Travel

Last Second Family Photo

Goodbye Kentucky. Hello Tennessee

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JJ and I woke up on Monday and were greeted with the smells of a home cooked country breakfast. My grandmother always waits until the last day to outdo herself on breakfast. She cooked eggs, biscuits, sausage, bacon, grits and pancakes. After we we were completely stuffed, we packed the rest of our things, took a couple of photos and hit the road for Tennessee.

Last Second Family Photo

It took us about six hours to get Gatlinburg. Having to drive through Nashville, I took the time to try to convert JJ to country music. I didn’t have that much luck but we listened to this song so many times that I think that it grew on her.

The girls were thrilled when JJ arrived.

The back door of our cabin opened up to a great balcony and we sat out here pretty much every night. Ronnie and the crew saw a bear as soon as they arrived. We were not so lucky!

View from the balcony.

Looking for bears.

We spent the first night hanging out and catching up with everyone at the chalet. Even though everyone lives only 30 minutes away, we really don’t get to see each other that often. The chalet was 3 stories with a game room and hot-tub on the bottom floor. We ended up staying up really late enjoying micro-brewed beer and the hot-tub.

The next few days were spent shopping, sightseeing, and hiking. I have tons of images to go through and will post a few of them tomorrow~!

A doe that didn't really like me in the field.

New Concord,KY

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After leaving Hattiesburg at 4:30 A.M., we arrived in New Concord around 11:30.  We always try to arrive before my grandmother expects us and this time was no different.  We were about 5 hours early.  We got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle on Wednesday and then waved goodbye to them on Thursday morning.  I try to get out and explore the area every time we come up.  I did have some photo luck and on Friday got to see two big bucks in velvet.  Sunday afternoon was the only day that I really missed a good shot.  A doe and her fawn(no more than a week old) wondered out in front of me but ran away before I could get a shot.

A doe that didn't really like me in the field.

The area around my grandparents is filled mainly with corn and tobacco fields. It is pretty easy to spot deer in the tobacco fields. There are also a couple of cow pastures that I regular visit to try and catch deer crossing.

I left on Friday morning heading to one of my fields and I was in the process of checking my camera settings and driving down the road(Not that unsafe if you knew the population up here) when these two crossed the road. I really wish that I could have gotten a better photo of the monster buck that I saw cross in front of me. I did get closeup of his running buddy. I think that the buck that was running across the road was the same way I captured on the deer camera in January.

Monster buck in velvet.

No Fear Deer. I am probably about 15 yards away.

This may be the same deer that is crossing the road.

My grandparents actually live outside of New Concord and as you can see from the next couple of photos that there isn’t much to New Concord. The next biggest city is Murray, which is about 25 minutes away.

The New Concord Post Office

Once upon a time this was the general store.

I really was hoping for some new shots of the bald eagles but never saw them this trip. The area around the lake is so grown up that I really didn’t spend much time there.

These guys were plentiful but quite elusive. You could hear them scuttling through the brush as you hiked and I just happened to catch both of these in the front yard.

Kentucky Lizard

Kentucky Lizard II

We got to spend some great time with my grandparents. We were able to attend mass twice with them and that is always a treat. We also were able to catch up with our friend Billie from Korea. On Saturday night we met up with him and I had pizza and beer at a local sports bar.

Today was a lazy rainy day and after early mass and great homemade fried chicken we took naps and then woke up for coffee and the World Cup. JJ and I will leave after a country breakfast in the morning and make our way to Gatlinburg, TN. We have a good 5 and half hour drive ahead of us but are looking forward to arriving and visiting with our friends who arrived yesterday.

A composite shot of some of the rocket's red glare.

Lazy Fourth and Road Trip

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We got up and went to Mass on Sunday morning.  Well, actually I went to Mass, JJ works in the nursery. We lounged around the house in the afternoon and then went out to pick up some new clothes for our trip this week. Around 9 p.m. we drove over to a parking lot to watch the firework display that Temple Baptist Church was hosting.

A composite shot of some of the rocket's red glare.

Our plan is to leave on Wednesday morning heading to New Concord, Kentucky where we will get to visit with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle. My aunt and uncle are returning home on Thursday and we have plans to stay with my grandparents until Sunday. On Sunday we will head out to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. My good friend has rented a cabin at a resort in Gatlinburg and we plan on staying there until Thursday. On Thursday we will come home via Atlanta. JJ and I are both extremely excited about going through Atlanta as we will stop at an Hmart! I have heard that you can find pretty much every kind of Korean food at Hmart. We have started a huge list of items that we need and we will probably drop at least a couple of hundred dollars on Korean food.

We don’t really know what the agenda will hold for Gatlinburg. I hope to get out and go take some photos and maybe do some hiking as well.

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Birthdays, Barbeques, and Books

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We had a small celebration for JJ’s birthday on Friday night. My mother outdid herself with king crab legs and a cake from C’Est La Vie

We traveled to Madison to visit with friends for Memorial Day. It was a great chance to catch up and meet some new people as well.

The last few weeks I have knocked out a few books that I have been meaning to read. I am trying to spend more and more time reading and less time surfing/reading blogs/twittering/wasting time.

Adding a plug-in for the Facebook like button(See Below). I am also working on a couple more pages for this blog mainly Korean language links and books!~

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