Latest carvings

These are some simple pins I carved between other carvings. They go pretty quick. They have lock pins on the back so they can be used for lapel pins. The manager here at the park claimed the first one.....lol.. I am working on Christmas presents for the Grandkids and needed a little easy time...lol Carving 9 of the same thing takes a while, so I needed a break from them.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Muddy Pond

Our new truck! Not!

General Store

Tomatoes and melons

THE Muddy Pond

Nice view

Onion, peppers and corn

Strip mall

Buggies for sale

Lotsa goats

Time for cinnamon buns

Homemade ice cream

Here we are wasting another sunny day on idle pleasure. This time we went over two ridges to the Mennonite settlement of Muddy Pond. This is a strip road with small farms and cottage businesses. Our first stop was at a general store (house in right). I bought a serving spoon and some powdered buttermilk and drooled over the bread but did not give in. About 1/2 mile further I saw a sign for vegetables so down the drive we went. I got a box of "seconds" tomatoes for $5--about 20 cents a pound--and a couple of nice musk melons for $3. Next stop was the pond that gave the settlement its name--no idea to whom it is dedicated, then on to the strip mall. There were two leather shops and another general store. The buggies are in front of one of the leather shops where Duane bought a scrap piece of leather for a dollar to make a couple of sheathes for his carving knives. The general store boasted a row of oak gliders out front. I would have been very tempted if I still had a land house. Inside I bought a couple of coloring books, a mug, and some curry powder. Did I mention everything was cheap? Another mile or so further we finally found the home made ice cream in a little combination general store/diner. This was the real deal--smooth and creamy and soft--just like we made at home on summer holidays. It was really, really yummy! From there what else was left but a little bakery? I bought a cinnamon bun that was as big as the paper plate and two turnovers--one cherry and one apple. To get to this little place we drove Rt. 62 out of Oak Ridge (the city that wasn't). We tried to follow the gps, but it kept trying to send us down to I40 and Monterey. We got sidetracked into the town of Harriman where we ate sandwiches and french fries at Donna's Diner. Then we finally picked up 62 again and went on our little tour. On the way back we stayed on 62 except for a little side trip around the town of Oliver Springs . This had some interesting red brick buildings dating from around 1900. We had subs from Firehouse Subs for supper, then home. Another day wasted. Not! Also not is the truck. That belongs to our new managers who will be starting here in August. It is one of the big boys some rv'ers prefer to use with their 5th wheels. Big isn't it!

Enough for now

Louise and Duane

Our latest romp

I read about this

Guess what

Two natural beauties

OOOHHH Scary!

Intreped rafters

in a pink raft

Dam view of Norris Lake

Due to lingering showers and thunderstorms moving through our area, we split this week's tour into two days. On Monday we attended the Anderson Co. fair in Clinton. This was by far the smallest fair we have seen. We could have walked the perimeter of the grounds in about 10 min. tops. There was one stock barn with poultry and rabbits in one corner. Beef were scheduled for Wednesday, but no other animals. There were a fair (great pun, eh?) amount of rides, but both exhibitors' buildings could fit into the one big one in Darke Co. Oh. We managed to kill an hour by strolling slowly around and visiting the restrooms twice. Duane wanted to see the whittlers at 6. They turned out to be one older man and one older teen whittling folk art. No carvers. This fair is the only one we know of that isn't open during the day--5 pm to 10 pm only. Hmmm. Yesterday (Wed.) we had a sunny day so we took a drive to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in KY. They call it that because there is a resort hotel there. We walked along the river walk taking pics of anything we thought interesting. It was, of course, very humid since the spray from the falls carried to the viewing stands. It is estimated that the original falls were 45 miles downstream from their present location. Interesting. The cliffs, river bed, and rock formations are all due to erosion. The snake crawled from the rocks across the walkway and into a tree bole. Don't know what kind, but probably was some kind of water snake. After we had had enough of the falls, we drove through the park checking out the resort, campground, and other amenities. From there we drove to Williamsburg for lunch at 2 pm. Since it was still early, we drove to Norris Dam in TN. This is an hydroelectric dam, so there was no spill. The lake was formed when the dam backed up the Clinch river. There is a nice little info center there, a picnic area, all kinds of hiking trails, good views of the lake, the dam and the river valley as it was before the dam was built, and on the other side from us a marina and boat launch. We took in the views for a bit, then it was time for home.

Basta por hoy,

Louise and Duane

Oak Ridge

Missile

Atom display

Our latest touring urge took us to Oak Ridge, the city that didn't exist. This was built in a small secluded valley from four settlements that consisted of people who were displaced from the Norris Lake project. Needless to say, they were displaced again. The secret city of Oak Ridge was built as part of the Manhattan Project with the other parts in Manhattan, New York, and Las Alamos, NM. This amazing place was not on any map and did not officially exist until after WWII. We spent most of the day at the American Museum of Science and Energy learning our history of WWII and all about atoms and the construction of the bomb. After lunch at Firehouse Subs (started by firemen where you can eat like a fireman) we visited the historic cemetery which has no headstones. This contains 70-100 burials of black people thought to be construction workers and servants of some of the local families. Then we drove around the building pictured above. This is where the plutonium was extracted (I think). No one who worked in this building knew what they were doing. They just watched their dials to make sure they maintained the correct readings. We actually toured this last Tuesday, but couldn't blog until now. We bought a new computer and have been busy getting it up and working.
Tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on the weather, we will head to Amish country or Cumberland Falls. Wait and see!

Later dudes and dudettes,

Louise and Duane