Great Smoky Mountains and Puke

Vanessa and I spent the past week in the Great Smoky Mountains.  In the end we had a wonderful time but our arrival was not as relaxing as we had hoped.  First, we discovered that the Smokies are actually somewhat mountainous and Appalachians do not believe in switchbacks.  Our cabin was perched on the top of steepest driveway known to man - at least 20% grade!  Big Brown made it up, but coming down was a different story.  On one of the turns, our bike rack started scraping along the pavement, and we had to disassemble the rack MID-HILL just to out of the driveway.  So we ditched that cabin and began searching for another.

Fortunately we did find another which was still on an incline, but manageable.  Things were looking up until, when reaching into the cupboard to a glass, a cockroach scurried up the side of the cabinet.  I must be mellowing because I only let out a scream, not a blood-curdling shriek as I would have in the past.  That aside, the cabin was peaceful and we enjoyed several days of relaxation.  The spring colors were starting to take shape around the cabin, so it seemed appropriate to take Buster's senior photos.  Take a look:

We also found out that our brakepads needed replacing thanks to some friendly Ford

 mechanics who did our oil change.  Two days later we had new brakes and an invitation to a luncheon in the garage.  Vanessa enjoyed chicken casserole and butterscotch pie while hanging with two Ford guys and two guys from Napa autoparts who came across the street for some home cookin'.

After a few days of hot tub soaking, we headed to Elkmont campground in the Smokies. We snagged a riverside campsite, and met a couple of nice people.  One guy even left all his wood for us (score!), enough to burn a fire from 2pm to 9pm the following day.  The weather was perfect for an all-day fire, and we did in fact sit around it for seven hours.  The next day we took a six-mile hike through along a picture perfect river lined with blooming wildflowers and winding through a colorful leafy forest.  The Smokies are truly beautiful!

Now we're on the road again, and just in case you're wondering what we talk about for the hours and hours and hours we spend on the road, here are a couple of snippets:

Indecision:  

S:  Hey, Vanessa.  Do you think we should get gas?

V:  I don’t know.  Are we out?

S:  No, we’ve got a tank and a half, but it’s only $3.23; that’s a good deal.

V:  But we only need 1/2 a tank.

S:  So you don’t want to stop?

V:  If you think we should.

S:  Oh, crap, we just missed the exit.  Never mind.

Buster:  Endlessly fascinating discussions.

S/V:  “Buster!  How are you today”

B:  Blank look.

S/V:  “What are you thinkin’ little buddy?  Want to go to Tennessee?”

B:  Scatching of ear.

S/V:  “Yeah you wanna go to Tennessee!” 

B:  Licking.

S/V: “Whose the best dog in Tennessee?”

B:  More licking.

S/V:  “That’s right!  Buster Brown!  You da dog!  You da man!”

B:  Body flop and eyes close.

Genius Debates:

S:  Which do you think is more indispensable:  the fork or the spoon?

V:  Uh, I don’t know.

S:  But if you were forced to decide.

V:  Probably the fork.

S:  No Way!  The spoon.  Unquestionably the spoon!  You could no longer be 

able to eat any liquids.  How would you eat ice cream?  Soup would be impossible.  The fork?  Ridiculous.

V:  Whatever.

Misunderstandings.

S:  We’re going to take Interstate 40 to Asheville, right?

V:  Yes, it should be the next exit.

S:  We might have passed it.

V:  #@!#&%$!

S:  Relax, I can take the next exit.

V:  No, I’m not talking about that.  Buster just puked on me!! ( This really happened and was disgusting.)

Patriotism:

S:  Let’s sing America songs because we’re traveling across America.  

V:  Ok, how about God Bless America?

S:  Great.

S & V:  God bless America, land that I love.  Stand beside her, and guide her to the ...mumble, mumble, unintelligible...sound trailing off...

V:  Um, how about that other one with the purple mountains?

S:  Oh yeah - uh - what is it called?  Purple mountains majesties...

V:  Yeah yeah and amber waves of grain..

S & V:  AMERICA! AMERICA! God shed his grace on thee!!!!  And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!!!!