Great Smokey Mountains

I spent a week in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN.  Even in Pigeon Forge, you can still see the mountains.  We spent parts of two days in the Smokey Mountains.  Very beautiful country.  Right now, I want to wake up to mountains in my backyard.  We went to four shows, went swimming, lounged around our townhouse.  I had a very enjoyable vacation.

 Went to Cooter's Place and saw the General Lee.  Otherwise, the museum stunk.

I got to be on an actual Indian Reservation.

My Trip to Virginia

  Last week, I went to Mechanicsville, VA to see a friend.  Three of the days, I was down in Williamsburg.  I left a week ago, on the 14th.  Monday, I went to the Metro Richmond Zoo and The Science Museum of Richmond.  At the zoo, I laughed hysterically for about 15-20 minutes while trying to feed the giraffes. I kept dumping food on the to the ground.  it is a weird feeling having their tongue lick your hand.  I saw them licking the wooden post, and even stick their tongue down into a kid's cup of food, trying to eat out of the cup.  I also enjoyed the science museum.

   On Tuesday, went to Colonial Williamsburg. (This part has been reconstructed.) Williamsburg was the capital of VA from 1699-1780.  Richmond became the capital in 1780.  The first capital of VA was Jamestown. 

The second picture is called the Magazine, it is where the gunpowder for the whole town was kept.

    Wednesday, I went to Jamestown Settlement, which includes reconstructed James Fort, Powhatan Village, and the three ships they sailed on from England.  Historical Jamestown is just now an archaeological dig site.  Then I took the driving tour of the Yorktown Battlefields.  I saw where General George Washington's headquarters was.  I stood near the spot where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington in 1781.  I saw the field where the British and German soldiers had to march to, to lay down their weapons.  After that, I spend about an hour at Yorktown Victory Center.

A picture of the map of the battlefields that I followed on my driving tour.

Thursday, I spent the day at Busch Gardens at Williamsburg.  I had supper with Elmo and Friends.  I saw Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, and Abby.

Cookie Monster photo bombed this picture.

Vacation

Got back yesterday from a week long vacation with my family. We first stopped in St. Louis, MO. We went up into the Arch. We took a tram ride up and looked out the windows and took pics. The tram cars are very small, sit 5 people in them. You can see Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals play and the other way, can see where the Rams play. Nice views.

Came down the other side, and went through the museum on the westward expansion. After, we left the arch, we went on a tour to see how Budweiser beer is made. Got to see the Clydesdale horses. The tour is free, and afterwards, those who drink were able to get to free samples of beer, otherwise there was Pepsi products and pretzels to have. That was an interesting tour.

Drove down to Branson for the week. We saw three shows, Buck 'n Boards, Cat's Pajamas, and the Baldknobbers, and rode the Ducks. They were all good shows. Both my mom and my niece drove the Duck while we were in the lake. The Duck is an old vehicle from WWII that drives on the road and can go into the water. We also got duck whistles. We were in the pool basically every day. There were a couple of days I didn't go in.

On Friday, I went to the Hollywood Wax Museum and Toy Museum by myself. We left Saturday, and stopped in Mansfield, MO, so I could tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder home and museum. I saw where she wrote her books. Did you know, she didn't start writing her books til she was 65 years old? She was only 4 ft and 11 inches tall, and Almanzo was only 5 ft, 4 inches tall. They slept in separate beds. Not all of the pics are on the computer. It was hot all last week. I mean TX hot! That means I was able to feel the heat, that is how high the humidity was. It reached 100 degrees at times. It was an enjoyable week.