Santa Fe to Jacob Lake

The back of a t-shirt in the Jacob Lake gift shop read, “The journey is the destination.” This might as well be a Hicks family motto, and was definitely the theme for today.

The Journey is the Destination...

We drove north and west of Santa Fe on parts of the old Route 66, past scenes right out of Pixar’s movie Cars. We stopped briefly in Cuba, New Mexico to stretch and snack before heading back out on the road through white rock mesas and panoramic views. We dipped into the valley of the San Juan river; home to the towns of Bloomfield and Farmington.

We enjoyed a quick salad lunch at the Farmington Wendy’s. The franchise was apparently celebrating something as there were balloons everywhere – inside and out. We enjoyed watching a small drama unfold as one of the employees had some fun dressed up as a super-sized Frosty milkshake. He was walked to the edge of the road by his fellow employees and left to wave at people on the side of the road. He was doing a great job. Lots of people waved, some honked, and some pulled in for a refreshing treat.

After lunch, it was back in the car and into one of the most “interesting” stretches of road through the Navajo Nation. Just outside of Farmington is a rock formation called Shiprock. True to its name, it was a massive rock sticking out of the desert that had the appearance of a sinking battleship. “Look boys,” I said in an attempt to get their heads out of their electronic gear, “that rock over there is called Shiprock.” Without raising his head from his DS, Sam said, “Mom, say that again and this time hold your tongue.” Stinker. After that, I figured school was over for the day.

We skirted Monument Valley and the four corners area and continued on Highway 160 through desert-like, rocky, red and brown terrain that was more like another planet than anything that should belong on earth. It is difficult even to call it beautiful. It’s desolate, barren and brings to mind images of bleached skeletons and dusty ruins. After traversing this road, I am beginning to understand some of the darker native folk art imagery that we saw in Santa Fe.

Mercifully, after about two hours of driving, we left the Black Mesa and Painted Desert areas and headed north, skirting the Echo Cliffs and moving toward Marble Canyon. This slanted landscape was surreal as if hands larger than any we’ve known chiseled and sculpted the landscape swirling the red and white rock together to form a weird, fun-house corridor of cliffs and ravines.

Just the size of these cliffs were humbling – their massiveness majestic and strange all at the same time. The rock pushes out of the ground at 45 degree angles, breaks at the highway and then continues up into the air on the other side of the road. Looking out the window, you almost begin to imagine that the road, with you on it, is tilting sideways. We pulled off the road to take pictures knowing full well that there was no way a camera could fully capture the place’s aura.

And then we crossed the Colorado River near Lee’s Ferry. Two bridges spanned the deep canyon where the green river meandered hundreds of feet below. One bridge, new since 1995 was for cars – the other, closed after the new one was built, for people. And, even though the beams were made of steel, even though I knew that the bridge had once held the weight of cars and trucks much heavier than myself, as I walked out upon this structure – I could still imagine the bridge cracking in half at my footstep and pitching everyone there into the depths of the river. It was an early taste of the Grand Canyon. It was thrilling….and terrifying. Across the Colorado, we stopped and had the “Really, Really, Good Burger” at Lee’s Ferry Lodge. From there, we drove past miles of rock landslides – huge, massive boulders that had fallen off of the Vermillion Cliffs to land on the flat plateau below. Some had rolled across the highway, or had the highway been built between them? It was difficult to tell.

And then finally, the last leg of our trip. The road wound into the Kaibab National Forest. Up and up the scruffy desert mountainside until, winding around and through the top of the mountains – glory be! Was that ponderosa pine? And, look! A mule deer by the side of the road. Our eyes feasted on the bountiful flora and fauna! We had made it back to civilization, back to earth.

We checked into Jacob Lake Inn – a rustic lodge just off the road leading into Grand Canyon National Park. Our room has a porch that gazes into the woods that surround us and a playground for the boys is just outside. It’s perfect, it’s quiet, and it’s just what we needed to end this strange and tiring day.

Journal Day 12

Journal Day 12

It’s the final day of vacation and we will be darned if we rush it or waste any of it. We didn’t have to check out until 11:00 a.m., so while Mom typed up the blog for yesterday, we all laid around and watched a couple of old family style movies on Turner Classic Movies.

It is extremely refreshing to see the boys so into movies that, in today’s standards, wouldn’t even probably make it to opening night. The first movie was about a con man who “got sold some swampland in Florida.” He traveled south to collect on his investment and, many hi-jinks later, unloaded the land on a sweet pair of newlyweds. As always happened in movies of the late 50s, early 60s – the hero got the girl, the bad guys were shot or arrested and the endearing con man got out ok – if not any richer. At one point, the young hero wrestled a huge alligator to save his girlfriend from being eaten. My oldest looked over at me with really big eyes and said, “Man, Mom! That was intense!” We’ve done something right, we have.

Once the blog was published, we packed up and headed to the Cherokee Heritage Museum on the southeast side of Tahlequah. This museum is a little challenging to find, but worth the effort. For the price of admission, you get access to the Trail of Tears exhibit, a self-paced tour of a frontier Cherokee town and a guided tour of an ancient Cherokee village. There was one difference that we noted for not the first time on our trip. No matter where you were outside, it was hot.

We did the ancient village first as there was a tour beginning right when we arrived. This tour had several similarities and some differences from the one that we did in Cherokee North Carolina. First of all, our guide was an older woman in her late 50s and 60s. From the quality of her tour, we knew she was a teacher and guessed her to be a professor of history or anthropology. She was an excellent teacher and guide.

The main difference I would say between the two tours was that our young guide in Cherokee, North Carolina focused on the “what” and the “how’s” of Cherokee life in the ancient times. Our guide in Oklahoma focused slightly more on the “why’s.” Both showed examples of blow guns, weaving, and canoe building. Our Oklahoma guide added two things to the “how to” list that were fascinating.

First, she demonstrated how to make an arrowhead using a striking rock, a piece of obsidian, and an antler. She talked about why the particular properties of the striking rock and the obsidian made them excellent choices. And, she explained why an antler was so useful in refining the shape of the arrowhead. The boys – all three of them – were in love with this woman from that moment forward.

Second, she finally demonstrated for us how the stick ball game is played. She actually threw a ball with the sticks to show the technique. We also finally got why they called stick ball the “little war.” Apparently, Cherokee’s used stick ball to settle disputes before going to war. War was only discussed if a good game of stick ball didn’t get the aggression and disagreement solved first. This would be an interesting experiment to try in the modern world, I think. Just fit the two fighting factions out with football uniforms, and let them have at it. Best two out of three wins the argument.

There were a few differences in the villages. When I pointed out these differences to her after the tour, she explained that they were most likely because the village that we saw in Cherokee NC was a slightly more modern version than the one being exhibited in Oklahoma. All in all, if you can – go to both. If not, either one will give you an excellent view into Cherokee life in ancient times. The experience is well worth the time and expense.

The museum exhibit on the Trail of Tears is terrific. In many ways, it does a much better job of bringing out the emotional experience of the Cherokee nation during their forced removal from their mountain home than the museum in North Carolina. There is one room in particular with life-sized sculptures of about 6-7 Cherokee. While in the room, voices repeat words from actual interviews of family members of people who marched on the trail. If you leave this exhibit with dry eyes, you haven’t really immersed yourself properly.

The village in the back is also interesting, although I must admit that we were way too hot to appreciate this fully. I can say that several of the buildings are authentic. They have been relocated to this area and placed in the village as representations of typical buildings of the time. There is a school house, a general store, several one and two room homes, and some farm buildings.

We finished up at the museum and headed quickly for the air conditioned comfort of the car and the continuing trip west. We were all quiet for the ride into the Tulsa area where we stopped for a brief respite from traveling and toured the Bass Pro Shop at Broken Arrow. We took a very close look at the hiking equipment and all tried on backpacks. We discovered that between the pack and sleeping bag alone, you would be carrying 8 pounds on your back. A four man tent adds another 4 pounds to someone. It appears that when hiking, food is the heaviest thing to carry.

After the Bass Pro Shop, we got back into the car and headed north and west to Winfield. The final stop was for dinner at the north McDonalds in Bartlesville. After that, it was a quick 1.5 hour drive home.

Journal, Day 9

Our youngest is seven years old today. I had remembered to bring his presents along with us and had laid them out on the table before I went to bed. He got up, came in to our room to cuddle and didn’t even notice they were there until my husband said something when he got up.

He was so excited! We had nearly convinced him that he probably wouldn’t get presents until he got back home, so this morning’s bounty caught him completely by surprise. While he examined his new DS and TMNT game, we packed up ourselves and the car.

We said goodbye to the cabin and were on the road, headed to Chattanooga on Highway 74 by 9:00 a.m. On the road we passed several groups heading out to raft on the Nantahala River. The town and areas reminded us of the Big Cedar Lodge area around Branson. The river was also fun to watch and looked really inviting. It was difficult not to stop and wade.

At Lake Hiwassee we saw some impressive white water rafting. The groups started at the Hiwassee dam, shot a huge waterfall at the dam’s edge and then headed down river for several more rapid areas until the pull-out spot just prior to where the lake widens. It looked absolutely like the most fun thing in the world. My husband thought they were crazy and said he would never do that. So, I guess I will place my hope with my boys and pray that I will have someone to experience some white water rafting with someday.

After that it was a fairly uneventful drive to the Georgia Visitor’s Center on I-75. We ate lunch out of the cooler and grocery bag again and then headed to the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. We stamped our National Park passport and grabbed the junior ranger book. (They don’t have a program for anyone less than 3rd grade so we opted to not do the activities at this time to keep the peace.) And then we toured the Visitor’s Center.

Now, I’m sure that if you are in to the civil war and all, this is a fascinating area and museum. The boys did enjoy walking through the gun and cannon display. And, there was one exhibit with a map and lights showing how the battle progressed and where the forces went. It looked a little like a video game and held the boys’ interest.

The Battle of Chickamauga began when the Union army took Chattanooga – a town that afforded the Federal army an extremely strategic position for supply lines to armies raiding into the deep south. The confederates attempted to regain Chattanooga and met the Federals at Chickamauga. General Rosecrans held them fairly well until the fighting got intense and there were some fatal communication errors.

At one point in the middle of the fighting, General Rosecrans thought that a gap had opened in the Federal line. In reality, he had received poor information. He did not verify the scout’s erroneous report. Instead, he sent orders to the regiment one section over to move and fill the gap. This action opened a real gap and gave the Conferederates a perfect spot to break the Federal line and win this particular battle.

They chased the Union army back to Chattanooga and spent the winter holding it under siege from nearby Lookout Mountain. General Grant didn’t just sit around and wait for things to happen. He attacked the Confederates on Lookout Mountain and routed them. Chattanooga remained in Federal hands and became an extremely important and valuable position as the Federal army marched to take over the Deep South.

Most of the exhibits required reading very much above the 8th grade level. Since we have two very important folks on our tour that are not even there yet, we breezed through the museum and went on to the auto tour. Unfortunately, I must say that this didn’t really get any better.

The boys were actually pretty disappointed. I don’t exactly know what they were expecting, but I think it was something like life-size wax figures poised around the battlefield in actual battle stances. High expectations, maybe? There was one very cool monument erected at the sight where General Rosecrans made his error in judgment and opened the gap in the Union line. It was an 85 foot high tower that you could climb to the top of. One of the people coming down said there were 136 steps. Having just walked 4.5 plus miles the day before, this seemed like chump change. And the view at the top was definitely worth it.

After the battlefield, we headed into town to check into our hotel. We stayed downtown at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Convention Center hotel run by Holiday Inn. The hotel is a restored train depot and tracks in the center of downtown. They have restored and repurposed 37 passenger cars into hotel rooms decorated in the Victorian style. For a few hundred dollars, you can stay the night in one of them and get free tickets to the downtown Aquarium and IMAX theater. Another perk that we didn’t even realize we had was a free engineer’s hat from the gift store for each boy. How cool was that?

After we unpacked our stuff and checked out our really cool room (it was like sleeping in a museum), we headed for the downtown aquarium on the free, electric trolley system. The aquarium boasts that it is the largest, fresh-water aquarium in the United States. I believe it. It is a study of the flora and fauna in the Tennessee River Valley. You ride an escalator up to the very top where the river starts in the Smokey Mountains and you continue by walking down into lower levels of the museum as you descend downstream. Eventually, you end up in the Gulf of Mexico just like the real river does.

The whole thing was really great, but if we had to pick our favorite areas, we would probably pick and exhibit about turtles showing turtles from all over the world. There was a sturgeon touch pool that was really cool. There are two buildings to the aquarium – one on fresh water and one on animals of the ocean. This second building had a butterfly garden at the very top that was super cool and where we spent much time. It also had a touch pool.

I can say with some first-hand knowledge now that I would rather touch a sturgeon with my hands than a manta ray.

Once we had exhausted the museum’s, it was across the street to the IMAX where we watched a 3-D show on the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. It was a fabulous film about water conservation and the very critical problem that is occurring in the Southwest. There were some impressive pictures showing just how much of two lakes have been depleted due to excessive use of water. The movie, which is narrated by Robert Redford and (I’m sure) partly funded by Bobby Kennedy is definitely worth experiencing if it comes to your area.

After the movie, it was back to the Holiday Inn – where kids eat free! – a quick dip in the pool and then back to bed. What a full day! I fell asleep in bed watching a documentary on Carol Burnett and didn’t get around to posting this blog. For that, I apologize.

Journal Day 8

Our last day in Smokey Mountain National Park – and no pussy footing around…it was time to hike! We got up early and were at the park gates by 9:00 a.m. We headed up the 45 minute long drive to Clingman’s Dome – the highest point in the park.

Two things we noticed about this climb: 1) the air was chilly, and 2) the trail was steep. The walk to the top was a little dampened by the results of a Frasier fir eating aphid called the Balsom Wooly Adelgid. The insect came to the US on imported nursery stock in the 1950s from Europe. It has been eating the snot out of all the Frasier firs since. The rangers are concerned because this is one of the only places in the United States that the Frasier Fir appears in the wild. They are attempting to control its spread, but it is a tough job.

The devastation of this tiny, little bug was far-reaching. Thousands of bare trunks stuck up amongst living trees marring the landscape and creating and eerie mood. As we and some of our fellow hikers looked at the ravaging, one phrase from an earlier trail guide came to mind. “The only thing in a forest that is constant is change.” And so, though this may be sad right now, it is a blip in history. The future can hold much – the majority of which is unknown.

So, our hearts a little lighter for remembering that God is in charge, we headed back down Clingman’s Dome and on the way hiked another ¼ mile section of the Appalachian Trail. This part of the trail near Clingman’s Dome is narrow and rocky. We got lots of mountain kisses on our legs (dewy grass drying itself on our shins). And, we enjoyed meeting several hikers like ourselves. We also met two real, honest-to-goodness, bed-roll packing, in-it-for-the-whole-shebang hikers. The boys were impressed.

After we returned to the car, we finished the 8 page requirement in the Junior Ranger books and headed on back down to the Oconaluftee Visitor’s Center. The boys had to do 8 activities each, attend a ranger talk, pick up a bag full of trash and then get sworn in. To get our “Not So Junior Ranger” patch, we had to attend 3 ranger talks. We were not done with our job. So, we headed back to the Mountain Farm Museum to attend a presentation called “Batteries Not Included.”

This ranger led activity was really fun. The whole family enjoyed playing fox and geese, tops, corn darts, clothespins, a springy thing that I don’t know the name of, a wooden dancing man, marbles and stilts! Dad’s particular skill was with the fox and geese game, our youngest was a whiz with corn darts and our oldest gave several lessons on how to make the dancing man dance.

Mom, however, was declared the best all-around at stilts impressing several tourists and the ranger with my excellent stilt skills. Little did they know that I spent many childhood hours walking from the garage to the machine shed on my very own pair. Apparently, walking on stilts is like riding a bike – even I was surprised at how easily it all came back. I ended up holding kind of a stilt clinic right there teaching several other families the best grip hold and the easiest style of mounting.

After that, we ate a lunch of boiled eggs and headed into the ranger station to be sworn in. We got a really good ranger who looked carefully over all of the boys’ work in their books asking them questions while he looked. “What’s your favorite national park?” he asked. “Yellowstone,” the boys promptly answered. Not missing a beat he said, “That was the wrong answer, try again.” They got it right the second time.

Properly sworn and badged, we hopped into the car and drove to the Deep Creek campground to do some more hiking around two water falls found in that area. We ended up hiking about 4.5 miles of trails from about 2:00 to about 6:00 p.m. We hiked up the Deep Creek Trail and then joined with the Indian Creek Trail about halfway in and followed it down. We waded at the bottom of Indian Creek Falls – freezing water, but it felt excellent on the feet and shins after 3 miles of trail. We finished by watching the tubing along the bottom half of Indian Creek.

The tubing looked very fun, but we were most entertained by a tattooed woman getting out of the creek wet, smiling and exclaiming to anyone who would listen: “That is dangerous! I was wondering why everyone was walking back down with their tubes, but now I know why! They need to post danger sounds around here!”

Secretly, we thought she probably had a pretty good time.

We met some people on the trail. One family from Raleigh, NC waded with us at the falls and a mother, father and daughter were fly fishing up at the top of Deep Creek and followed us back down the trail. It was nice to have their company.

On the trail we saw several of the plants that we had learned about in the junior ranger books. One in particular is the tulip tree. The leaves of this tree look chopped off at the top – sort of like it forgot to grow in that part. We also are seeing Rosebay Rhododendron everywhere – even though there is a small family argument about whether or not to call it R.R. or Mountain Laurel.

After the trail, we were definitely ready to get back to the cabin and spend our last night enjoying it. We ate spaghetti for supper and then got into the hot tub to soak our sore muscles. It was incredible. We will miss our little cabin on the side of the mountain very much.

While we were soaking, we sat and watched a rather large spider gather her dinner for the evening and talked about the last few days. For my youngest, the best part was the nature trail where we discovered the remains of Nick McCarter’s cabin and explored John Ownsby’s cabin. For my oldest, it was the hike to the top of Clingman’s Dome to look around. For my husband, it was holding the honor of being one of the very first ever “Not So Junior Rangers” sworn in on the first year of the only National Park that has the program in place. For me, it was making the corn shuck doll and playing with the old fashioned toys.

We each enjoyed the Smokies in our own way. Tomorrow we turn west and for home.

Journal Day 7

We are officially halfway into our trip. If I had to put a label on today it would be “the day of doing whatever we wanted.”

This was created mostly because I think that the pace of our trip finally caught up with us. The alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., but neither my husband nor I could stomach getting up that early. The boys were even out until an unheard of 8:45. We lazed about the cabin until nearly noon.

After their breakfast, the boys played a little foosball, tried making spears out of their arrowheads, and explored outside while my husband and I read, did some laundry, and nibbled on breakfast. After that, we sat around the dining table and worked a little on the Junior Ranger books and then hopped in the car to head to the park.

When we got there, we picked up two “Not So Junior Ranger” pamphlets. This is a program for people from ages 13 to 130. We figured, why should the boys have all the fun? Then it was back to the Mountain Farm museum for a ranger led program called “Aw, Shucks.”

The program was a brief orientation to the importance of the corn plant for the mountain farm family. Corn was good as food because if you don’t crack it, it apparently never spoils. I did not know that. Because the area is so high in humidity other grains spoiled rather quickly and wouldn’t keep. Corn quickly became a mountain staple.

All pieces of the corn plant were useable and the ranger informed us briefly about what some of those uses were. And then, she started talking about the corn shuck. Apparently, the shuck is one of the most versatile parts of the corn plant. She showed us a rug, a chair seat and a mop made out of dried corn shucks. We then got our own shucks that had been soaked in water for about 3-5 minutes and sat down to make corn shuck dolls.

Now, you wouldn’t think that boys would be interested in making dolls, but this was the quietest ours had been almost the entire trip. They were enthralled. The ranger showed us how to make the dolls into boy dolls with legs and we now have two of them. On the way back to the car, my oldest decided that we could put a cape on his when we got home so that his could be a superhero. My youngest started trying to figure out how his could hold a lightsaber.

After that program, we headed up the Smokey Mountain Highway towards the Sugarland Visitor Center on the Tennessee side of the park. The road is tree-lined and beautiful with several pull-offs where you can get out of your car and walk a quiet little trail or peek over the edge of a rock wall for a fabulous view. There is one particular spot in the road called “The Loop.” This was really fun, because the road curves and loops under itself to get back down one of the mountains. The boys spent this part imagining they were on a rollercoaster. My husband was fighting motion sickness.

At the Sugerland Visitor Center, we went on a one mile long hike through the woods to view the homesteads of Nicholas McCarter and John Ownsby. We spent $1 for the guidebook at the entrance of the trail and were very happy that we did. The trail would not have been half as interesting without it.

The guide showed us how we could tell where a corn field had been by looking at the age and type of the trees growing in the area. The type of trees is determined by how much sun the area gets. When the pine trees grow to a point where most of the area is shaded (a process that takes several years), the type of trees that need full sun to grow give way to trees that fare better in the shade. The guide also explained that the change from open fields to forest also affects the types of birds and mammals that live in the area.

The McCarter home had all but disappeared. The trail went right across what would have been Mr. McCarter’s front porch had the house still have been there. All that remained was a pile of rocks where the chimney had been. Nick also had a boxwood in his front yard that was the biggest boxwood my husband and I had ever seen. It made the boxwoods in front of our house look kinda wimpy.

The trail continued on to the John Ownsby cabin. This cabin had been restored by the park rangers and sat as a testament to the people who called the Smokey Mountains their home. Between the Ownsby land and the McCarter land the guide pointed out the remains of a stone fence.

After this little hike, we headed back to the visitor’s center for another ranger talk on what it was like to be a kid in 1808. The ranger did a great job with a large group of kids, showing them pictures of what kids wore (boys would wear dresses because they were simpler to hand down to younger siblings) and what kinds of chores they did.

Because the doctor was sometimes a two-day horse ride from a mountain family’s home, the ranger also showed the kids some of the things that families would use for medicine and bandages. She played a human “memory” game by having six kids stand in front of the group. Three of the kids held modern day medicines (Band Aids, Tums and bug spray) and three held corresponding old day medicines (moss, a berry plant, and opossum oil). The six children had their backs turned to the group so that the audience could not see what they held. The rest of the kids had to match the old medicine to the new medicine by calling out the shirt color of the child that they wanted to turn around.

Then came the fun part! The ranger handed out the materials to make a Mountain “buzz” toy. The toy is basically made of a wooden cookie that had two holes bored in it to make it look like a two-inch round button and a piece of string. You thread the string through the two holes, tie a knot in the string and wah-lah – you’ve got a mountain buzz toy. We all made one of those. The ranger offered to the adults and my husband was the first brave soul who held his hand out. After that there were several parents who chimed in.

After we all got our journals and cards signed saying that we’d been there, we grabbed a snack for the road and headed home. On the way back, we stopped at a turnout on the Tennessee/North Carolina line called the Newfound Gap. It was also a spot to access the Appalachian Trial. Because we could and because we wanted to say that we had, we hiked about ¼ of a mile of the Appalachian Trail to see what we could see before heading back to the car.

The boys had gotten into a habit of asking us how long each trail we saw or walked on was. When I said that this one was 2,150 miles long, they were completely floored. “Are you kidding mom?” my oldest asked. “Not kidding,” I replied. “Wow,” was all he could say in return – shocked into silence.

Because we got such a late start, it was dark by the time we got back to the cabin. We grabbed what we needed out of the car and went to bed.

Journal Day 5

Since we had explored the longest cave in the world, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to peek through the largest house in America. Built by George Vanderbilt, the 250-room Biltmore Mansion in Asheville North Carolina is a sight to behold.

I had been through it once before in 1992 with a girlfriend from high school. We motored through on our way to Charleston. It was amazing what 16 years will do to a place. My girlfriend and I went through on a guided tour with about 10 other people, heard stories about the Vanderbilt family, got to try out doorknobs and chairs and had no barrier access to the grounds and balconies outside the home. We only got to see the first, second and basement stories of the home and were too young to partake of the wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery. All of this experience was included in the price of admission.

In 2008, you walk in and for $8 you can get an MP3 player with a self-guided tour of the home. You follow the rest of humanity through the house looking at a map on a brochure that has numbers on each room that correspond to numbers that you type into your MP3. Then you would listen to a brief 2-3 minute commentary of the room that you were in trying not to unnecessarily crowd the people around or in front of you. For another $15 you can get special tours by reservation to see additional areas of the house with fewer people. And, if you want what my girlfriend and I got the last time we were there, you have to pay $150 per adult/$75 per child. And all of this is ON TOP of the regular admission to the grounds at the gate.

Despite the fleecing, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we walked through this home built by a person whose wealth we can’t even imagine. We all had our favorite parts. Our youngest was the tour Nazi, announcing which buttons to push on the MP3 player when we entered each room. He turned several heads and probably got some people to listen with us as authoritative and thorough as he was reading and following the map.

At one point, we were in the South Tower Room on the third floor – one of the many guest rooms in the house. Because he had his earphones on, my youngest did not realize that he was speaking rather loudly. He looked around at the room decorated in a subdued, neoclassical style of yellows, blues and pinks and announced, “This room looks like you are sleeping in a birthday cake!”

My favorite part was, of course, the house – but particularly the library. George was an avid reader and according to the auto tour was considered the most well-read man in America at the time. The have calculated that he read two books per week over his entire life-time. The library contains more than 10,000 books of his 23,000 book collection. The library was two stories high and stacked floor to ceiling with books, books and more books. I also love the grand staircase made of limestone that has no visible supports. In the middle of the staircase is a 1,700 pound chandelier held into place by a single bolt.

My husband was very impressed with the 72’ x 42’ x 70’ Banquet Hall. One end of the room is almost entirely covered with three side-by-side, walk-in fireplaces. The other end holds an organ loft and the center of the room contains an oak dining table that can extend to 40 feet. There are flags, banners, crests, hunting trophies, tapestries and huge, electric chandeliers. Cool room – and also the one that is featured on TV the most.

Our oldest enjoyed the gardens. He loved walking among the various gardens and took several photos of flowers, bees and greenery throughout the estate’s Italian Garden, Shrubbery Garden, Walled Garden and Conservatory. All the garden’s and the rest of the acreage surrounding the house were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – the very same man who coined the term “landscape architecture” and who designed Central Park in New York City.

The entire family enjoyed the one “special” tour that we decided to take – the Rooftop Tour. The group on the 9:30 a.m. tour consisted of the four of us and a retired couple from Florida. On the tour we were able to go into some rooms that were not open to the general public on the tour and also were able to walk out on the rooftop balcony and several other balconies at the front and back of the house. We all patted the butt of a gargoyle on the front of the house for luck and looked at the view from outside of George’s bathroom. Tracy Ross, our tour guide, explained as we were looking out the back balcony that at one time, George owned every single piece of land that you could view from the balcony – including Mount Pisgah over 19 miles in the distance.

We also saw the attic and how the slate shingles were attached to the steel roof beams by what looked like copper bailing wire. We got a birds-eye view of the grand staircase and the front porch as well as some really great views out some fourth floor maid’s quarters windows. We went up and down some really weird, narrow staircases and in and out windows up around the rooftops. It was a really cool tour. If you are ever at Biltmore and you can only do one tour – this one is a terrific pick.

Tracy was a fantastic tour guide and instantly won over our youngest by making him the official “rope holder” when we would go through the barrier ropes to places not on the public tour – must be the freckles. We saw her later when we were touring on the audio tour and she caught the boys’ eyes and waved at them. She thanked us for visiting Biltmore so that she could keep the job that she thoroughly enjoyed. We were OK with that – she was good at her job.

After touring the house and gardens, we made our stop in the gift shop for our family Christmas ornament. We decided on a two-inch replica of the Vanderbilt china plate with the George’s initials in the center. Then it was on for a very short tour through the Winery, some wine tasting and home.

On the way back to the cabin we stopped at TGI Friday’s in Asheville for dinner and the Bryson City IGA for supplies and then called it an evening. Tomorrow, we have decided to sleep in!



George’s great-grandchildren are keeping the home and grounds alive and I’d say they are doing a fantastic job.

Journal Day 3

Today, we got up at about 6:30 a.m. to prepare for a ½ day trip down the Green River. While Dad got ready for the day, the boys and I headed to the Travertine Restaurant to try their breakfast buffet. The boys stuffed themselves with French toast, sausage, biscuits and gravy and orange juice and I ate my absolute favorite ever breakfast – oatmeal, fruit and milk. A breakfast for champions – and we definitely needed it.

We swooped back by the room to pick up Dad and head back out to Cave City and the Green River Canoeing company where we would pick up our canoe and lifejackets. After signing the necessary paperwork that assured the company that we would not sue them if we all landed in the river and suffered bodily injury – we piled in the van and headed to the drop off point at Dennison Ferry.

Our canoe was a green, plastic three-seater. The company gave us two oars – one long and one short. The loading dock was twenty-five steps down some stairs and was just wide enough for one boat at a time. The driver took one look at the boating customers – a family of three with a 5-year-old girl; a nice couple, their grandparents and their two toddler children from Japan; a father/son team; and the family of four with two boys from Kansas – and loaded us in the water first.

The trip down river began like any other. Green trees, peaceful water, partly cloudy skies with plenty of shade and plenty of sunlight. My oldest was in the front with a paddle, I was in the middle seat with my youngest on a pad at my feet and Dad was holding up the rear. We floated the first couple of miles chatting about the nature that we saw, watching my youngest trailing leaves and his hands in the water and getting splashed occasionally by the wild paddler in the front of the boat.

At one turn, we smelled a little bit of nature taking care of its dead and dying at which point my youngest immediately removed his hands from the water. “That’s the last time I’m puttin’ my hands in that!” he announced with great conviction. Shortly thereafter, we got out of the canoe on a small island and walked around for a while. The pull of the water was too much and our six-year-old was soon back in the water, hands feet and body scrounging for living river clams to pick up, proclaim found, and return to the water.

We loaded back in the boat a little wetter than when we started and headed back down river thinking we would soon dry out. Shortly downstream we began to hear a low rumble. As we continued to paddle, a nice gentle rain began. “Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head,” I sang. Then, we looked ahead. “Look at that,” my husband said calmly. “A wall of rain, heading our way.” And it sure was.

We paddled to a steep, muddy shoreline and took shelter under an overhanging tree for the slightly more than gentle rainstorm. The tree managed to keep us and the canoe dry. “Should we start out?” asked my husband. After tuning in to the sound of the storm, I suggested that we stay put for just a little longer. We were glad that we did.

Here came the next pass – but this time it was a little more than a rainstorm. The skies opened and completely drenched us. We were slightly sheltered under the tree, but the rain was too heavy and coming too fast for the leaves to hold. Now, not only were we dealing with the rain, but we had two boys that were more than a little freaked out by being outside, with no roof over their heads, and caught smack dab in the middle of a storm that most like to view from their windows. We also had a canoe that was beginning to fill with a little water.

Out of the canoe we came. We scrambled up the muddy bank as much as we could. I was completely occupied calming a very frightened six-year-old and my oldest was pulling it together to help his dad tip the canoe over to dump the water and keep more water from pooling in the bottom.

After a while in this very precarious position, it became apparent that the weather under the tree was worse than the weather outside of it. So, we tipped the canoe back over and headed out again – with one small change. “Mom, you paddle,” came the request from the two boys. “Let’s just get back to the hotel.” And, so, with only six miles further to go, mom and dad paddled the canoe back out into the overcast skies.

As it turned out, we only had to seek shelter one more time – during which Dad maneuvered the canoe under a low hanging, muddy branch that quickly deposited a softball size clump of mud onto the top of my head. The boys of course thought this was hilarious – and it did help to lighten the tension coming from our youngest son. So, mom took one for the team.

This next rain shower was short lived and we were able to push back downstream fairly quickly. It is amazing how such an adventure can bond complete strangers together. For the remainder of the trip we ended up passing several folks who had pulled over to attempt to dry out just a bit. We felt somehow closer to these kindred river spirits and they to us. We waved. We passed greetings back and forth. And, we laughed together. One elderly gentleman summed it up by saying as we passed, “Did you run into a little rain back there?”

On this final section of the river, we held some deep, family discussions about “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We marveled at a deer eating leaves close by the shore. And, we sang “The Bear Song.” When it ended, we were ready to be done.

After docking at the Green River Ferry takeout and storing our canoe, oars and lifejackets for pickup, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a much needed shower. We relaxed for just a few minutes until it was time for our cave tour in the afternoon.

Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest known cave and has 15 options of tours ranging from an extremely easy, self guided nature hike around the historic entrance of the cave to a six and ½ hour crawling, belly sliding, wall climbing, honest-to-goodness spelunking experience.

The Kansas Hicks’ chose the River Styx tour – one that focuses on how the cave was formed by the forces of water. Our tour took us to the very bottom of the cave (360 feet or a little more than the length of a football field) and up and down 497 stairs. At the bottom, we saw the Dead Sea, the River Styx and the Echo River – tributaries of the Green River and the very same rivers that are continuing to form the cave passages and shafts that we were exploring.

There were several highlights on the tour – not the least of which was the bathroom stop halfway through. The boys were absolutely impressed with the fact that the bathroom ceiling was rock from the cave. We also saw a cave cricket. The park ranger bringing up the rear said it was a female and shone her flashlight on it so that she could show the boys just how she could tell that marvelous piece of information. We also stopped in the very same spot where Ralph Waldo Emerson penned some lines of poetry describing his experience. Our tour guide read the stanzas that referred to the places where we were standing and looking.

When we returned to the surface, we finished our junior ranger papers, got our stamp in our national park passport book, heard the boys’ successful completion announced over the loud speaker, got their badges, and headed to eat while our bodies acclimated to being above ground in the more heated, humid environment.

After dinner, we walked off the incredible meal by walking around the park grounds for a while and then returned to our room for bed. What an incredible day. What an incredible park. And we haven’t even scratched the surface.

Vacation Journal Day 2

Another day of driving. And this one felt like it. The Hicks family has been cooped up in a car too long.

We woke fairly early this morning and grabbed breakfast at the hotel. We headed east on Highway 60 to the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. We crossed two tall bridges and the boys were thrilled to discover a tugboat pushing barges strapped 3 wide and 6 deep.

Then it was meandering back roads through Kentucky until we reached our first pit stop at Paducah’s visitor center on the grounds of Whitehaven. We weren’t able to tour the antebellum home as tours didn’t begin until the afternoon, but we did eat our snack on the gracious benches outside the back door. What a deal.

Then it was on east to more Interstate driving. We drove past the Kentucky and Cumberland Dams. These dams were interesting to drive over because of the lock system that both contained. The boys were reminded of Grandpa’s recent explanation of the lock system through the Panama Canal. This was an opportunity to see a lock up close and personal.

And then we drove. And we drove. And we drove some more. And this time, the boys were not tired. They did not nap. It was brutal. Our lunch stop wasn’t even very interesting. It was a roadside service station parked on an asphalt and cement oasis in the middle of the divided highway. Definitely nothing to write home about.

After four long hours on the road, we reached Hodgenville, Kentucky and the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace on Sinking Spring Farm. This probably would have been a pretty neat experience had we not just finished a 6 hour drive.

The boys, who were extremely cranky, wanted to do the junior ranger program – but didn’t want to take the time to do the work required. This created several heated discussions about making decisions and, once made, committing to a task.

We attempted to lighten the mood by going on one of the shorter hikes around the park. A little time among God’s creation – we spotted several gray squirrels and paused to watch a small woodpecker – worked some of its magic. Because of the hike, the boys were able to relax and learn a few things.

For example, my oldest was surprised to learn the Association that created the park had among it’s membership several famous Americans: Samuel Clemons (a.k.a. Mark Twain) and President Taft just to name two. We had fun counting the penny display in the visitor center lobby. Using some third grade math skills, my oldest and I estimated it contained around 14,000 pennies. We also learned interesting things about how Abraham Lincoln grew up, how many brothers and sisters he had and that the Holy Bible was the first book that little Abe ever saw (it was on display). We learned that on February 12, 2009 the nation will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th President.

Outside of the visitor’s center, we enjoyed going to the bottom of the sinking spring. There was a noticeable, and much needed, drop in temperature on the way down. We sat at the bottom of this little area for about 10 minutes doing some of the junior ranger paperwork until we were chased out by another family. We also climbed the 56 steps (one for each year of Lincoln’s life) to the Memorial where a symbolic replica of the original Lincoln home is protected inside a granite memorial building. The building was created by the same man who did the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives and looks very much like the architecture of the D.C. located Lincoln Memorial.

We did the final crossword, sent dad and our youngest on a mission to find the answer the final question by the spring and the boys went to the ranger station to get their official, plastic, junior ranger badge. The ranger was a good guy and did a good job getting the boys to laugh and smile.

And then, we were off -- again. After a short stop at Lincoln’s childhood home at Knob Creek – and the place of his earliest memories, we turned south to Mammoth Cave.

We ate dinner at tourist trap central in Cave City and headed on into the park to our hotel. A long day ended in Room number 159 facing the woods. We have a small balcony with a couple of chairs facing a quiet, dark peaceful wood. The room is serviceable, much like last night’s except with the addition of a much needed refrigerator. As I write, the boys are in bed and we are quietly watching the weather channel on TV.

I believe that we are all thankful that we will be doing lots of things tomorrow – but one of them will NOT be driving.

Vacation Pre-Game

Vacation Journal – PreGame

Did I tell you we are going on vacation? I am sooooooooo excited. I’ve been excited for a year now. I almost have as much fun planning for the vacation as I do going on the vacation itself! My itinerary is done. Roads and stops are calculated and marked. Reservations – where necessary – are made. Tickets are bought. Car is confirmed. Look out Smoky Mountains, here we come!

Three days and counting:
I’ve charged the boys with thinking about what they want to take in the car for entertainment. We’ve narrowed it down to their electronic, handheld game systems, DVD player, three movies a piece and a good book. My youngest also wants to take his coloring books and markers. My oldest wants to take his art set and sketch paper. Done.

I just talked my husband down from the purchase of a new suitcase just for the novelty of it. (See previous post about WALL E.) Have clarified that we will need two suitcases for the boys and one big one for the hubby and I. We will probably also take a smaller one for the trip down and back so we can leave the big one in the car.

I learned my lesson on taking tons of food to Yellowstone. I’ve located a grocery store near our cabin and we’ll stop there on the first day. For the trip down, I’m taking enough snack food and water for four days and packing a lunch and dinner for the first day.

The state books and maps are stowed in a bag. I’m working on my entertainment bag. I checked out three books from the library and bought the latest Janet Evanovitch. I ran across mom’s knitting bag that she always took on trips. My oldest wants me to finish the Steelers scarf that I started for him to teach myself how to crochet. I’ve made my list and I’m checking it twice. Three days to go.

Two days and counting:
Worked all day to get ready for the auditors. They will be showing up a couple of days after I return. Had a couple of meetings too. Tonight is 4-H. Fair entries are due this week so we’ve got to get those handed in for both boys. My oldest will be entering a photograph and a drawing this year. My youngest is making a blankie replacement for the one we lost at DisneyWorld.

One day and counting:
Today is laundry day. Laundry, laundry, laundry. More and more laundry. I had no idea how much laundry boys can produce….but they can really produce it, let me tell you. Tonight is church council. We have a new pastor and this will be the first time that I get a chance to really meet him. The boys are getting their football gear for fall while I’m at the meeting.

Done with counting, vacation begins tomorrow!
Today I picked up the car at Enterprise. We will be representin’ in a black Ford Edge. The gauge on the dash says that it gets about 23 miles to the gallon in town. Hopefully we can do better on the highway. Went to the grocery store to pick up the food. Stopped by Walmart for tic-tacs and gum. Tonight we packed, packed and packed and packed again.