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Back to DFW (May 23-June 6)
Honestly, not much to blog about for this period of time. We stayed at the Drury Inn in Richardson, which is like our home away from home now. LOL! Love this place! The area is convenient and nice, there are walking trails when it is cool enough and a gym when it’s not and we are becoming regulars, so they are starting to know us!
I had a small procedure done while we were in town and had several doctors appointments. Visited with friends and family. It was a nice and relaxing time. Nothing super fun to report.
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Los Angeles, CA (May 22)
We drove back to LA. Stopping at a couple awesome Free Little Art Galleries on the way! These are two of the best I have been to! We stayed in a pretty cool hotel (Gardena Inn & Suites) Ordered supper delivered to the room. Had some fried plantains that were to DIE for! Yummy! Headed back to Dallas tomorrow.
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Vacaville, CA (May 19-21)
May 19–We drove to Vacaville and got settled into the hotel. James went to stay at Thomas’ house.
May 20–Had breakfast with Thomas and Rachelle. Ed and I spent the day together while the kids hung out together. Had supper with the kids. Again, I am terrible at taking photos when I am with family and friends! I’ll work on it.
May 21–Ed and I went to San Francisco and had a great time. Visited an Art-o-Mat and a couple of FLAGS in the area.
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Anaheim, CA (May 13-18)
May 13-Flew to LAX and got settled into the hotel. It has been a while since Scooby has flown, but he did wonderfully! He’s such a good boy!
May 14–Spent the day relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow
May 15–DISNEYLAND!!! Enough said…
May 16–California Adventure!
May 17–Disneyland again…and my baby boy showed up to surprise me for Mother’s Day!!! So, naturally I made him ride my favorite ride with me!
Oh how I love this guy!!! My heart…what a great gift
May 18–California Adventure again
Tomorrow we drive to Vacaville to see Thomas.
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DFW (May 11-12)
May 11–We left Hot Springs and drove to DFW. We stopped in Bossier CIty, LA and in Longview, TX to visit their Art-o-Mats and a F.L.A.G.
May 12–Visited with Mama for an early Mother’s Day.
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Hot Springs, AR (May 6-10)
We arrived in Hot Springs and dang, it is HOT! We have gotten used to cooler climates. UGH!
May 6 & 7–we literally just unpacked and got settled…chilled on the second day because it was too dang hot to do anything else and we don’t like the weekend crowds.
May 8-Walked around downtown a bit. Most everything is closed or renovating. I guess we are too early for the ‘summer’ hours.
May 9–We got up early and went to Garvan Woodland Gardens. I love this place as it hold many great memories and is a place I always visit when in Hot Springs.
While at the Gardens, we discovered that there was an event of painted rocks left all along the trails and you could pick one to keep. I picked one for me and one for Mama, as Ed wasn’t interested. They were very cute! I don’t know if we discovered them all, but we saw lots!
Every time Mama visits the gardens, she leaves a little art offering on the serenity circle. When she is not with me, I leave one and send her a photo, letting her know that I am thinking of her.
May 10–We chilled at the hotel all day and decided to head to Texas early, as it was too hot to do anything outside and nothing was open yet for the season.
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Chattanooga, TN (April 29-May 4)
April 29–I still felt terrible, but we had to move to Chattanooga. We are here for almost a week, staying at Staybridge Suites. Again, it’s a very nice place!
April 30–Woke with a terrible migraine, stayed in bed all morning. Walked to Chili’s for lunch and started to feel better. Walked the Arts District.
May 1–I am feeling better, still have the nasty cough and had a migraine this morning. Ran a few errand and took a walk in the afternoon. Really love this area and the walking is wonderful! Unfortunately, Ed is now suffering with whatever that horrible flu-like thing is!
May 2–Chattanooga is a really awesome city for walking and their art district is wonderful. I am really enjoying my time here. Ed is still not feeling well, so I spent the day wandering and exploring on my own.
May 3–Ed is feeling a bit better, so we went to the Chattanooga Zoo. It is a small and quaint zoo. As I get older, the more I dislike typical zoos. I am ok with the rehab type facilities and those who are working hard on conservation and education….but the average zoo just makes me sad. Animals should be in large open enviornments, not tiny cages with very little area to roam.
After the zoo, we ate at the resturaunt in the hotel. The Chicken Florentine was very good and the entertainment was nice, however a bit loud.
May 4–We went to ROCK CITY! One of my favorites!!
We rode the Cog Railway to the top of Lookout Mountain. The railway is ok…but the top is a disappointment. Nothing to do but ride back down really! LOL! It was a one-time thing.
I made a new discovery! ART-o-Mats! They are refurbished cigarette machines that are full of art! You purchase a token for $5 and get to select some art! I am hooked! I got some really cute pieces!
May 5–Today we depart Chattanooga. I stoped by the Hunter Museum and the AVA to visit their Art-o-Mats on the way out of town!
We stayed the night in Corinth, MS, didn’t do much, just supper at Cracker Barrel and then drove to Hot Springs on May 6th.
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Pigeon Forge, TN (April 21-28)
April 21–Went to the laundromat to do the wash and the owner suggested that we go up the mountain and see the Brown Bison Farm….so we did! There were a couple babies!
We went to the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner show. The show was good and the food was decent. It was a fun time!
April 22–Lazy Day. We just chilled out at the hotel most of the day and caught up on our rest. I did take a walk, there is a walking path near the hotel that is nice. I met up with my old friends the Canadian Goose family. Why are they always so mean?!?! LOL!
We did go to the Comedy Barn Show in the evening. It was a cute show.
April 23–Went to the Mill Shopping Center and found a really awesome store called “Long Story Short”. I could have stayed in there all day! I bought this beautiful leather journal to use for my letterboxing log after I complete my current logbook.
I took a longer walk along the walking path and it went through and behind the entertainment area called “The Island”. I really enjoy the walking path, even if the geese hiss at me and Scooby!
April 24– We went to Dollywood. I was really looking forward to visiting Dollywood! Almost everytime I have come to the area, Dollywood is closed! Well…we had a really terrible experience. I won’t go into detail, as it really isn’t important in the grand scheme of things. We ended up leaving and receiving a full refund due to issues that could have been more appropriately handled. I was so disappointed. I did get a couple of photos before we left.
We will likely try again someday … perhaps things will be different next time.
April 25–We went to Bryson City to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. We had a wonderful time! There was a stop at Natahala, which is a stop along the Appalacian Trail. I can honestly say now that I have hiked the entire width of the Appalacian Trail! We really enjoyed our day.
April 26– We went to Gatlinburg and wandered around the shops. Had lunch at Chicken Guy, it was pretty good! Love the option of so many sauces to choose from. Ed walked with me to the Island later in the day and we shopped around a while. Had supper at Mel’s Diner and it was ‘meh’. Not terrible, but nothing great either. Apparently it is hit or miss on getting an enthusiastic server…ours seemed to be bothered by our presence, which is a shame because we certainly won’t be back.
April 27-28–Did laundry and picked up dog food…then I suddenly got very sick. Flu-like symptoms of cough, body aches and chills. I stayed in bed the rest of the day and the entire next day.
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Final Blue Ridge Parkway Day (April 20)
Our first stop was a little town called Black Mountain, NC. There is a Free Little Art Gallery there and I wanted to chekc it out. The town looks adorable and I hope we can go sometime when we have more time alloted. Many cute shops and a cute train depot.
We stopped at a viewpoint and I the light was so great, so I snapped a few photos of Scooby….I mistakenly said “Work it, Scoob!” Then…
Scooby changed the entire vibe of the shoot … Nasty boy! LOL!
Rollin’ around like some kinda floozy! Shesh! Your mama should be ashamed ….
We stopped at several viewpoints and overlooks along the route. Found a painted rock and took it to the next overlook.
Oh look! I found my spot!
Made it to the Smoky Mountain National Park!
Now to spend the week at Pigeon Forge!
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Ashville, NC (April 19)
Today I woke up with a horrible migraine. It never let up the entire day. It was miserable, but I pushed on, as we have a schedule!!
We went to the Biltmore. I have always wanted to see it and boy am I glad we did. I will do my best to not make this a crazy photo heavy post, you can likely see most of the rooms via the internet these days. I was fascinated with it all. I hope we can return someday when I feel better. I loved all the gargoyles!
We walked the gardens…oh my heavens, they are stunning! So much beauty! I can see why this place is so popular! I cannot even fathom what it must have been like to live here!!!
We stayed another night in Asheville and will be doing our last day on the Parkway tomorrow …
