We all celebrated young I.B. Poe's 4th birthday this afternoon in Tullahoma with all Grand parents and two GREAT GRANDS. We first found little Poe outside ridding his new bike with trainer wheels up and down the paved drive. He had a new helment on along with, what I think was spidder Man knee pads.
Nathan Poe Family less one on the left. The 3 Batman crime fighters center along with birthday boy preparing to attack his cake. Little Poe wasn't interested in his other food which was hotdogs and chips and went straight for the sweets. 
Four Years Old and going STRONG into 2008 !
Our Thanksgiving day doesn't start untill the day after so that everyone can be together so Nancy and I went to mothers and helper her put up her tree and other decorations .Thanksgiving Celebration at the Grahams in Estill Springs, TN
I had cooked my hen { Chicken } before I left the house this morning then headed to Tullahoma to meet my brother Richard who had driven in from Florance Ala.and my mother at the Tullahoma Golf and Country Club to play 18 holes of golf with a T-time of 9:30. No one in there right mind would play golf with it being this cold outside. We had a great time together and Richard gave me a WHOOPING , beating me by over 10 strokes. I then went back home to make my Chicken and Dumplins that everyone request at this time of year.
Above left is the pot of Chicken and Dumplins I made and in the center are two different kinds of roasted pecans. Our grandson wanted to use my digital camera to take that picture and did a great job for a two year old. Photo on the right is of Mrs. H trying to decide how to fit all that food on her small plate. In the background is Horace , Nancy's brother , tryin to start some trouble.
Mother { Nan } attacks the DUMPLIN pot on the left, Richard , Horace and mother gather for the center picture around the butcher block , notice Richard doesn't take his eyes off the food below , lol. On the right is Julie Poe and Horace clowning around with eachother, they never miss a chance to exchange hugs. Notice how full his plate is compared to her's . 
Nancy with Nathan , this is a rare picture because Nancy's eyes are never open as Nathan upholds the family tradition with keeping his closed. Center photo of me , six pounds heavier, mother and Richard and the photo on the right is of Mother and Horace who are practicing for DANCING WITH THE STARS.
I missed getting everone's pictures but Christmas is just around the corner and I'm sure I'll catch the rest of you is some kind of embarasing pose then ! Many stayed untill 10:30 to watch the men's basketball team eek out another win from a non ranked team and saturday afternoon we all will watch the UT Vols play Kentucky. If we win that battle we will go to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Hate to pitch us under the bus but we will be very lucky to get away with that victory, keep your fingers crossed !
Left Estill Springs , TN thursday morning and went to Louisville , TN and visited with Dobbie Mathews at his place of business then stoped by Bo Mathews farm to see him but he wasn't home. On to Towards Townsend but just inside of Maryville I stoped at an outfitters store just to see what new clothing they might have or { New Toys }. Enjoyed talking with the owner and learned that there would be no water close to the shelters where we planned to hike the next day which could cause us a real problem during our two and a half day hike. I also had other concerns but will get into that later. I found a room at the Econo Motel and I can tell you that the price I payed for one night didn't match the Motel name ! From there I enjoyed a visit at another Outfitters shop inside Townsend , TN then found a little restraunt off the beaten path to eat at called Lilly's where I enjoyed hot coffee , salmon , baked potato and slaw before going back to my room where once again I had re-packed my pack changing what food I would take because of the water shortage . Called the front desk asking for a wake up call at 5 the next morning which would be 4 my time.
I had showered and was on the road by 5:30 friday morning looking for a place to eat breakfast but couldn't find anything open in any direction for another hour , setteling for less than good food at a gas station / grocery store in Townsend. I was worried that JR hadn't got us our permits from the Nalt. parks ranger station so I drove to one at Elkmont ranger station and picked blank ones up for all four of us which was a good thing because JR hadn't. Drove on up to Newfound Gap parking area and at 8:18 that morning JR, father and brother pulled up. JR didn't have the required permit nor remember the permit number so I was able to call the parks number and at least get the permit number. As required by the Nalt. Park we were to keep one copy of the permit in our possesion and deposit the other in a box at a ranger station which at this point we were unable to do being to far away from a ranger station at that time. Feeling very uneasy about this combined with the fact of not being able to find a shelter because of over crowding and complicating this with water problems I had decided before we started the hike that I would hike the seven miles straight up to Clingmans Dome and would hitch hike back with some tourist to my truck and not have to worry about the possibility of recieving a $5000 fine from the Nalt. Parks service.
UNO { JR } and I { Moonlight } were the first persons in the PECKS CORNER SHELTER and were able to have a choice of where we wanted to put our sleeping gear for the night and while we were doing that in walked RAMBO RON. Rambow is a thru hiker who starter at the northern end of the A.T. and had been on the trail for one whole year carrying a 70 pound backpack. He had a full shaggy beard and didn't look to weigh more than 90 pounds soaking wet himself , LOL. UNO and I felt lucky to have been able to meet him and hear all his stories about his experiences . He had wanted to do this hike for 20 years. He had sold his house in Indiana and everything he owned . Didn't have a clue about backpacking and just headed out ! He is 57 years old and calls the wilderness his home. There is so much more I could write about him but don't have the space to do that here.
COSBY SHELTER
At the Cosby shelter we met Rob Carter and his son who were doing trail work. UNO played UNO {cards} with them for hours on this night. The REI group arrived 3.5 hours after we did and I just relaxed and watched them scurry around unpacking and fixing there meals. Mice as always is a real problem in this shelter and I had to laugh at the way the three wemon were reacting to that problem.
UNO going for 33 more miles
This weekend JR is heading back to the Smoky Mountains 7-13-07 to start hiking at Newfound Gap doing 33 miles to Fontana Dam in North Carolina to finish the entire Nalt. Parks A.T. I have scanned graphs of elevation changes for that hike for him and he seems ready to head out. Some of the sights he will see are first Clingmans Dome , the highest point in the park , then Silers Bald followed by THUNDERHEAD MOUNTAIN. If he has good weather then he will see some sights I wasn't able to view when I last hiked that area. There are two shelters he will have to keep eyes in the back of his head as the park has posted warning signs about high Bear activity , some resulting in serious injurys and a few deaths over the years. We pray that Angels of protection be with him on his journey.
Our Business has moved from 410 S. Polk St.
Over a week ago we moved our business of Lyons Valley Termite and pest Control from S. Polk Street to 108 East Warren Street in Tullahoma , Tennessee. We are located next door to Hawks Hardware and have two entrances to our building , one on the side and the other at the back of the building , the office number is 400. All phone numbers remain the same. Please stop in and visit our new location.
UNO makes it back from The SMOKY"S
Recieved a call last week on sunday from JR and he told me all about his backpacking trip from Newfound Gap to Fontana Dam. He ran into two different Bears this time and was a little shaken up about the second one , saying you wouldn't believe how big the head of that Bear was ! He did experience rain most of the first day going up to Clingmans Dome and had some water problems { finding water } and when he did there wasn't much of it. He did say that that section of the A.T. was much harder than the one he and I did together and that he was beat up from the hike but was up beat about his experience. Happy your home and safe JR.
The uphill hike was every bit as tuff as I had remembered with many rocks and to my susprise very wet slippery conditions. At one point I had stepped on a flat wooden step cut and placed in the trail by a trail work crew and found myself sprawled out face down on the ground , more embarrased than hurt. Another in our group began to have problems due to the lack of knowledge of pack weight and what the trail or hiking in the Smokys really detailed and decided after that tuff climb that he had best call it a day and go back home after reaching Clingmans Dome. The four above pictures of each of us was made while sitting in the back of a man's pickup truck while traveling down the mountain. I believe it was a good experience and one that much was learned by all. By the look on everyone's faces above I'd say we'd had a time of it , LOL.
You can CLICK on any of the above pictures for a better and larger view of each .
