A New Day

Those three words mean so much! A lot has happened since I last had time to blog. I left off with turning on the generator and just sleeping peacefully in the RV for the night. How was I to know of a city ordinance in Pigeon Forge that doesn't allow motor homes to park in parking lots with generators running. I have no idea how long the police officer had been outside, but I finally woke up to a whirlwind of flashlights and patrol lights accompanied by a knock on the door. After finally getting dressed, putting my glasses on, and looking somewhat presentable, I answered the door. The office was very nice and told us the bad news. I decided to just let the boys continue sleeping and finally around 2:00 AM I pulled out on to the main drag in Pigeon Forge and drove up the street to find a room for the next two nights. It was a nightmare getting the sleeping boys into the room! They woke up to strange surroundings and wondered what in the world had happened! I just played like I didn't know what they were talking about. The joke was on them! Haha

We spent yesterday making up for all the misery the night before. First thing of the morning, I took the boys out to the pool and let them swim. We were the first ones to arrive at the pool which was no surprise to me. Then two ladies about 75 years old came to swim. Both of them nearly fell down the steps into the pool, which scared the you-know-what out of me! I offered to help them out of the water when we started to leave, and they declined. I told the boys that when I am 80 years old, please don't let me swim in hotel pools. Insist that I stay in the room and study my bible, or something else worthwhile. After our swimming pool scare, we drove into Gatlinburg and took the aerial tram up to ski mountain (Ober Gatlinburg), to spend the day on top of the mountain! Once up there, we then took a lift chair up to the lookout mountain and enjoyed the scenery of TN and NC, while listening to some fabulous bluegrass music provided by the Country Tones. Once back down the lift chair, we went inside and the boys went ice skating. I thought about going myself, but finally counted about 300 reasons NOT to put the skates on! After a while of sitting, I struck up a conversation with a retired Baptist pastor and his wife who were from Kentucky. What a delightful couple they were and I so enjoyed chatting with them about the things of God. (That reminds me, I need to mail them a couple of CDs later today.) Around 7:30 we started down the mountain and drove back to Pop's Catfish and Chicken in Pigeon Forge. Colton and I ate until we got what I call a "greasy headache". Once back at the hotel, I took the boys swimming again, and then it was bedtime!

Today we woke up, packed, checked out, and drove to Strawberry Plains, TN (east Knoxville area). There is an RV place across the street from the hotel where I made an appointment for in the morning to have the fresh water hose repaired. Let's pray it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get fixed. I wouldn't want to see Colton or Spencer give up their baseball careers just for an auto repair. Just kidding! We found a bbq place on the side of the road that actually offered seating inside. At first, we didn't know for sure if we could go in. The bbq was very good! A trip to an ATM, and the indoor swimming pool rounded out the afternoon's activities. Tate is taking a much needed nap. Spencer is in the workout room trying to "get into shape" for upcoming football season. He leaves us to go back home next Thursday night, for a month of pre-season practices before football season begins. Colton is upstairs washing everyone's clothes. The reason he's doing it, I am sure, is to get his cell phone back. (It has something to do with what happened at the indoor pool.) Don't they realize there are security cameras nearly everywhere we go in public?

Kim's flight arrives into Knoxville around 7:00 tonight! We are beside ourselves and can't wait to see her mom. Tomorrow I am teaching an all-day music workshop (of which I need to finish up studying for tonight), and I'm sure the boys will have things planned with friends in Knox-vegas, and Kim will probably hit a mall with a girlfriend.