Black Cats Love Halloween

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Taffy and Stormy

"Woof! Why Can't I Go Out In The Rain?"

Gary and Ann have two lovely dogs. They are truly part of the family. Taffy above and Stormy below. Click the pic to enlarge it.

"Woof, Woof! Me Too!"

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Old Coke Sign In Whitleyville Tennessee

Click the picture to enlarge.

I snapped this weathered old relic on Sunday, October 15 on our way back home from Crossville Tennessee.
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Back To Port Huron For Mail, Then Home To London

Day 08

Back to reality, a great adventure and a week well-spent we covered a couple thousand miles and had a wonderful time seeing Gary and Ann and meeting new people along the way. We will definitely use Airbnb again. You rarely meet anyone in a hotel and the amazing places we stayed will be remembered forever. I now strongly recommend Airbnb to all my friends. MORE PICS TO FOLLOW - COME BACK

Next Stop Bryan Ohio and Father John's "Stoned Goat Inn"

Day 07

I picked this spot because it was about 5 1/2 hours from Louisville on the back roads through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Airbnb showed a church converted to an inn and it looked exciting. Located right downtown Bryan, it houses a pub and a brewery in the basement. CLICK HERE to go to their site.

Father John and his dedicated crew made sure we were successfully checked in and were persistent in their efforts to communicate in spite of our "spotty at best" mobile phone connection. (We are from Canada and our phone didn't work well on the whole trip) The old 19th century Methodist church is huge and has been converted into a great bnb complete with a very trendy and popular basement restaurant and brewery with an outdoor dining courtyard to entice you there in the warmer months. The second floor room was tastefully decorated in mostly authentic period furniture, with a comfortable new queen sized bed. We loved the fact that this property is located right down down, within a 2 block walking distance of the town square center. We look forward to returning again some day soon. 

Saying Our Goodbyes and Back To Barkinghamm Palace

 Day 06

Our trip to Tennessee has been wonderful but unfortunately our phone has not. The wifi works but the ATT connection is terrible and has never given us any indication that it will connect to the internet, even after Gary and Ann took us over to the ATT office in Crossville and had new SIM cards installed for another 22 bucks. The phones have definitly put a damper on the trip as we have come to rely on them.

Tonight we are back at the beautiful Barkinghamm Palace near Louisville Kentucky. CLICK HERE for the ad.

The Hamm's have 4 cute little Westies, thus the name Barkinghamm Palace.

Here's my second review of this lovely home:
  
As newbies to Airbnb we can't say enough about this "national treasure" we have discovered near Louisville KY.  Can new houses be listed as architecturally significant and protected for posterity?  If so, this one should go on the list.

This faithful reproduction of a nineteenth century Victorian home is the epitome of good taste and modern comfort.  This was our second visit with Larry and Diana at Barkinghamm Palace and as before, we were made to feel like family. We will certainly visit again.

It was like "coming home" as we were welcomed back to Larry and Diana's beautiful property on the return leg of our trip. We very much look forward to visiting them again soon. A lovely couple in a very amazing and lovely home. Thank you.
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On the Pontoon...

Day 05

We drove back down to Spring City today. Gary and Ann went early in the white Chevy because they have a condo meeting to attend.

We followed along in Wendy's Hyundai visiting nearby Watts Barr Dam and Locks to kill some time during the meeting. Although overcast, rain held off and it was in the mid seventies as we explored.

Built by the Tennessee Valley Association in 1942, the art deco, abandoned visitor center and power generating station sit forlornly overlooking the dam.

A turbine from the old power station serves as a monument to the now defunct hydro-electric station.

Ironically, a much more expensive and dirty nuclear station stands ominously in the distance, replacing this clean, cheap source of energy. 

No dogs allowed on the pontoon boat. Baloo (left) and Taffy (right) wait patiently with Stormy at the condo.

Untarping the pontoon, we are soon under way, we cast off and head out on the dead calm lake. The rain held off and the temperature was in the mid seventies.

Gary started the music CD and out come the snacks from Costco.

Not a boat in sight this time of the year, but Gary says even in the summer, they don't see more than a dozen or so.

Nice to get out on the water again.

There are some amazing "cottages" on this lake. The Tennessee River system of lakes allow a boater to go all the way from Knoxville to the Mississippi or to Mobile AL on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Today we'll stay closer to home Ha ha.

Some amazing cottages on the water.

Wow! Another boat!

After our boatride we returned to Crossville and went out to dinner at the Vegas Steakhouse.

Happy hour to 7 pm meant $1 draft beer and a great start on dinner. The prime rib was memorable to say the least. I had the 16 oz. size, rare. Cooked almost as good as Gary's steaks last night. I will return to this spot! CLICK HERE to see the website.

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Hi Ho, Hi Ho - Its Off To Work We Go.

Day 04

Today is a "work day" as our hosts are trying to get a lot of loose ends sewed up before they depart for Florida at the end of this month. Wendy and Ann took the new Chevy truck and Gary and I took the mint condition 1995 Ford pickup. We picked up a trailer in Gary's warehouse in Crossville and headed down to Spring City to meet the girls at the condos.

The furniture is destined for the second, more recent purchase of another identical unit two doors from the original, which they bought this summer.

Gary bought one unit beside the lake because it came with a dock for the pontoon boat which he used to keep at the marina nearby. 

Wendy gazes out at the lake past the boat wells on the flats.

The trailer had a load of furniture from another condo in Florida. They had towed it up last July and left it sitting in the storage ever since.

Big trouble... most of the furniture on the trailer was ruined by mould due to water getting into the load as they drove up from Florida through a thunderstorm. The cargo, although stored in Gary's warehouse was still wet. We took most of the ruined furniture and mattresses to the dump.

Very little was salvageable from the mould, insects and water damage. Did "Friday the 13th" have anything to do with this? Sad, but we didn't break the mirror!

After a hard days work in the beautiful 80 degree heat, back in Crossville, we relaxed with drinks and the delicious Costco steaks that we had bought in Louisville Wednesday morning.

 Gary cooked them perfectly as usual.

We all had good appetites after this long day. It was so good to see our old friends and share in their adventures.
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Exploring The Area With Gary And Ann

Day 03

Today, after a lovely breakfast, we explored around some of the places we had not seen before on previous visits. We were here first in 2011, then again in 2014. (when I lost all my pictures on the chip)  Three years apart and now 2017, but there is always something new to see in this interesting area.

One of their properties that they rent out is located in "The Cumberland Coves" Development. A huge tract of land with 68 miles of roadways through a densely forested area of mountainous terrain. Even though they own a couple properties here, they still take a map just in case.

Some spectacular building sites are located on the sides of the precipices overlooking a babbling creek. CLICK HERE to go to the web page.

Here's the blurb:

Welcome to Cumberland Cove 
Cumberland Cove is [comprised of] approximately 500 homes spread over 8,000 acres located near Monterey, Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau. Located about 90 miles west of Knoxville and 90 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee, our community offers pleasant and relaxed country living in a beautiful natural setting, with large wooded lots, attractive common park areas, and the perfect mix of neighborliness and peace and quiet.

This is what they were pointing at. What a view!

Another interesting place is the Gardens RV Village.

The houses are all designed with huge garages to accommodate even the biggest of motorhomes.

Some units have several garages to house all the toys.

Only in America?

Of course our trip wouldn't be complete without stopping at the Mennonite bulk store Country Cupboard, which has relocated to a new, larger location.

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Tennessee At Last

Day 02 
 

With lots of time to explore, I shot this "barn find" somewhere in south Kentucky.

Here's the review I left for the beautiful "Barkinghamm Palace":

Thanks again Larry and Diana for helping to make our trip so enjoyable and memorable.  Getting there is MORE than half the fun when we have a chance to meet such wonderful hosts on the way.

"Wow" will be your most frequently used word when you enter the lovely and meticulously maintained "Barkinghamm Palace".  I'll let them explain how the name evolved. Larry and Diana went out of their way to make sure our stay with them was just perfect.

We always travel off the main interstates and try to search out exceptional locations at great value. The house situated on 8 acres of forest and pond is a modern yet faithful reproduction of a Victorian mansion. The look and feel of a bygone nineteenth century era but with twenty-first century amenities. This location is so good I almost wanted to keep it secret.

The attention to detail is reflected in the spires replicating those of the legendary Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville.

Being the only visitors we were directed to park in the carport at the main entrance to the home.

After a quick visit to Costco in Louisville we began our exploratory ride down the "backroads" of Kentucky, hoping to arrive at Gary and Ann's at 4 pm. or so.

As we neared our destination, we were a few minutes behind schedule so I turned on to I-40 to catch up some time. BIG MISTAKE! The traffic came to a halt and we sat for nearly two hours on the four lane parking lot. Our phones would not work so we could not communicate our dilemma with our increasingly frantic hosts, Gary and Ann. They called home to our son Tim who then called Larry and Diana and the whole thing turned into a fiasco of major proportion with Gary nearly driven to call the Highway Patrol. Thankfully I was able to get off the clogged freeway and take a very long detour through the mountains to arrive at about 6:30 pm. What a day!

 I brought a 20 x 16 picture for Ann's Coca Cola room. I bring a new one each time I visit.

CLICK HERE to see all my Coke pictures.
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