Orangejayhawk and Tumbleweeds

We took two back to back days of local tourist things. The first day was a simple halfway up Lookout Mtn to the Cravens House. The Cravens House is a historic designation with the Chickamauga National Military Historic Site. It is now ground zero parking for access to all of the hiking trails along Lookout Mountain. Luckily we found one parking space.

Inside the house is closed to visitors but the grounds and porch and be walked on and get to see the good views that the Cravens family had before the War.

There are as in most places at this National Military Historic Park, information plaques, cannons, and monuments.

There's also a creepy old cave entrance for anyone adventurous to wander inside it.

Many trails split off from the parking lot and the grass parking lot. It is amazing how many cars that can be squeezed into this tight-fit location!

Well, I am finally here! The final December 2022 post! This will wrap December 29-30-31 into a short post.

We had more donuts to taste from Chicago!

We celebrated a birthday with Giordanos Chicago-styled deep dish pizza! And we celebrated with gifts and good cheer! Happy Birthday and another trip around the sun to D! Woo!

We left out on December 30 not knowing how much it would take to repair the HVAC system. But the first problem was getting somewhere. Rain, A lot of it and very heavy. I studied the weather map and made what I think even in hindsight the correct decision. We got off Interstate 57 and took the back roads to Evansville, Indiana. By the time we got back on the Interstate in Kentucky, the rain was behind us. We spent the night at Clarksville, Tennessee. Back in Tennessee!

We left early the next morning on December 31st to get into Chattanooga by noon Eastern. I knew we needed sunlight and there isn’t much sunlight in the days of December.

We stopped at the Nickajack rest area to get this picture.

Also we had a bounty of gifts! Woo - we were blessed to give and to receive! Thank you to my family and much love!

And our kitchen stove of 25 years was finally replaced as a gift!

Now to the rest of the story. One never knows how much neighbors in your own block can be helpful. Sure enough - the house was barely at 50 degrees with a full sunshine type of day going on, and we only knew that because of the internal thermometer on my weather station. It was warmer outside than inside. Yep, the digital screen on the HVAC thermostat was as blank as could be. Wow, Happy New Years Eve to us. 

But somehow, someway, no water pipes busted. I looked under the house in the crawl space and saw no water on the ground as well. I had left every sink and tub, not as a drip, but as a steady stream of water. All sinks and the tub were still streaming water!

We traveled the short distance by car from the Field Museum to the downtown Macy’s. This Macy’s is in the heart of Chicago downtown. This was such a fun idea and so worthwhile sharing a part of a Chicago tradition. This is what I found about the Walnut Room:

The world-famous Walnut Room was the first restaurant ever opened in a department store. With Circassian wood paneling imported from Russia and Austrian chandeliers, the 17,000 square foot dining room is both elegant and comfortable. The Walnut Room has a long and storied history with The Great Tree, which is the centerpiece of the Walnut Room, dates back over 114 years. For those who have never been, dining under the Great Tree at the Walnut room is one of Chicago’s most beloved traditions. The Great Tree stands 45-feet-tall and hangs from the ceiling (unlike most trees that sit on their base on the ground) and can be viewed from November to early January.

The Great Tree!

We had a great table reserved near the Great Tree! Awesome!

I had the Walnut Room famous pot pie! The food that started the whole idea of having a place to eat in a department store!

We had a group picture made and had a storyteller tell us tall tales!

And a Walnut Room glass cup!

This was just an absolute blast of a time! I had a great time, everyone did!

And we got out of the madhouse traffic and back to the house to rest! The next post: December 29 - 31 squeezed into one final mini blog post about Christmas 2022!

A view from the backseat of the traffic as we left the downtown Macy’s.

December 28 is a two-parter. First the Field Museum. Let me say how thankful someone else drove because not knowing the traffic pattern in a downtown large city can be a bit intimidating.

The Field Museum was a great experience! We viewed the Egyptian exhibit, we viewed the Big Sue exhibit and the rest of the dinosaurs. We saw the special Wild Color exhibit before it was moved out the following month.

It was a lot warmer than it was the few days before - a balmy 40 degrees when not in the wind - LOL. G and I still hustled to get to the building. Thankfully we were dropped off while a parking space further away had to be found.

I was really attracted to the details of the two carved Haida poles. The poles were so tall that I had to crane my neck upwards to get this picture.

We got special tickets to see the Wild Color exhibit. Each color of the rainbow and every shade in between was explored in this 7000 square foot exhibit. Each room had a different color and facts and exhibits showed how nature and humans used different colors and how humans could not see different shades of the color.

The Field Museum was so much fun and so much learning!  Thank you to my family for getting us there and for getting the tickets!  We then drove a short distance to the next part of this blog series - the downtown Chicago Macy’s and the Walnut Room.

While we were waiting to be picked up, we took a cute picture in front of the Museum with the downtown buildings viewable in the near distance. I was really jovial in the picture below because I got a call from the water company while exploring the dinosaurs -- no huge amount of water usage was detected from the water meter - woo that was good news!

On December 27th, we took a longer trip than just out to a nearby store like we did the day before. We took a trip to Moraine Hills State Park and then a trip to nearby Wisconsin to visit the Mars Cheese Castle!

A lot of hiking trails in this park. Not too many hikers the day we visited but we did see from a distance, ice fishing! This park has a rare wetland called Fen, which is filled with filled with goldenrod, white cattails and bulrushes.

At the end of the park road which was partially snow packed, we got out in the freezing weather for a group picture. The sun on the snow was blinding!

Then we drove the short distance into Wisconsin and arrived at the Mars Cheese Castle. Every kind of cheese imaginable, cheese gift boxes, Wisconsin beer, cheese curds, and a lot more! Very cool to stop there and picked up some gift boxes and cheese curds!

G and I did it again - we brought bad weather with us. This time it was frigid temperatures and dangerous wind chill.

Here I am braving the elements lol

So the 23rd - 25th meant staying inside! We played a lot of board games, played online games, had good conversations, tried out different types of adult beverages, and enjoyed donuts and great home-cooked meals! To me, the perfect family gathering! The grand dogs loved running out in the snow!

Pixel got some great bandanas!

We had plans and tickets to go to the Chicago Bears game on Christmas Eve. But the weather had other plans and we stayed at home. Thankful for entertainment insurance!

We had so much fun exchanging gifts and celebrating our lives together! We are a fun family! We may live several hundred miles apart but one couldn’t tell it!

Another year around the sun for this Virgo happened in September.

We started the weekend close to home with a stop on Lookout Mountain at the Incline. Stocked up on some gifts for Christmas.

The we moseyed on over into Alabama to stay in Huntsville. We stayed at the Drury Inn and you could see this rocket across the interstate from the hotel parking lot.

Huntsville is the home of the NASA museum.

We bought more gifts at the NASA visitor center gift shop for Christmas. Someone was able to take a cute picture of us.

I wanted to visit the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. According to my research, 5Xgreat grandfather was buried there and his family. Sure enough, after looking around, walking around for several minutes, we found it. There was a doorstep stone that led to a plot of several grave sites. It was located in the very first inner block of the cemetery.

I wanted to see the Japanese Gardens at Monte Sano State Park on mountain above Huntsville, but there was a big gate with an admission window at the entrance, so we did a 180 and looked at the historic house in the Monte Sano district of Huntsville.

Yay, birthday day!

We had breakfast at the Frothy Monkey -- woo good food and outdoor eating. Me and Pixel outdoors at Frothy Monkey.

The Frothy Monkey is connected to the Choo Choo with its beautiful interior dome. 

We went to the beautiful Sculpture Gardens, but we also found fire ants. Boo.

We had more fun walking around Greenway Farms. A lot of walking paths to walk a dog!

We made a visit to a downtown park that I had long forgotten! Renaissance Park! With its built in buffers to dilute the polluted waters of a urban creek before reaching the Tennessee River.

We found a place that had good Italian food, and a free birthday cake slice to celebrate birthdays. It’s on Broad Street and called Boccaccia.

The next day after birthday we found a cool dog park by the skating park.

On Monday, August 22nd, we went to the East Brainerd Dog Park and then to Point Park on Lookout Mountain!

East Brainerd Dog Park is just a beautiful park in Chattanooga. 

Ninna and Granddog loved the park at East Brainerd too!

After hitting Starbucks, I found I could buy a season pass to Point Park. Pass bought and onward to the Mountain we went (a very short drive in Chatt).

Pixel enjoying a bench at the National Park Service office.

And we visited Beorn in the kennel!

Granddog Pixel and her owner came to visit us during Pixel's owner's birthday week!  It was great to have someone in the house besides just two empty-nesters.

On Saturday, August 20, we got another National Park visit out of the way for Pixel!  The Great Smoky National Park - the most visited national park.

We decided just to make a long day trip of it. We left Chatt early in the morning, got through Knoxville, and then to the 441 parkway to Gatlinburg. We noticed a lot of Shoney's along the way. We found parking at a PTA school - Pi Beta Phi Elementary School and took a short walk to the Village Shoppes.

This is where you find Donut Friar!

We walked around Gatlinburg after visiting a few shops in Village Shoppes. Got some cute pictures of Pixel. We picked up delicious fudge at Kilwin's Chocolates and Fudge, and tasted some wine at Little Bear Winery.

Back on the road, we headed into the Great Smoky National Park driving through Newfound Gap Road to the top and back down.

We pulled over at the main pull-over along the road at the top. We even got a picture of Pixel on the ledge.

We found a break to stretch out and look around at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Pixel sniffed around too.

Instead of taking the traditional highway route, we took the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway back to I-40. Tunnel after Tunnel on this edge of the wilderness park road. The sights were just astounding!

We stopped in Newport for a bite to eat and then drove all the way back to Chatt. It was definitely a fun day with a lot of pictures!

Yay - we had a family vacay at an airbnb in Elizabethtown, Kentucky! And not too far of a drive to Mammoth Cave NP!  The three D’s from the north met G and me in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Not quite halfway but pretty close! Elizabethtown has quite a lot to offer including a great bourbon bar discussed at the end of this blog post.

We had Strider and Pixel too!

I didn’t take good notes this time so I don’t remember too much of what happened the first night -- that might have been the night David had the grill-out night.  The next day, May 28, the four Ds took off for Mammoth Cave, about 45 minutes, while leaving the doggos with G.

We explored the gift shop, of course, and waited for the bus to take us to our first cave tour.

The first tour was Frozen Niagara. Mammoth Cave is not know for its formations but the Frozen Niagara area is home to dripstones and flowstones and beautiful formations.

Then we waited around for our next tour which was right at the welcome center: the self-guided Discovery Tour which proceeds through the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave. I felt like I was going on forever and forever down a long, but wide cave!

The next day, May 29, we explored the downtown square of Elizabethtown and found some cute murals.

Later on that day, we tried out the Bourbon Barrel Tavern. I discovered some really good bourbons and we had a festive time trying out the different types of bourbons.

The next day, May 30, we took our different paths back home.  G and I drove through some beautiful country in Tennessee. But first the obligatory group picture before departing.

The drive on state highway 52 in Tennessee provides some beautiful scenery!

I had knee surgery in early March. One of those things I wanted to keep putting off but it is difficult to ignore pain.

David flew down on a nonstop flight from Chicago to Chattanooga the night before and took me to the surgery center and back home.  Here are some pictures from that weekend.

David at the waterfall near Dunlap on Highway 111.

View from the Highway 111 Scenic Overlook that day.

Chickamauga Battlefield visit.

David flew back to Chicago the day after my surgery. It was great to spend time with him but I was a bit out of it for most of the time.

My Dad used to say when we came to visit for Christmas: it is a joy for a parent to see their children come a-visiting. If nothing else, I was joyful!

This post is mostly pictures but I want to say that it was great to see everyone and grand dogs again and to be in the place where our family circle all began. My Dad was right - a lot of joy!

G and I saw the holiday lights in East Ridge. That entire neighborhood was decked out in lights! Very festive!

The highlight of the entire experience for me was the touring of Chattanooga Whiskey and the flight samples!

G bought me a bottle of my favorite flight test after Christmas -- the rye is extremely good!

David and I with grand dog Strider.

Before we left our separate ways in the early morning from the airbnb in Lookout Valley.

The view of Elder Mountain from the airbnb in Lookout Valley.

The next three pics are the only pics I got of gifts: all for me LOL. Husky Dad beanie, magnetic watch band for my watch, and my Westmar College shirt. Long live Westmar in our memories. https://www.westmarcollege.org/

For my September birthday celebration, we rented an Airbnb in North Chattanooga and were in really short distance to Frazier and downtown Chattanooga. Daughter and grand-dog came down from Chicago. We got to play tourists--and celebrate a birthday!

The grand-dog loved running around in the backyard at the airbnb.

The tourism parts of the long weekend included:

Hot Chocolatier / Frothy Monkey / Polka-dot alley / Raccoon Mtn / Sculpture Gardens / The Passage / Aquarium Market / Locals Only Shop / Boxcar General Store / Basecamp / Sluggos / Frios Gourmet and more!  It was so much fun to be so close to Julie Darling Donuts and so much more. Living in North Chatt does have its perks!

We also visited the fun alley in the West Village part of Chattanooga with all of its fun umbrellas!

We had family come over to celebrate more birthday fun including Papa, Uncle Marty, Aunt Jeannie and nephew Dillon!

Enjoy more pictures!

We gave a Mom a treat -- able to see her children at a halfway point in a nice airbnb house! The house was super nice with four bedrooms and a nice dining room and den!

We visited Carlyle Lake and took a walk into the woods.

Mother’s Day was the last day at the house and David cooked up a great breakfast for everyone!

In early April, I finally checked off Grassy Cove from my checklist of Tennessee places to visit. What is Grassy Cove?

The largest sinkhole in America: 8 miles by 3 miles.

We took Highway 68, the only road in and out of the cove, over the Walden Ridge escarpment onto the Cumberland Plateau from the east to descend into the Grassy Cove valley. Grassy Cove is also home to a small unincorporated community. 

The cove is walled in by Brady Mountain to the west, Bear Den Mountain to the east and Black Mountain to the north with Brady and Bear Den converging into a V-shaped formation to enclose the cove to the South.

Grassy Cove is drained completely through a cave system and the water from there emerges at Devilstep Hollow.  This underground-water drain gushes forth the Sequatchie River called the Head of the Sequatchie.  I visited this unique geology formation, the Head of the Sequatchie, two years ago.

It was really cool to look around and realize you are standing inside a giant bowl.