3/20/23
A BIG thank you to Frank and Donna DeLouis for their hospitality! We spent the evening with them at their beautiful Watts Bar Lake house in Kingston Tennessee!
This is the road getting to their home, I think it looks like something from a movie! A quiet and peaceful lane!
The lake was low (they do that on purpose to allow for spring rains)!
And, of course, I LOVED the firepit (I am all about a good fire pit)!
Frank and Donna are wonderful people and we are very appreciative of their kindness!
Frank is quite the Bartender (he made us Long Island Ice Teas) and we played cards and enjoyed our beverages in their game room!
Donna is an avid painter, and she was gracious enough to offer me a painting, which I gladly accepted! I can't wait to hang my new treasure in our house!
3/21/23
Heading to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park!
BUT, before that............
We had a few errands to run! First on the list dress shoes for Ernie (he didn't like his current pair of dress shoes and left them at home). Now, Ernie wears a size 14, which are VERY difficult to find, I might add! He wasn't worried about it, but I sure was! Of course, we found a pair at Ross! I should never doubt that man! And, he also stopped at a barber shop because he looked like a crazed mountain man!
Next up.....ZIP LINING! I have always wanted to go zip lining and we found a place called Legacy Mountain near Gatlinburg! They wouldn't let us take our phones with us, so we don't have any actual pictures of us zipping through the trees (you will just have to trust me)! It was AWESOME! Crossed that one off my bucket list!
Gatlinburg, TN!
I think it is safe to say, we have been quite spoiled on this trip! Every place we have gone on this trip, has been very UN-crowded! Gatlinburg was another story! Our zip line guides said spring break is in full swing! TOO crowded for us, plus, it cost $20 to park for the day, but even if we WANTED to park somewhere, there wasn't room for our truck camper! Oh well, we settled for a drive by! It really IS a cool town, however!
Great Smoky Mountains National Park! We have seen 7 National Parks on this trip! Plus, Fort Pickens National Seashore, which I am not sure is considered a National Park (BUT, our National Park Pass was accepted there....SO)
The Sugarland Visitors Center was PACKED full of cars (plus, we had NO cell service, which I need for work, and so, camping there wasn't an option) We did drive through most of the park, however, and stopped at most of the overlooks)!
It is a beautiful place, but we have seen SO many wonderful things on this trip! Each is magnificent in specific ways!
Apparently, this park has one of the highest Elk populations, and they certainly weren't afraid of people!
We drove through Cherokee, NC and I thought this carved statue of a Cherokee Native American was awesome!
Oh, we are in North Carolina, by the way!
We were planning on a camp site at Flat Rock NC (as found on Free Roam) but it took us to someone's house, so we had to settle for Cracker Barrel for the night!
3/22/23
Headed to some old friends for the next day or so! Pat and Paula Harty and Pat and Theresa Messner! We are really excited to see them.........it has been awhile!
Pat has been a buddy of Ernie's FOREVER (mine too)! This was the first time I have visited Pat and his wife Paula at their place in South Carolina (I personally thought it was North Carolina, but I was wrong)! Anyway, we sure had a great time! We had a great lunch provided by Paula, hung out and got caught up AND met their baby, Major (who is actually a 138 lb Red Bone Coon Hound)
Later in the afternoon, we all took a ride to see the Ernie's other buddy from FOREVER (mine too!)Pat Messner and his wife Theresa! Another delicious meal provided by Theresa!
Had a great time catching up, laughing, and talking about the Murdaugh trial! Now Ernie and I really only heard about the Murdaugh incident not long ago! We, were trying to find something on Netflix since we aren't really able to watch anything else, and happened to find the Netflix documentary about it. Little did we know, Alec Murdaugh was on trial at the time we were watching the Netflix series. But, it is big goings on in South Carolina!
The Messner Man Cave, for your viewing pleasure!
And thanks to Theresa for her selfie expertise....we got (what I think) is a great picture of all of us! (from L to R....Paula, Pat, Robin, Ernie, Theresa, and Pat)
3/23/23
We stayed at Pat and Paula's overnight and then Paula cooked us breakfast (I am really getting spoiled by all this kindness being strewn upon us). We went with Pat while he walked Major, to Kingsley Park (I sure wish we had this kind of walking park in PA)
Some people might call this pond scum, but I think the colors are AWESOME!
Thanks so much......it is SO great to have such good friends! We are very blessed!
And for the Grand Finale.........we are headed to NORTH Carolina for the wedding of Alexia and Cody! More to come!
