We went to Jackson Lake in Teton National Park with my family last weekend. It wouldn't be a vacation without at least one mishap. We got a late start on Thursday night and all of the campgrounds were full by the time we got into the park. So we headed back towards Jackson Hole (it's about 30 minutes outside of the park entrance) and figured we would find an RV park for the night. We saw a pull-out just outside of downtown and we decided it would be fine to stay there rather than pay for an RV park (it was already midnight by this point). At 1:45 a.m., the police knocked on the door of our camper. Apparently we weren't outside the boundaries of the park and it's illegal to camp off the side of the road. The officer let us stay there until 6:00 a.m. and then we had to leave. Not much sleep that night!
But here's what we saw on day two. My parents brought their boat and we headed out on Jackson Lake on Friday afternoon. The lake with the Tetons in the background just takes your breath away. See that snow on the Tetons? Well, that's running straight down into the lake. Needless to say, we didn't get in the water much!
They say that finding a new job is all about the networking that you do. So here goes! As many of you know, Cory lost his job in May. He has taken a few weeks off to relax and re-group, but we're ready to get serious about the job hunt now.So...for any of you who might know of a job opening or networking referral for someone who works in logisitics / supply chain / transportation management, we would greatly appreciate it if you would contact us.We are doing fine. Thankfully I still have my job (and our medical insurance). Thank you all for your love, support and prayers.
Cory and I went to a wedding in Knoxville, TN, a few weeks ago. And since we were out that way, and since I've never been to that area before, we decided to make a vacation out of it. We landed in Nashville, TN, and headed straight to the Cumberland River to take a ride on the General Jackson. FYI - this is the river that flooded and did so much damage in Nashville a few months ago. It's hard to believe that the river rose almost 50 ft. in two days. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice the city looked and how much progress they've made with the clean-up efforts.
Opryland is still closed due to damage from the flood, but the Grand Ole Opry show continued at the Ryman Auditorium (which was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry). We took a tour in the afternoon and then went back to see a show later that evening.
It was pretty neat to be part of a live radio show. They had commercials throughout the program and every once in a while the announcer would come out on stage and prompt us to clap and yell a little louder.
We visited the Country Music Hall of Fame.
And saw Elvis' gold piano...
And remember the show "Hee Haw"? Well, this is their original stage set. It looks a lot smaller in person.
We stopped at The Hermitage (i.e. President Andrew Jackson's house). Of course it was being renovated so pardon the tractor in front of the house.
Then we headed through The Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I want to have a lane like this in front of my house someday...
The Great Smoky Mountain Park is unique because it hasn't always been a national park. It used to be inhabited with early settlers (see one of their cabins below). The settlers agreed to sell their land to Tennessee and North Carolina and the park was born! It's the number one most visited national park in the U.S. - it has almost nine million visitors every year.
This mountain is what inspired the song "On Top of Old Smoky". It was hot and humid in the valley but nice and cool up here.
We were also on a quest to find some good BBQ (we're sadly lacking for good BBQ here in Idaho). 12 Bones, in Asheville, NC, was definitely in the hood but was probably our number one pick for good BBQ.
We also visited the Biltmore Mansion while we were in Asheville (BTW, I could definitely live in Asheville - it was such a cute little town). The Biltmore is owned by the Vanderbilt family and is the largest house in the U.S. It has 143 rooms - 45 of them are bathrooms (I hope I got those stats right). AMAZING!!
And of course...what we went for...Dave and Katie's beautiful wedding! So glad that we were able to be there for their special day.
And we were also privileged to see the lovely Kate while we were there!
I'll end this post by saying that Cory grumbled through every tourist site that we visited. However, on the night we got home, he turned on the TV and watched the show "Road Trip". This is a series that highlights fun road trips that you can take (they tell you the best places to visit, where to sleep / eat, etc.). Well wouldn't you know, they just happened to be showing the EXACT trip that we had taken (start in Nashville, then on to Knoxville, then through the Smoky Mountains, over to Asheville, drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, etc.). And then he thought he was pretty cool because he had just been to all of those places...
But here's what we saw on day two. My parents brought their boat and we headed out on Jackson Lake on Friday afternoon. The lake with the Tetons in the background just takes your breath away. See that snow on the Tetons? Well, that's running straight down into the lake. Needless to say, we didn't get in the water much!
I've decided that you cannot count calories when you're camping. Steak, dutch oven potatoes, raspberry cobbler, kabobs, blueberry pancakes and lots of snacking in between. Break out the stretchy pants!
Jaron helped make breakfast on Sunday morning. And someone had the brilliant idea to put a soda can underneath the grill to catch the drippings from the bacon. Yep. That worked out well.
My SIL, Karen, is seven months pregnant. They do have a trailer, but I'll definitely give her a shout-out. It was pretty hot and she was a trooper. Thanks for the great weekend! 
