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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Leaving For Tennessee To See Gary and Ann

Day 01

Today we embark on our, what seems to be, our triennial visit (2011, 2014, 2017) to see our good friends Gary and Ann in Crossville Tennessee. The map above shows our first leg of the trip.

Our first ever experience with AirBnB. Looks very interesting!

 This trip marks our first experience with Airbnb. I have reserved a room in a beautiful old southern mansion in Simpsonville, near Louisville Kentucky for our first night's stay. CLICK HERE for the Airbnb ad.

Our room, the Lavender Room.

We love to get off the beaten track and hit the back roads, so this is our first and only stopover after 8 hours driving. As usual our first day covers the main highways. The next morning we plan to visit the Costco in Louisville before exploring our way through Kentucky and arriving at our destination around 3 pm. We look forward to meeting our hosts Diana and Larry.

Internet File Photo from Airbnb, Larry now has a beard.

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Too Nice to Close.

Tomorrow morning we leave to drive down to Tennessee to see Gary and Ann in Crossville. The pool just looks too good to close before we go, so that will have to happen when we get back.  In the meantime Tim and Erin will remain here to look after things.
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Little Baby Timmy And My Dear Wendy.

BEFORE (Click to see the original scan as a bitmap file)

AFTER

This is an example of what can be done with a scanner and Photoshop. This priceless old picture (1977), although taken in bright sunshine with plenty of dark shadow, was revived and saved as a digital file. The pictures below are zoomed in to show the damage and how it was brushed out.

Lots of scratches and marks on the original faded print.

Greatly improved picture, renewed to better than new.

I intend to purchase a new scanner soon and as a winter project, scan in the hundreds of old photos that are fading away in the basement.
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Stay Tuned - I've Been Busy!

Please be patient... I'm working on it!
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