Appalachian Journey Continues

I had done some research about places to visit. I discovered
Chimney Rock a couple of days before I left. I was watching
the movie,"The Last of the Mohicans" and was curious as to
where it was filmed. Imagine my delight when I found out
it was right in the area I was going to be staying. I stayed
in a small town named Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Chimney
Rock State Park was less than an hour away. I got up the
next morning, prepared my little ice chest, and grabbed
my back pack. Remember, I had thrown my
hiking boots into my car.

This is Chimney Rock. It was my goal of the day. There
are 500 steps leading up to it. I just took my time, and
rested frequently at platforms.

After you climb Chimney Rock, you can go on up above. I
had all day, plenty of water, and food.
This is a rock called Devil's Head. If you look closely, you
can see the resemblance.


This is looking across the other direction. It is called The
Opera Box. It was one of the coolest places I have ever
been to.

This young man works for the park system. He said he could
see everywhere up there, it was cool, and his cell phone
worked up there. I told him he had the best job on the
planet!

I could have sat there all day. There was not much room for
sitting, and people were waiting to get in there. I visited it
on the way up and down.

Just another rock shelter.

When I learned that part of The Last of Mohicans was filmed
at Chimney Rock State park. The last 17 minutes in fact.
If you know the movie, one of the most dramatic moments
is when the son of the older Indian is killed and pushed off
a water fall. The younger British sister then jumps off
as well. I wanted to see those falls. The picture above
is the stairs leading down to the trail to the falls. Down is
a key word. My knees did not like going down. Once I got down
the stairs, the trail is rather mild going to the falls. It began
to rain, but I thought it was just a short shower...........
WRONG!!! It was a deluge. I was soaked from head to toes.
I had gotten so hot going up to Chimney Rock and above.
My head was already wet from the sweat. The rain
felt so cooling at first. As it ran into my eyes, it burned.
After a while the rain rinsed my hair clean. I was so wet,
even my shoes were over flowing. When I got to the
falls I sat at a picnic table. That is when I remembered
my phone. I put my pack under the table and took
out the phone. The screen was already clouded up. I
thought it would dry out. WRONG AGAIN!!! I put it in a
ziplock with some cheese I had. My camera was still
working, thus I did get these pictures.

If you look closely, you an see the platform at the falls
was a torrent. The steps leading to that were mini
water falls. I am suprised I made it without falling.

The picture does not do it justice.

Remember the scene with the body sliding down the
mountain side?

My visit to Chimney Rock turned out to be one of my
favorite things I have ever done. I was not done yet,
though. The Great Smokys held much more for me.

Solo Sojourn

About 3 weeks ago, I decided to take a trip to the Great
Smokey Mountains. I really love mountains, and those
are more approachable than the Rockies. I researched
different places I wanted to see and do. I decided to
make North Carolina my focal point.

I took off on a Monday. I reserved a room in Ringgold,
Georgia. Ringgold is just a few miles from Chattanooga,
Tennessee. I enjoyed the drive there, going through
Mississippi and Alabama to get there. I went through
Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Every time I go through there
I always call it Satan's town because former LSU
coach Nick Saban coaches there. I am sorry that
a tornado tore up their town and killed so many people,
but I still hope Alabama loses.

I got to my motel about 10 that night. It had been a
long drive. I just wanted to go to bed. I opened up
the back of my car and could not find my
suitcase that I had so carefully packed the night
before. I had brought food, water, hiking boots, and
other needed supplies. My suitcase with clothes,
underwear, and toiletries was sitting by the
back door where I had left it. I set the
alarm on the house before I left. It beeps
as you are going out the door for you
only have so long to get out the door or
it will go off. It always puts me in
panic mode. I guess in my panic
I forgot the suitcase.

I was so tired that I just washed my
teeth with a washcloth and decided to
find a Walmart the next day. I did
have my GPS with me, so I got
to Walmart with no problem. In fact,
it was just 3 miles away. Now, all
I had was the clothes and flip flops I
was wearing. I bought a couple of
T-shirts and a pair of shorts. I got
a pack of underwear, toothbrush and
tooth paste, and a few other necessities.
I decided to just become a mountain
woman for the next several days.

I had scheduled a train ride in Bryson City,
North Carolina. I hit the road to get there
in time to ride the train. It was a 4 hour
round trip. The train goes through the
mountains to Dillsborough, North Carolina.

I have ridden many trains in several different
states. This one was great and I am glad I
did.

This stream went along our route many times.

What is a train ride without a tunnel?

The bad guy wearing a black hat. He robbed the train!

The Lone Ranger after he saved the day!



I found out while I was riding the train that the movie,
"The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones
was filmed along the train route. After they finished filming,
they just left the train/bus wreck there. Also, the movie, "My
Fellow Americans" with Jack Lemmon and James Garner
had scenes filmed on board the train I road.

This kind of shows how "real" movies can be.

This is the bus Harrison Ford was riding on when he "escaped".

All along the route there were many farms. It looked like
they were growing tomatoes, peas, and there were even some
that had nothing but flowers. There were acres of Zinnias.


I enjoyed the train and the peacefulness of the ride through
the mountainous woods. I looked forward to the next few
days exploring the area.

Finish My Course With Joy

Acts 20:24 (King James Version)

24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Yesterday, Bible Baptist Church, hosted a lunch for all the employees of the schools in DeQuincy. I work at DeQuincy Elementary. Anyway, they prepared a wonderful chicken spaghetti lunch for us. It was waiting for us when we got there. They served all of us in a matter of minutes. This was our third day to sit through meetings, so lunch is the most exciting part of the day!

The food was blessed, and then we enjoyed the meal while some civic leaders of DeQuincy spoke to us. The mayor spoke and our school board member did as well. Both men reminded us that teaching was a calling(a statement I have always believed). Both men expressed the fact that we had the future leaders of the world in our classroom.

Next, the pastor of that church spoke. He talked of the Apostle Paul and then read the scripture I have quoted above. The wonderful thing about God's word is it gives us what we need at that time. What I got from his talk was this: Find the joy at the end of each day. Find the joy in every event in your life. When the day is done, find the joy.

In the past year, this is something that I have had to remind myself of daily, sometimes I had to remind myself of it by the minute. Find the joy. It is hot and dry outside......I don't have to mow as often. I am missing my children and grand children......Skyping is the next best thing to being there. Welcome to the future, with its "Jetson" video phones. I can't sleep or wake up super early......I got to see the day break with its silent beauty and I got to hear that still small voice that fills us with joy and wisdom. Finish my course with joy. At the end of each day, find the joy.

Getting back to the lunch at Bible Baptist yesterday, after the pastor spoke a group of young people performed for us. I guess you could call them a "praise" band. They sang a song that spoke of God's Grace. I think I even heard echoes of U2 in the music. They had us stand and the words to the song were on a screen. The message was pure: God's Grace abounds even during the mysteries of our lives.

After the song, the pastor asked us all to hold hands and join him in prayer. He even took prayer requests and mentioned these names in his prayer You know it is true....whenever 2 or more are gathered in his name.........I have no doubt we were all of one mind and one purpose. The Spirit swept through that baptist church, and I swear that I could not stop smiling on my way to the car. My steps were light. Three other teachers had ridden with me, and they all seem to have received Joy as well.

I am so grateful to that church who honored us as educators. I am grateful that they chose to remind us that we have a wonderful Teacher in our lives everyday. I know that this new school year will not go perfectly, but I am determined to find the joy at the end of the course.

What? They shut the state of Minnesota down?

I arrived in Minnesota on June 28th after a non eventful,
non stop flight from Houston. Sarah and kids picked me
up at the airport. I was so glad to see all their faces.
Sarah had asked me what I wanted to do while I was up
there. I mainly wanted to just enjoy them. That is a good
thing for the state of Minnesota solved its budget problems
by "shutting down" the state. We had planned to visit a
couple of state parks.

First, let me explain my lack of pictures. I remembered
to bring my camera and extra battery. I did not
remember to bring the battery charger or charge the
battery in the camera. So, I only have pictures I got
with my phone. My phone.....that is another story in
another blog. Here is some of the things we did
while I was there:

There is a free zoo in St. Paul that we visited. It is a great
zoo that has polar bears. We were so close to the polar
bears that they rubbed their butts on the glass. We also
watched a sea lion show. It was great. All free.

Also, part of that park is a place called Como Town. It is
an amusement park for ages 3 to 12. It was so much fun
watching Liam ride the rides. He is a trooper. If you
read Sarah's blog, you have seen the video of him
riding The Frogger. On the way back from there, we
had lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ. It was good stuff!

Sarah took me to several resale shops in Eden Prairie.
I LOVED THEM! Great, quality stuff for cheap, cheap
prices. That is where I picked up all of those AR
books for so cheap.

We went hiking one day. It was pretty hot the first few
days I was there. I enjoyed the scenery on the hike, though.


One night I got to do something I have never done before.
I got to babysit Liam and Ginny while Greg and Sarah
went to a movie. I was one happy Nana!

One of the books I got at the resale shop was for Liam. It
was The Gingerbread Man...the old one where the fox
eats the Gingerbread Man. Liam and I made gingerbread
men, gingerbread bears, gingerbread cars, gingerbread
dinosaurs, and what ever cookie cutter Sarah had. I think
I read The Gingerbread Man at least 6 or 7 times.


Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. Here is one of them
we viewed on our hike.

At the beginning of the trail was a natural spring. It was
pure, sweet, and cold!

This tree was just begging for a little boy to sit in it.

Sarah took such good care of me while I was there. She
painted my toe nails a beautiful red. She made sure my
plate was half veggies. She let me nap with the kids, and
she fixed me great afternoon snacks that were healthy
too.

I had promised Liam that we would make a "cano" when
I came. We did, and used up 2 bottles of vinegar making
our volcano erupt over and over.


Sarah and family is coming down October 25 for two weeks.
They will not be coming for Christmas. I have already looked
ahead to the Mardi Gras holiday. We get three days this year.
I am going to take two off and see Minnesota in the winter!

The Calendar Says August....We Know What That Means

Where did the summer go? It was just yesterday that I was looking forward to 10 glorious weeks off from work. I had committed to 7 days of school related stuff, but June 28th I was headed for Minnesota to see Sarah and family. I did go, and I spent 2 weeks. I will blog that later. The whole time I was there the state of Minnesota was shut down!

I took a solo sojourn to North Carolina and Tennessee. It was a very peaceful journey, although there was some adversity I will also blog about later.

The latest thing with me is a physical problem or two. My left shoulder has been bothering me for several years now. One time a couple of years ago, I could not raise my arm to even get dressed. I have a 3 day rule. If I can't fix something in 3 days, I go to a professional. My arm healed itself within the 3 day limit. The past 6 months or so my left shoulder/upper arm/fore arm has had strange aches and pains. I discovered that I had limit motion in that arm. I decided to do something about it because the past 2 weeks I have had trouble getting comfortable to sleep. I was expecting the doctor to say that it was just arthritis or some other "your getting old" diagnosis. I left the doctor's office with a prescription for an anti inflammatory that I am to take twice a day. I also left with orders to go to physical therapy 3 times a week for a month. I feel old. The diagnosis: Rotor Cuff Syndrome and shoulder impingement. In other words, my rotor cuff is being irritated because the tendons and my deltoid muscle is inflamed and irritated. I still think it has something to do with getting older!

So, school starts in less than 2 weeks. My classroom is almost ready(pushing and pulling on desks, bookshelves, and cabinets probably did not help my shoulder). I get my class roster tomorrow. I am sure I will have quite the mixture of students.

Mr. Alfred

Mr. Alfred and his awards.

Mr. Alfred with some more of his awards. I did not take
these pictures I Googled Mr. Alfred and found him online!

This past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was in Pineville, LA at a teaching conference. The conference was on whole brain teaching, but that is not what I want to talk about. We stayed Monday and Tuesday night at the Country Inn Suites in Pineville. I roomed with 2 of my fellow 5th grade teachers. It was a great room with 2 full size beds and a sofa bed. There was a separate sitting area with a TV, frig, and microwave. The motel also serves a wonderful breakfast that includes home made waffles, eggs, bacon, pastries, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, and yogurt. There were several kinds of juices, milk, and coffee.

The first morning we walked in there, one of my co workers decided she wanted a waffle. The batter was right there next to the waffle iron. As she started to get some batter, a voice and a person appeared by her side saying, "You want a waffle, I'll fix you a waffle". He took the cup of batter out of her hand and also asked if my other co worker and I wanted a waffle. We could not refuse. He told us to sit down and he would bring the waffles to us. He did bring the waffles to us, and then came back several times to get our empty plates. As we ate, we watched him and heard him treat each and every guest with the same extreme, good natured kindness.

The next morning he greeted us, and once again we took him up on his offer of a waffle. He brought us waffles with a flower imprinted on it, and said he picked that for us. He was very attentive to us and everyone in there. He asked if it was our last day, and said to be sure and come back and see him when we came again. As we sat there finishing up we began to notice the awards and notations on the wall were all for "Mr. Alfred". The city of Pineville, Country Inn and Suites, softball and baseball teams, LSU basketball team, police department, and military groups all had thanked him. We realized that we had been served by a celebrity! When we gave him his tip, we mentioned all of his certificates on the wall. He said he wanted to show us something else. He reached into the cabinet above the waffle maker, and brought out a magazine. He was on the cover, and had been chosen as National Employee of the Year by Country Inn and Suites. There was also a wonderful article inside.

I love meeting people who do their job well no matter what it is. It is a understatement to say Mr. Alfred did his job well. There was an aura about him. I think he might have been an angel disguised as a breakfast room attendant. I hope I see him again.

What has been going on?

I have been meaning to blog, but just have not made the effort. I see the last time I blogged was in March. Wow! Here are some high points of the last 6 weeks or so.

1. I made it through state testing week. The week before, we reviewed. Some days they seem to act like they had learned nothing all year. Today, I was going over reducing fractions...ONE MORE TIME..and the child that seem to be out in left field most of the time while I was teaching it ...knew the procedure correctly. That is the moments that teachers live for! I told him he made my year. Now this is the same child that I had told earlier in the day that if he disturbed his group and the class one more time with weird noises he could not stay in my class. He would have to go to the office or go home.

2. The week after state testing I had a student pee on the playground. Yes...a 5th grader. He was suspended for the rest of the day and the following day. He has had some medication issues and just ....issues. He makes the day very interesting.

3. The week before spring break I got a new student. He is from Detroit, truly inner city. He has used inappropriate words 3 times all ready. He is not a southern child that has been taught yes mam and no mam. This is one of my pet peeves. I understand he was not taught to do this, but it just grates against everything in me to hear a child say....yeah. I now have 26 angels in my classroom...14 boys and 12 girls.

4. I spent my spring break in Minnesota with Sarah and family. I flew out of Houston Hobby. I had a lay over in Denver each way. I managed to finally read a John Grisham book I had had since October. I love his books, but have just had trouble concentrating enough to read. It is his latest book, called The Confession. It was typical John Grisham. I loved it.

5. I found Minnesota to be pleasant enough. It has rolling hills that probably are beautiful when green. There was snow flurries one day I was there. The trees had not budded out yet as well. It looked like winter time and felt that way several days. I am already planning my summer trip up there. It will coincide with the Laura Ingalls Festival held each year in Walnut Grove. Sarah and I can not wait! It was so good to see Sarah, Greg, and babies. The week flew by. I played tractors and combines. I read dozens of books to Liam. I put Ginny to sleep at least once a day. I was even Woody's horse Bulls Eye. I guess I should say I was Liam's horse, Bulls Eye. I need to get in better shape for my next trip. One tends to spend a lot of time on the floor with a 3 year old. One of the highlights of my time with Liam? I took him to a local park within walking distance of their apartment. While there, Liam went up to a mom and son and said," My name is Liam and this is Nana." Where did our baby go?

6. I came back from Minnesota with 4 weeks of school left. There are now only 2 weeks left. May is a very busy time at school. We had DARE graduation. We went on a field trip to Heritage Village in Woodville, Texas. It was very enjoyable. Although I have not ridden a school bus for that long in several years. I had forgotten about no air conditioner and blowing hair! The last two weeks at school will prove to be just as busy. We are having Louisiana Days and Field Day next week. The kids can smell summer, and I can too.

7. Plans for summer? I have committed to 7 days of training for work in June. Two days are in Lake Charles. Two days are at my school. Three days are in Alexandria where I learn about whole brain teaching. I guess I have not been teaching for the whole brain or with a whole brain! I plan to spend at least 2 weeks with Sarah again. As I stated earlier, we plan to go to the Laura Ingalls Festival. Other than that, we have not made a lot of plans. I just want to read many books to Liam again and make Ginny smile and chuckle.