The War Zone

Last Wednesday, I went to pick up Maya from daycare because Chris was out of town. Maya and I were doing a bit of shopping when we got a warning that a severe storm might be headed our way. We made a dash for home, but we got caught. High winds and golf ball sized hail. It sounded like someone was beating on the car with a baseball bat. I think Maya was less scared than I was, especially after the front window started cracking. We took four hard hits to the passenger side--fortunately none to the driver's side. The roof and hood look like someone beat on them with a ball-peen hammer. Our car is in the shop for a couple of weeks while things get fixed. The pictures I took don't really do justice to the damage.

Louisville and Susan's Aunt

On the return trip from Tennessee, we made a detour through Louisville to visit Susan's aunt Frances. She and Susan are very close and we don't get to see her as often as we'd like, She always treats us royally whenever we visit. She is another of our long-lived, active relatives that we hope to emulate. Here is a picture I took during the visit.

Our Last Day in the Smokies

On Friday Ron and I went to play golf. Ron played very well, but enough about golf. Everyone else went on a hike/tour of a historical trail within the park and then hiked up to another waterfall. Apparently this hike was less onerous than the one we did on Tuesday (the trail was paved!!) Because I was playing golf, Susan got to experiment with our new camera. As you can see, her pictures are outstanding.

Here's a picture of sunrise on our last day at the cabin.

More from the Tennessee Vacation.

Believe it or not, there is an aquarium in Sevierville, Tennessee (and it's a good one). On Thursday, we went to take a look. Maya had a blast and the rest of us enjoyed watching both her and the fish.

Here are some pictures

There was one really odd fish.

That night we went to the Dixie Stampede. Maya loved the Blue Grass band and later got a close up look at one of the riders and her horse--but not too close.

We Decided not to Stay at this Motel

The Biltmore Estate

On Wednesday, we drove down to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate. It is (or at least used to be) the largest home in America with 255 rooms (and 43 bathrooms). Only a fraction of the home is on display, but it is a fabulous glimpse into the Gilded Age. The house was built by the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the original American "Robber Barons." Vanderbilt made his money in shipping and more famously by owning the New York Central Railroad. His grandson made regular visits to the Asheville area and decided to build a home there. The Biltmore Estate is still owned by the family (their last name is now Cecil because the grandson had no male descendants). The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in New York. The estate covers 8,000 acres and is still a working farm.

Some pictures of the front of the building.

A view of the hills behind the house.

Some of the grounds:

Some family pictures

We also saw some beautiful vistas on the return trip.

The Ramsey Cascades Death March

I decided to accompany Tim and Ron on a hike up to the Ramsey Cascade, one of the many waterfalls in the Smokey Mountains National Park and the tallest at 100 feet. Four miles in and four miles back. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. I forgot to mention the 2000 foot elevation change. About 500 feet of it comes in the last 1000 yards. Going up was a load for my heart and lungs and coming down really tested my quads and calves--I still can't easily walk up and down stairs two days later. Tim kept a close eye on me, stopping to take pictures whenever I had to slow down. The scenery was beautiful and the cascade was as pretty as advertised. I took about 80 frames, mostly on the way up. (Tim took about 400--a measure of how much he had to wait on me.)

Here are some samples:

It was a perfect day 

 

Here are some shots of the stream that runs by the trail

And a picture of the cascades themselves, at least the upper part.

I also tried some "art" shots. I'm trying to learn how to use my new camera to its fullest. It's going to take a while.

First Day in the Smokies

It's pretty dreary today and we got around a little late--OK, I got around a little late, but hey, I'm on vacation. Here's a first picture of the Smokies in the morning. It's easy to see how they got their name.

We went out to an exotic animal petting farm so Maya could see and feed some animals. She got to pet a pygmy goat.

She fed some goats.

She also fed some miniature horses.

But her favorite was feeding apples to the Reindeer.

Our cousins arrive tonight, but I think we are probably going to stay close to the cabin on account of the weather.

There will be more pictures tomorrow. I think we are going hiking.

My New Toy

I got a new camera this week. My Nikon S6 takes really great pictures--as long as the subject remains perfectly still. Unfortunately grandchildren do not remain that way very long. Plus I missed the flexibility that my old Pentax gave me to change the exposure and fiddle with the way my shots looked. So, I bought a Sony Alpha (Chris and Tim have a similar model and if  you've seen their pictures you know it is a very good camera--in the right hands). 

I haven't had a chance to try everything out yet (no grandchildren have crossed my path since I got the camera), but I'm beginning to learn the camera's capabilities. Here are some frames I shot in the last few days. The puppy got a haircut that needed recording and there were some more or less willing models available. Plus I wanted to record the first blooms from our Bradford pear and show how attractive our Yapon holly is (we have two, one on either side of the house).