transitions

Last spring, we experienced a spring in the Wilamette valley of Oregon in mid March, then traveled through northern California with more spring, only to be hit with winter coming out of Colorado. After one day of winter in Illinois on our return home, we got to experience another spring. I should interject that our favorite times of the year are spring (for me) and fall (for Georgia). Could it be because I was born in March and she in September??? After a short summer, we experienced fall in Illinois and Indiana during September and October, then on October 31, we headed to Tennessee. We got to experience a beautiful fall again in Kentucky and Tennessee. This was all great and fitting with our year of 2 springs and 2 falls. However, now that we're back in the midwest, it is winter. We got to experience our first snow of the winter driving to Gas City Thursday evening. In case you didn't know... Winter is here. We feel like we left for Tennessee in the fall and returned in the Winter. I have notice that my body has not had time to equilabrate, but I do have my trusty Ridge Rider vest from Laramie to keep me warm. Oh well, we'll make the transition again; and be wishing for snow at Christmas.

topsy turvy world

This is just a quickie to illustrate the point that Saint Paul described... "Be in this world, but not of this world". Now my illustrations are not even close to being spiritual as Paul intended, but I think they do illustrate the point that common sense and experience no longer help you manage in today's society. The first is an apparent change in philosophy regarding tags. We are all aware of the everpresent tag that says "do not remove under penalty of law". Right? On this trip, in effort to not overpack, I apparently underpacked for the season. I was in the "right place at the right time" and actually bought a sweater (myself).. Yes Erin, I bought a sweater. When I got it to the room and started removing the tags, I ran across this one. Will wonders never cease? Don't ask me why we must remove this one and "can't" remove those others that look very similar.

As you drive into the Opryland "complex", I'll call it, you notice that the speed limit is 24... not 25 like everywhere else in the world, but 24. I finally asked why. Supposedly it was so that people would notice it and thus pay heed. Well, I noticed it...

Do you remember when we got free water from the fountains that were found all over theatres??? I won't get off on a complete essay on the cultured of bottled water in our country, but I was astounded the other nite when a coke was $2.50 and a bottle of water was $3.00.

That's all, just a few observations that keep me from gaining comfort from my experience. Shock and Awe on my level. Here are a couple of daytime pictures from the Opryland nativity.

Christmastime in Opryville drei

Having finished our third night of being pumped full of the Christmas spirit by entertainment here is Nashville, we realize that there is so much we missed, but are also aware that we can't handle much more at this time. We did make it to the Louise Mandrell dinner show tonite. It was in the Delta Ballroom at that Gaylord complex. The more I see of that place, the more amazed I become. To avoid the $18 parking fee and still having to walk a bunch, we took the Hyatt Place shuttle which dropped us off virtually outside the door of the theatre. Before I get into the evening's entertainment I want to take a little aside. Since we've been here we keep hearing about the "Ice" exhibit. I touched on this in another post. Well this morning was the earliest it opened and since Georgia's back makes it difficult for her to get around very quickly in the morning, I decided to slip over (since now I can navigate this place like a (semi) pro. Another deterrent for Georgia was that with some of the medication she is on, her hands would have frozen at that temperature without super gloves which we did not have. If you haven't seen the Ice exhibit, you would be thoroughly amazed. This is the last year for the Grinch theme. Aparently 40 ice sculptors from China worked several weeks to prepare it. Everything in the place is carved out of colored and clear ice. They keep the place at 16 degrees and issue parkas as you view it. Simply amazing. Here are a few pictures with more on my facebook page. It only took me about 20 minutes to see it all (and slide down the ice slide... yes I did.) I got back in time to get ready for our afternoon and evening adventure.

That Gaylord Resort and Convention Center is simply amazing. Words can't describe it, and I'm not sure the pictures do either. One interesting thing was what I will call "ivygirl". This vinecovered girl on stilts moved around nuzzling trees, essentially like that leave thing in that movie, I think with either Arnold S. or Sylverster S where he battles this thing in the jungle. However this one was just full of love rather than hate and descruction. See if you can find her face.

Now to Louise Mandrell. What talent!

http://www.louisemandrell.com/Biography/

She was born in 1954. That should make her 54 years old. You wouldn't believe the stuff that old lady did. I doubt most 25 year olds could keep up with the gymnastics she did in a number near the end. She of course played nearly every instrument on stage and a few they brought in for her. Singing, dancing, playing all sorts of instuments as well as playing a spoof mail"man" who delivers kids letters to Santa. Georgia says Louise was always her favorite Mandrell sister. Although we didn't get to see her up close (as you can see by the blurry pictures), Georgia and I commented that she didn't look any different than she did 25 years ago when she was on the Barbara Mandrell show. Again, a great meal in which we met some super people at our table. Six glitterclad ladies from Alabama including a mother of 3 of the ladies (2 were twins about our age). They travel as the "Yaya's". One other couple there were from Michigan, salt of the earth types with no refinement whatsoever.

Christmastime in Opryville deaux

Aha! with a little daylight, I think I have actually figured out the lay of the land (for the most part). I now have 2 main arteries to work from. So there seems to be 3 main "parts" to the Opry experience with many little add ons scattered around the entrance. There is the Gaylord Opryland resort and convention center. It is the biggest part, housing the indoor riverboat ride and several theaters along with the convention center, etc. That is where we will go to see the Louise Mandrell show tomorrow nite. Between that and the huge mall, is the Grand Ole Opry House, where we saw the Rockettes Christmas show tonite. The General Jackson where we went for the Cruise last nite is on the other side of the mall. There!. Beside the Opry House is a small green building called Ice. I thought that was an Ice Show, like Icapades, so decided we could forego it this trip. However, I am hearing that it is amazing and far less time and dollar consuming so we may figure a way to squeeze it in yet. I got some daylight pictures of the nativity, etc, but they are out in the car.. Tonite, after spending some time at the mall and eating at Johnny Rocket's (we enjoyed it in Lansing, so decided to do it again.), we went across the street to see the Rockettes show... Wow! OMG!, etc, etc. etc. The whole show was phenominal, but the living nativity at the end was breath-taking. Yes, Georgia cried through the whole thing. They basically acted out carols like O Little Town of Bethlehem, O Holy Night, etc. We were impressed that the sheep and camels that were on stage for quite some time, including passes across and standing in scenes, didn't feel the need to follow the laws of nature for any animal on stage. Nary a dribble or a dropping. The camels vigorously chewed their cuds and one sheep actually put his front feet up on a rock as if stretching to see during the singing of "O Come all ye Faithful". The rest of the show was really good with lots of cute stuff, like the 3 foot tall snowmen and baby bears who danced, and a bear who had to be a kin to Miss Piggy. Worth the time and money. The only down side was that the seats were like church pews and they seemed to pack in one more person than the pew could hold, thus we were a little "snug". Sorry, no pictures, which probably means no one will even peek at this post.

Christmastime in Opryville-uno

We finished up in Knoxville and headed across Tennessee through patchy rain showers to Nashville where we had secured (we think) tickets for a Christmas Cruise on the General Jackson Riverboat (last nite), the Rockettes Christmas Special (tonite) and Louise Mandrell's "Joy to the World" (tomorrow nite). As it turned out, we got to the Hyatt Place at Opryland about dusk. A short aside here. When deciding where to stay our first nite out from home, Georgia found the Hyatt Place and we decided to try it in Florence Kentucky. We now have a second "favorite chain". Decor is modern and it is very "techy". The main downside is that the complimentary breakfast doesn't rival the Hampton Inn at all, but (for those who care) they serve Starbuck's Coffee and sell a cinnamon roll that rivals Cinnabon. Folks are very nice, but may be understaffed at times. Their rewards program is a bit more straight forward. Stay 2 times and get a free nite.. So next trip we will be ready to test that out, since we are here at the Hyatt Place at Opryland now. Back to the thread. The next section of this diatribe deals with one of my most serious flaws. I was going to name this "green acres is the place for me", but decided to add some positive notes to my lament. We had ordered all those tickets online from Knoxville cause we were concerned we wouldn't get tickets once we got here. Hey, it's our first time to this place and we had just watched the CMA awards on TV. Obviously we couldn't have the tickets mailed to us, and the only option at the sites we used was "will call" which I have learned from the Assembly Hall, means to pick them up at the window. I find that I am really a dichotomy (splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts). Explain please??? Although in general, I "pride" myself in being a "go with the flow" guy, able to be content with, and make something out of whatever situation faces me... for the most part, I am realizing more and more that I really want to know what my options are and what lies ahead. So we arrive here, now it's dark and cold. We have tickets somewhere in this complex for a dinner show at or near the river (which I find pretty much incircles this place). Not having any idea of what we are up against, I set out to first secure the tickets we had purchased. In east central Illinois, dark or not, you can pretty much see your destination and simply navigate the straight roads laid out in squares til you get there. Not so here. I also toyed with the title "well meaning people". I have to add that I now understand the deal about old people driving at nite. One of my least favorite things to do is to drive in unfamiliar surroundings at nite when the lights from cars and other attention grabbers blind you to direction signs. I stopped at the desk to find out what my best approach would be to find these tickets and get back before we had to leave for our first adventure. (Sorry, our second adventure; I am about to describe my first adventure in Opryville.) I explained what tickets I needed to find. The sweet young lady said, "you should take our complimentary shuttle, the parking costs down there are very high" (Down there is about a mile away). "They are pretty much together and the people there can help you find your way from one to another". Please understand that up until about 15 minutes past this point, I was under the gross misconception that this whole thing was one big building with a boat parked out back on the river, although before we left Knoxville, a friend had said, "It's really big over there". The shuttle dropped me off what I now understand as the convention center. (Blue in the upper right.) (Oh, I found this map this morning.) So I entered under the huge lit up "carport" expecting to find a desk with very helpful people to direct me quickly to my quest. No so! I wandered down hallways desperately looking for people who looked like they worked there. Finally I found myself in what I now know is the Delta where "a river runs through it", and people were buying tickets to ride a "riverboat" around the inside of this building????? I got the attention of one of the ticket sellers, simply asking for someone who could help me find my destinations. She said, go around this corner, take the elevator up one floor , turn left and take the black and white hallway. Sounded simple enough. I found the elevator, punched 2 and off I went to wrap this thing up. Got off the elevator and found myself in the middle of radiating hallways to rooms. No black and white hallway in sight. In fear of really getting swallowed up, I jumped back on the elevator with some ladies who were on their way to the 4th floor, saying " I have no idea where I'm going"... They just smiled sweetly (you know people don't talk on elevators). After they got off I punched 1 to retrace my steps. When I got off, there I was on another floor just like 2 with no black and white hallway. Now, my momma didn't raise no dummy. My steel trap mind quickly grasped the fact that I had really started on floor "0". I punched "0" and there I was back by the place I had entered. I was really desperate by now. Using my keenly sharpened navigational skills, I remembered that on the way here in the shuttle, I had seen signs marked "General Jackson". It was time to renegotiate with myself. The goal had been reduced to finding our tickets to the General Jackson cruise which now was about 2 hours away and get back to the room in time to rush back over here (wherever "here" is) to board the riverboat. So I retraced until I found a General Jackson sign which pointed to what I thought was "through the woods". Surely since my advisors had said they were close together, unless they had really dropped me off in Hendersonville, I would find the river and General Jackson just up the path. On my way across a footbridge, I ran into a bunch of kids and could see "Opry Mills" signs in the distance to the left. Until about 20 minutes past this time, I had assumed Opry Mills was some seperate thing "up the road", I now know that it is apparently the mall. I asked these kids where the General Jackson was. The first girl pointed (I now know) in the right direction while her friends pointed 90 degrees to the right. About that time a guy (either iraque, pakastani, or something of that ilk) in a uniform came across the bridge. Then kids said, "do you work here?" As he answered in the affirmative, I could see that the next few minutes where going to be a challenge for these old midwestern ears. The kids left me in his hands, as I asked him my most important question, "how far is it?" Once we established what "far" meant to both of us, he pointed toward the right (where the kids had directed me). "You see those cars all lined up over therrre?" Pointing about a quarter mile off across the mall parking lot to cars bumper to bumper heading to the right. I acknowledged the cars. "Eats about one half mile from therrre, do you have a car?" "Not here". "I have a car, I will take you there and bring you back here"... Oh boy; dilemma again. I'm thinking, with that line of cars, we could be hours... Although I want to trust this guy, I have heard too many stories of people being hijacked in situations like this. (The last story was from a guy in the parking lot in Knoxville who needed some money because he was just back from Iraq and some people gave him a ride from Sevierville and stole his $1200. We chose to not believe him because we couldn't figure out why he wasn't at a police station rather than in Calhoun's parking lot down by the Tennessee River.) With those thought swirling in my head, I thanked him ( he may still be standing there with that bewildered look on his face), and started out on foot across the parking lot (to the right (that's important). I got to the line of traffic and found a sign to the General Jackson..... pointing to the left. Now I began the second half mile of my trek, walking down the road against that line of traffic, til I finally got to the General Jackson which was "behind" the mall right where the first girl had said. That was probably a quarter mile from where I met the kids on the bridge. Got our tickets then set my compass to return to where the shuttle had dropped me off. Since I had decided that I was now on the other side of the mall that I had seen when leaving my drop off spot, I headed through the mall. I entered through the "Apple Barn". When we had returned from Pigeon Forge, my sister had said, Don't miss the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge. Unfortunately, we had already missed it, but here's another one. ( we'll check it out today or tomorrow). I navigated through this huge mall, across the parking lot, down the path through the trees and really did see the welcome sign for a convention where the shuttle had dropped me off. I called for the shuttle, thus ending my first adventure.

Got back to the Hyatt Place where I received really simple directions to the General Jackson. Sat down for a few minutes to update Georgia. (She will have to read this to find out the gory details; I obvously write in more detail than I talk.) We got ourselves together a bit, me foregoing the shower and change of clothes I had planned, and off we went for our cruise. We got to the boat just in time to board, missing our opportunity to have our picture taken and along with that the chance to buy the $25 photo package. We were of course the last people at our table, so sat with our backs to the stage. Met some very nice people. A young couple with 3 girls from Hendersonville, another local couple (I think he is a farmer), and 2 couples from Savannah, Ga. Obvously they all had to put up with our accent, but we enjoy swapping lies and convictions. The great meal was served family style. Between the meal there was time to go out on the (cold) deck and watch Nashville go by. Before we turned around to return, we were made aware that the Lady J (Alan Jackson's yacht) was out partying. As we passed by, they honked and waved at us. It was about this point that we realized that in our haste, we had each left our camera. I finally remembered that I had my phone and it contained a camera, but I'll have to wait til I get home to my adaptor to get them in a useful state other than e-mailing them... and their not worth e-mailing to everyone. We went back in to see a really great Christmas show with tributes to Tina Turner (Yes we all sang "rollin on the river"). Elton John who did a bunch of oldies and Christmas tunes, and Elvis who started it off with "Blue Christmas"... They were all terrific. We got off the boat about midnight and wandered back to our room. At this time of nite the traffic was slim, so I felt a bit more safe in taking uncharted turns. After all, I had previously walked all over this place and had several landmarks in my mind. We stumbled onto the entrance of the Gaylord Hotel (Pictures below) I don't think we have ever seen so many lights on one tree (after tree after tree). The lighted white nativity was stunning also. I have posted a few pictures here . There are more if you can find me on facebook. So after a trying start, the evening turned out great, though chilly. I seemed to have more energy than usual. Probably that hike that got my juices stirred and my hips aching. Finding no one else "up and about" on my cyberspaces, I read Greg's apology (you must understand the meaning of apologetics to know why I used the term apology) on his blog and had to comment before going to bed. I hope I didn't do him a dis-service by using that term. After all, language arts is his field, not mine.

Now I'm off to see what this place looks like in the daylight.

Our home in Knoxville, more trees, and Dollywood

We'll start this one by giving you a little more idea of our local surroundings. I had posted a site showing a generic room here at the Residence Hall on Andy Holt Drive, but Georgia took some pictures of our apartment showing the living room and the view out our windows. We are on the second floor, but remember that this ain't flat Illinois, so we actually have a door that opens on ground level from our apartment which makes moving stuff in and out a lot easier than navigating the hallways, stairs and elevators. Did I tell you about the fire drill we had the other nite??? I have also included the Aquatic Center across the street where the US Olympic diving team prepared for the games this summer, our parking garage and a couple of views of the vet school coming down across the bridge on my walk to "work". We did snap a picture of the Vols football stadium which is next door to the building where they play basketball, just down the street. You see names like Pat Summit, Bruce Pearl, and Peyton Manning (who has a drive named after him here). We weren't able to make it out Saturday, so I OD'd on college football, including witnessing embarassing losses by 2 of "my" 3 orange clad teams. Sunday, we headed southeast to the Smokeys and the triad of Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Gatlinburg, which at one time were places we just passed through on our way between Indiana and Georgia. Well, you don't just "pass thru" any more. We were there about 45 minutes after leaving our apartment, but once we left I-40, it was pretty much stop and go all the way. We never made it to Gatlinburg because we decided to stop at Dollywood. The scenery in and around that place was phenominal. We supposedly hit the last fall weekend in the Smokeys. AND, the first Christmas weekend at Dollywood (Christmas season started last Friday). Don't know much about the rest of the year, but although we thought the admission price was outlandish, the shows we got to see were worth the price to us... These people do up Christmas. Of course, Christmas is a big thing in our family, right guys???

One week nearly down

It's Thursday evening. The first week of our stint at the University of Tennessee is nearly finished. I have had the opportunity of working with some really great people, from veterinary students to imaging residents and faculty I have met for the first time, to a couple of radiologists I have known for lots of years. I walk across this huge bridge to work each morning and back each evening. At noon, I eat at the vet school food place called the "munch box". A perfect place to find good, quick food, if you aren't too interested in decor. I can't talk about our locums without talking about eating out. Sunday nite, we went a couple of blocks to the "strip" which is equivalent to the CU "campus town". and ate at a Chicago style pizza place.... So original for folks from Illinois. Monday nite we venture on the Kingston Pike to find the Kroger store and someplace to eat. We found a Panera across from Kroger. I know, we have Panera at home, but we are just warming up. Then Tuesday we wanted to visit the "Fresh Market" http://www.thefreshmarket.com/ which we had been told about and find somewhere to eat. If you stumble onto a Fresh Market in the eastern US, be sure to check it out, but don't dare go in there if you are hungry. OMG what neet (and expensive) stuff. We couldn't figure out why there was such a line at Ben and Jerry's next door. I found out later that if you showed up with your "I Voted" sticker, you got a free dip of ice cream. As we left there trying to decide where to eat, I saw a sign ... "Bravo". If you read my blogs from Michigan State, you'll know that all I had to do was mention the Bravo sign and we were there. As ususal, it was a fantastic meal. For Wednesday nite we got a tip about Calhouns http://www.calhouns.com/ Mmmm good. Georgia said it was the best barbecue she's ever eaten. I'm prejudiced enough toward Lil Porgy's that I couldn't quite call it the best, but it was really good. Tonite we were invited out. We spent the evening as guests of 4 veterinary radiologists at the Tomato Head http://www.thetomatohead.com/ which is an Italian place in the "Old City". The Old City is a downtown renovation project that is becoming a really neet place. The Tomato Head has apparently been there for several years. Again, a fantastic place to eat. We got to eat outside under an awning with colored lights strung around the edges... Think Georgia enjoyed that????? To top it off, One of the radiologists, a former faculty member at the University of Tennessee and another, a former faculty member of the University of Florida, have a business, reading images for practicing veterinarians. They both are pilots and fly back and forth between their homes in Florida and Knoxville. He was a Georgia veterinary student when we first went to Georgia in 1969 and became a radiologist after graduation. Well, we told stories. We reminded each other of past shenanigans of each other and other people. It was also really neet because all of the radiologists there had some kind of connection to many of the people we were discussing. It was a really great time, with or without the really good food. Now we are trying to decide what to do with this weekend. It seems that this is the last weekend for the fall colors in the Smokys and we are only about 40 miles from Sevierville (Dollywood) and Pigeon Forge. We are hoping to find a pleasant place to visit without waiting in long traffic lines. We'll see. This weekend is Homecoming Football just down the road, so hopefully we can get out of town before that hits.

Blaze of Glory

To continue from the Creation Museum, we left the building via the "Lakeside Grill" and ran into really neet gardens. So here are a few more pictures as we left. Then came another blessing.

When discussing this trip, we considered that we would see great fall colors. We had not idea. As we passed through Eastern Kentucky and Northeast Tennessee we saw color. Although I think Georgia did a great job of snapping pictures in our "fly by" photo journaling that you should be used to by now, I'm not sure we still captured the beauty. As we drove, we realized that although we had traversed Kentucky and Tennessee many times in our treks from Indiana and Illinois to Georgia and Florida and back, we had never traveled through here during this time of year. I'm sure Barb and Gary in their "Go Tucky" jaunts are used to seeing what we saw this trip. Although we've never seen it, I'm not sure New England can be any prettier. We pulled into Knoxville near dusk to meet our host at the small animal clinic. (The Tennessee River is to our back as we face the entrance.) Out in front is a replica of the monument to the "war dogs" (Dobermans) who gave their lives in service on Guam during world war II. http://www.olive-drab.com/od_wardogs_memorials.php

We were guided to our apartment in Andy Holt Apartments, a University of Tennessee facility for upper classmen and graduate students. You can see some pictures at the following (sans the twin beds). http://good-times.webshots.com/album/93288062KiMTrM It is walking distance, across a bridge to the vet school. The only problem we ran into to this point is parking... A real nightmare. (typical of campus life.) The people at UT are great. Ran into a couple of old friends and made several new ones. We'll see if I can keep the new ones for another day today. Another fun experience afforded by our brand of retirement.

Been there- done that!

We did it! We got to the Creation Museum. What a trip. I would probably have set up the first encounter a bit different, cause we were presented with making decisions for which we had no basis, but once we got in the flow it was pretty cool. The basis of the self-guided tour is the "7 C's" (http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/docs/7cs.asp) Obviously the whole thing is held up by the fact that our beginning is in accordance with Genesis 1:1. Some of the main themes were as follows: 1. an understanding of the universe as shown via a planetarium presentation which was awesome, 2. the Genesis flood including a huge section on Noah's ark. You can see here some of the inhabitants of the ark. I think that's Noah and Mrs. Noah between the lions and the zebras. 3. the Garden of Eden, the fall of man and the result for man and beast. 4. A very large portion was of course the dinosaurs which seem to be a linchpin of the theory of evolution because they aren't mentioned in the bible (but wait; beomoth -Job 40:15-24; and leviathan-Psalms 104:24-26 ya think?) Anyway, much time and effort is spent to bring the dinosaurs into perspective with creation and the flood. They are, however, pretty scary beasts as you can see here. The grounds were beautiful with many streams rippling down through rocks to the main body of water that flows beside the Lakeside Grill. We didn't have time to see it all, but what we saw was great and inspiring. It is amazing to look through history to see just to what extreme men went to try to ignore or deny the existence of God!