....



It was very realistic and quite interesting, but left you with alot of unanswered questions and confusion. We each were handed a boarding ticket, upon entrance, of an actual person riding the ship that fateful night. At the end of the museum you find out if your person survived or perished. We all survived....except my Dad.

Next on our agenda was the wonderful show of "Joseph" for the evening! But first, we had to make sure dear David got something to eat this time...or else. :) Our little dinner was quite fun and satisfying.



Jospeh was a spectacular play! Very professionally and beautifully scripted out. A story of forgiveness and trust in our God alone. We had perfect seats! The Amish people thought so too and came and joined us. There was 13 Amish that came and sat right behind us. At intermission, my Mother could no longer stand it...she had to do what she does best....TALK to them. She stood up, turns to them, leans over the chairs and says "Now all y'all Amish or Mennonites?" And thus began their conversation......that's my Mother! Gotta love her. :) 

You can see 4 of the Amish directly behind. I was a little concerned that I would offend them by taking this picture. But, they handled it fine. :)



An evening of relaxing after a big day!



Wednesday dawneth....and here we goooo!

Today's plans? Go to the historical <<another word this girl loooves>> homesite of  a family who lived long ago in the beautiful Ozark mountains! Yes, I love History! So, we thought this was just another historical home place to see and tour. Little did we know that it was national acclaim! If any of you have ever heard of the book "Shepherd of the Hills" this is from where the book was written and the lives of the characters were written about. It was written in 1907 and would make the 4rth most popular book ever read.

Remember those Amish people we were with the evening before? Yes sir....they were back! We, in fact, took the whole tour with them. My Mother, being her sweet, fun-loving self, quite animatedly welcomed them back too. They were quite friendly with us and rather knowledgable about .....well everything. The tour guide started us off by saying "Who all has read 'The Shepherd of the Hills' book?" Every single one of the 13 Amish people, (kids included), raised their hands confidently! It must have been required reading in their clan or something. :) And well as for us 4?? Nooope....not a one of us. On into the tour, David made a comment about this being really interesting to which one of the Amish ladies leans over and said "It would have been more interesting had you read the book!" Haha! :)



My Dad bought a new belt buckle while there. :)

I love this picture of my Dad....he just is so at home and fits in perfectly here. :)

The beautiful view these mountain people once had from their home! No paved road there, of course, and all that lucious green you see farther out is a deep valley with more mountains beyond.

I'm entering a pretty little church built in 1901. Love old churches!

It was a beautiful old place full of history and long ago days.

Later, it was time to get Grandma her nap while David and I went shopping on our own. We were in search of gift souvenirs for our children. Hey Mom got more souvenirs too....can't beat that!! We had dinner with my folks and soon were off for our last and final show of our trip. This last show would turn out to be the oddest of all shows. Let's just say....our expectations were far off the charts than the actual reality was. For those of you who know and are familiar with the Cirque de Soleil acts you know these are very professionally done performances. So can you blame us when we booked a show titled Cirque Montague that we had the very same high expectations?? We were met with surprise.....maybe what was missing this time was those two little letters "de" .....we will know better next time. Although, mostly entertaining for what it was....Cirque de Soleil it was not.



One of the performers was a Uni-cycle riding Mime....probably one of the best performers they had. He came and visited David before the show.



The Mime "told" David to take their picture together...that is what he is attempting. :)



Thursday arrived.....the day we loaded up and said our goodbyes to the wonderful memories made. :)

David and I had decided that we would take the long way home and surprise my Dad with going through his hometown....what's left of it.....Antoine and Delight, Arkansas. We told my Mother of our plans and she was so excited for my Dad. Four and half hours later and we would arrive ..........



And this. . . .

But this is a whole other Blog I'm going to be writing about soon! When we got back to Irving, we had my Dad sit down and voice recorded just about 50 mins of him retelling his childhood days of long ago. I'm anxious to get started on it!!



There is one very special and dear picture I will share last with you. For in it it shows the sweet love one special Son In Law has for his Mother In Law. I will tell you that each and every single stop we made and each and every single time we got in my Jeep my David was getting a little blue stool out for his M-I-L to step out or up in so that she could enter and exit my Jeep! That meant so very much to her and since our trip has bragged to all her friends about her wonderful S-I-L. <3 She is loved. :)

A beautiful smile on a beautiful lady.

So, that was our trip {in short} shared with you!

It was a week of specially made memories for a specially made lady.

I love you my Mother.....I always have....I always will.

THE END.