Movies Downtown

With John and his boys visiting his parents in Tuscaloosa, AL, I spent most of my weekend setting up a Peru photo gallery for our website and culling through over 800 photos to add to the gallery. The result of a weekend's labor of love is 161 photos that most represent our journey. Now, if I can just get each picture captioned I will connect the gallery to the web...maybe by next weekend??!! (http://www.outandback.org).

Friday night, Leslie and I grabbed our lawn chairs and went downtown to Market Square to spend a delightful evening under the stars watching the incomparable Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." 'Movies at Market Square' is a new event for Knoxville in an on going effort to draw people downtown. An estimated 700 people enjoyed a free evening of entertainment. Attendance at the weekly event is growing and the city is making noise about a movie schedule for Spring and Fall 2005. Lucky Knoxvillians! The website is http://www.moviesatmarketsquare.com . Next Friday , "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

See you at the movies....

Fall 2004

Fall arrived at 12:30 pm. Hurry up crisp nighttime temperatures and brightly colored leaves.

Welcome Fall...

Has it been only a week since vacation's end? Feels like a month. Camping equipment is clean, stored and waiting for the next adventure, as yet uncommitted to. Amazing how fast I slide back into the old routine of work, chores and not enough play...from my perspective anyway!

In case you don't keep up with college football, UT beat arch rival Univ. of Florida on Saturday night. The score was 30 to 28. UT-FL football is just not the same without UT's nemesis, Steve Spurrier. John and I watched the game with my family; we missed watching Steve throw his visor, jump up and down and twist his face in unnatural expressions. Alas, Coach Phil Fullmer must have breathed a sigh of relief, the team squeaked by another year. Of course there is some question about illegal clock use at the end of the game that allowed UT to score the winning field goal.

We do not usually attend UT football activities but had no plans for Saturday so we decided to go to the riverfront to see that was goin' on. Activities were minimal so we strolled on the boardwalk, ate hot dogs and barbecue from Calhoun's outdoor stand and settled into a swing (on the boardwalk) to do some serious people watching. The Vol flotilla, usually an impressive display of money and horsepower, was small. On Thursday, the Coast Guard issued a stong warning against boating on the Tennessee River until the effects of Hurricane (tropical storm) Ivan subside. Water levels on Saturday were still high and the current, very swift. Five hours before the game, loyal Vol fans were out in mass, parading their amazing orange outfits up and down the boardwalk. Frightening what some people will wear in public.

Over the weekend, Hurricane Ivan also made his presence known on I-40 at mile marker 4, just over the TN-NC state line. High water levels in the Pigeon River washed away a 180' stretch of the right hand lane of the Interstate, east. The entire interstate was closed with plans to open one lane on each side by Monday. Repairs are expected to take at least 6 months.

This could derail our usual Asheville Christmas trip:-((...



Downtown Knoxville from the Gay Street Bridge

Calhoun's on the River, game day

Darn That Neighbor's Cat!

Mowed part of the yard this evening before I ran out of gasoline. Hmmm, thought I had tanked up after my last mow in preparation for the dastardly deed awaiting my return from Canada.

My neighbor's cat has taken to pooping in my yard. Dog poop is easy to spot but cat poop gives no notice, it just sneaks up on the mower tires and squishes into the tread. This is the same cat that spends the winter stalking hungry birds at my birdfeeder and leaving dead bunnies under my porch in the spring. I sure do dislike my neighbor's cat!

I have dreams about what I can do to that cat...

Home Again, Home Again

Weary and trail worn, we are home from Canada. Our travels did not go exactly as planned due to the ever changing weather! Pelted with rain, sleet, lots of snow, ice, winds and more rain, we felt relief mixed with sadness when it was time to leave. The incredible Canadian Rockies made for great adventures; the backcountry of Banff National Park, Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park and Kootenay National Park did not disappoint us...when we could see beyond the clouds, rain, snow and ice. Calgary energized us with its big city atmosphere, great shopping and 137 miles of greenways while Banff charmed us with its Apsenlike feeling. And the food, vacation is always about great food!

Now the drudgery of clean-up and and put-up, the end result of any great vacation. I will drag this part of the adventure out through next weekend, maybe longer if I get lazy! My grass is knee high and other chores await. Oh how I wish vacations lasted longer....

Almost Canada

My alarm will go off in 5.5 hours and I am not even sleepy. Hard to believe our Canadian trip is almost a reality. After 2 years of planning and a "scratch" last year due to fire, we are packed and ready to go! Unlike Peru, which was a total guess, this has been an easier trip to prepare for.

Barbara Allen, one of our traveling companions, was stopped at the airport today and forced to leave her empty stove and fuel bottles with United Airlines. We hope we are not likewise stopped. Our stove has not been used since Memorial Day and the empty fuel bottles have been sitting open for days. The group has discussed the possibility of renting or buying cooking equipment in Canada if we are unable to travel with ours. Needless to say, this is an expense we would prefer not to incur.

Happy Trails...

Greek Fest 2004

Frantic preparations for our Canadian Rockies backpack have consumed the day. With departure just 3.5 days away, we are checking and double checking our food list and re-analyzing our gear. The long range weather forecast in Banff indicates a moderate chance of rain every day with temperatures ranging from 59 high to 36 low. The mountains should be colder and we could experience snow. I find it difficult to think about snow in late August when the temperature is 87 outside.

Respite from packing came through an evening of music and food at Greek Fest in the Park 2004. The festival is usually held in October but with the 2004 Olympics in Athens, we figure the festival was moved forward to take advantage of the focus on Greece. A change in venue, from St. George Greek Orthodox Church to the World's Fair Park, provided space to expand food and activities. A number of events were added including a big "kids corner,"which incorporated the park's dancing fountains, a much improved Greek Straw Market with art, religious merchandise and jewelry and live Greek music by Pavlo. The usual youth group dancers performed but the incredible food and pastries were still the main event.

Mike, Leslie and I arrived at 5:00 pm, in the heat of the afternoon. John and his son Lee had planned to join us but a family emergency demanded their time elsewhere. We enjoyed Greek salads, a gyro sandwich for me and Spanakopita for Leslie and Mike. After a shopping spree through the pastry line for take home boxes of baklava, finikia, chocolate floyeres, kourambiethes, and koulourakia, we enjoyed baklava sundaes (soft service ice cream with shredded baklava, syrup and whipped cream). I am really glad Greek Fest comes only once a year!

By all appearances, the change in location was a great success. Maybe 2-3 times the usual number of festival attendees were milling about eating, shopping and listening to music. A grassy space provided seating on the ground near the stage while a huge tent offered protection from the hot sun. The number of people under the tent and the lack of breeze caused the tent to be a hotter environment than standing in the sun. Next year, maybe some fans...

Leslie and Mike, under the Big Tent

The crowds watching Greek dancing

Lots of yummy food at Greek Fest '04

Playing in the World's Fair Park fountain

Festive Greek Dancing

Talking While Walking

John, Leslie and I walked on the Lakeshore Greenway tonight. Aside from the pure enjoyment of watching an incredible sunset, I was most fascinated by a woman walking alone who appeared to be having an animated conversation with herself. Lakeshore is a mental facility so I reasoned this could be normal for her but on closer inspection, I noticed the ear bud attached to a phone in her hand and the microphone hanging on her chest. Guess that solves the problem of walking alone....

Grandfather Mountain is always an adventure and yesterday's hike did not disappoint us. The last time we were on the mountain was in 2002 for a never-to-be forgotten rainy, foggy backpack. Weather forecasts for yesterday indicated partly cloudy skies but this mountain clearly has a mind of it's own. Once again we found ourselves hiking in heavy fog with visibility as low as 50% at times. Gee...at least it wasn't raining.

We had 4 people sign on for the hike including John and me. No one was interested in driving including me, but, as trip leader I had no choice. Without a second car for a shuttle we changed our plans to hike only as far as Calloway Peak (5964", the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway). Our route would be out and back on Grandfather Trail.

We started hiking uphill immediately out of the Visitors Center parking lot. Our hike to the peak covered only 2.4-miles (one way) and took us 3 challenging hours to complete. In our path were numerous obstacles including several sets of ladders, a rock wall called "The Chute:, the narrows and several other peaks and meadows. Unfortunately, the spectacular views from Grandfather Mountain were mostly lost in a sea of fog with only occasional glimpses of the mountains and valleys beyond.

Nan Woodbury, a regular hiker with the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, joined our hike for a change of hiking venue. She fell in love with the western North Carolina Mountains as do most people who have spent much of their hiking career in the Smokies. The North Carolina mountain trails tend to be unforgiving with their demanding rock step-ups, fewer switchbacks and rugged terrain. And did we mention the incredible views (in clear conditions)? Jim Niemeyer, an occasional hiker with SC, also hiked with us. He seemed to have a great time too.

Our return hike took under three hours since much of the distance was downhill. Roundtrip driving time to and from the mountain was 6 hours, almost breaking the rule of "not driving longer than you hike"...


Fog and the mountain

John climbing Grandfather Mountain

The Narrows, Nan and Jim

John ladder climbing to Calloway Peak

Calloway Peak, from back to front: John, Nan and Jim

Clouds obscure the incredible scenery

Rainy Day Saturday...

Summer thunderstorms dominated today's weather with occasional bouts of sunshine. John and I took advantage of a small window of sunshine to go walking on the Will Skelton greenway. Half mile into our walk the skies opened and we found ourselves in the midst of a rain shower. Do we go back to the car or do we go on? We chose to go on.

The rain did not let up. We grumbled a bit and finally gave into the moment. Splashing in puddles, pushing, shoving, laughing and playing. Two soaking wet, scraggly looking oversized kids completed their 3.5-mile and returned to the car holding hands.

Rainy day Saturdays always make me smile!

Smithposts...

This is my first post to Smithposts. This blogger based journal is the place for family news, thoughts, opinions and lots of photographs. It's going to be an interesting adventure!