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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Whooo....what do we have here? More pictures.....

Day 88:  More houses around the lake

See the infinity pool?  Those are common here.  Unfortunately our house doesn't have one. :(

Day 89:  The coolest view

This is the view out our dining room window.  It's hard to stay focused on work with that in front of you!

Day 90:  Bugs, insects, arachnids...

They have lots of creepy crawlies here.  Yippee.  

Day 91:  Ping pong from a ball's eye view

Delaney and I are practicing our ping-pong "skills" downstairs in the den.  We've had a lot of fun and have gotten better.  

Day 92:  Traffic on the lake always changes

Today the Coast Guard went by, planting buoys and other misc. jobs.  It was neat to see!

Day 93:  And more traffic, some small, some large!

Check out this barge!  Especially compared to the teeny little skier in the foreground.  Surprisingly, the barges move at a pretty good pace.  This filled the frame for only a few seconds.

Day 94:  Some people just really like their cars

This was too awesome to not photograph!!  I want eyelashes for my car! ;)

Day 95:  God is so good

"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."
John 1:16

Day 96:  Our little athlete :)

Libbey loves shooting hoops!  She can beat me in Horse. :)

Day 97:  Nearing sunset

Dad and Mom took a cruise tonight......isn't it beautiful?  I LOVE this view!

Day 98:  When you get the shot you want on the first try.

Still recovering from a nasty cold, I do not feel like taking pictures.  But I persevered!!  I picked up the camera, looked at this biscotti jar and snapped.  Thankfully, it was what I wanted on the first try.  If it hadn't been, you probably wouldn't have seen Day 98. :P

Update #3: all settled in on Loudon Lake

This is a short clip of an overcast afternoon here.  We were going to shoot a short movie but when I walked outside, the humidity caused the lens to fog up immediately.  So we just did a little demonstration. :)


We've been in our rental house for two weeks now, and last Saturday we got to put the boat into the lift at the dock!  That will keep the boat much more protected from wakes and changing water levels.  It's amazing, though, how uncrowded the lake is, even on weekends!  It makes Bass Lake seem like LA in comparison.

More tubing!  I actually enjoy going by myself more than with a partner because you can handle it much easier :)

Our rental house from the lake


The weather has been pretty fair as well, not quite as hot as we expected.  The humidity levels go up and down, keeping us in and out all the time!  On a recent outing, it was warm and sticky, and Libbey requested that the air conditioning be turned on.  When Dad replied that it had already been on for a while, she stated, "well, I don't feel any air or conditioning!" 

This is Saturday around noon.  The weekend crowds were simply maddening.

A lot of the homes here are incredible!  Obviously there are some wealthy folks here.  And not surprising either--it's a lovely, peaceful place to be.  Here are pix of just a few that we pass...

Just a simple lakefront cottage

Another middle-sized house

I could hang here!

That big house in the back is the main house, the one by the dock is the guest house, and the dock itself has a bar, hot tub and gas pumps.  We bought it.  Just kidding.

The Coast Guard planting buoys

Sunset on Loudon Lake


A passing barge

I love water skiing!

On Sunday we attended church in Knoxville, then drove around the countryside.  It was raining (yay!) and the windshield would get fogged up from the humidity.  Storms on the lake are so beautiful, and many fishermen go out in their sparkly boats during them in hopes for a good catch.  It's so odd, they go out even in electrical storms!  

Another Monday has come and gone, and Tuesday brought a very sore throat just for me.  In the evening, Dad and Mom took a boat ride and we girls chilled out at the house.  After listening to some audio dramas, we hooked the laptop up to the TV and watched some Drive Thru History and other things.....

~Another beautiful dusk on the lake~

This weekend we have friends coming to stay with us from Georgia!!  We can't wait!  So today we're housecleaning and doing laundry, working and schooling.  It's hard to stay focused when the lake is right out of the window, though. :)  I thank God every day for His incredible blessings to us.  For the gift of traveling, for amazingly supportive family and friends all over the country and back home, and for all the unexpected little things He does that keeps us on our toes.  What are you thankful for today?

Monday, August 12, 2013

I heart the south..............

Because gasoline is so cheap here!  In Friendsville it's consistently $3.11, but we passed one station that had regular going for $2.99!  Wahoo!!!!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Trip update #2 (being unable to think of a more creative title at the moment)

Hello again, friends and followers!  Thanks for stopping by!

Our trip continued as we drove from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Tennessee in a matter of days.  We had 4 days of marathon driving to do, and I even drove 200 miles of it!  It wasn't very hard with the trailer, except that there was 50 miles of road work to go through that made it....fun?  Libbey thought I did great though, so I felt better :)




When we stepped out of the truck in Arkansas on August 2, we were blasted with humidity.  It felt like stepping into a sauna at first!  But since then it's become less humid and we're pretty used to it.  Actually, it's made our skin very soft and Delaney's dry skin is nonexistent!  A great plus there!  They also have a lot of bugs here.....Arkansas should be famous for it's grasshoppers.  They're EVERYWHERE.  But everything is lush and green and beautiful!  We celebrated our first night in the official "South" by going to Cracker Barrel.  What else would we do to celebrate?


Arkansas.  I know this isn't typical focusing, but I liked it :)

Taking {another} rest stop

The grand ol' Mississippi River


Yay!  We made it!

Lib pretends to be an ice chest :/

On Sunday, we decided to attend Christ the King Church in Centerville, Tennessee.  It is located in Hickman County (how's that for hick?), the building actually being on the Botkin family's property.  We were familiar with the works of Geoff Botkin, and his daughters books and DVD (So Much More, It's {Not} That Complicated).  We arrived at church at 11:00 and felt welcome and at home with the many believers there.  The service was long--3.5 hours long--but very thorough and Biblically sound.  The music and singing was fabulous as well.  Afterwards, we shared a potluck and made friends.  It was a rich and fulfilling day for all of us, and we plan to go back!  The Botkin's were gracious hosts as well.

Rest stop after church

Yeah, the town's name really was Bucksnort.  Truly!

We've been in the car too long...

Way too long.....

That night, we arrived in Harriman, TN at around midnight.  The hotel is only minutes from Kingston, our final destination.  Praise the Lord for getting us here safely!

On Monday, we launched the boat at a nearby ramp (for free, I might add.  No fees here!!).

Then we cruised around a little before docking it at a rented slip in a marina...

Taking the travel cover off


Finally!  A dream come true!


~~~~~~~~

On Tuesday we took a longer cruise, and toured the lake until 12:00.  We looked at our rental house that we'll stay at next month, and a piece of property for sale on it's own peninsula.  The lake was smooth and glassy, and we barely saw ANY boats the whole time!  Watts Bar is like a hidden jewel right out in the open......seemingly untouched.

Tuesday morning.  Even after a wake, the water goes back to it's original glassy state.

Delaney demonstrates the consequences of failing to tie her hair back.  Behind her, Libbey shields herself against the wind.

This osprey swooped down and caught this fish right in front of us!  It was pretty neat.

-Silhouette view-

This is our rental house that we'll be staying in next month.  We're going to get quite a workout on those stairs, for sure!

This is where the river runs into downtown Kingston.  The coal plant is plainly visible in the center.


Obviously, someone lost the vision :/

Watts Bar



The Game of Life.  This is what happens when you land on a lot of "Baby" spaces.  Why don't they make bus pieces?!



Thursday came, and we drove about an hour east to Loudon Lake, where we're renting a house for a few weeks.  The house is pretty large and has a big dock, plus easy access to the main channel of the lake.  We got there in the afternoon and settled in, then went to the Snappy Tomato Pizza place for dinner (gotta love that name!).  As I write, it's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting in the dining room looking out onto the lake.  It's epic!  The house is on the older side, but large and very comfortable.  It's got it's quirks too--I think the original owners had a passion for wooden ducks.  Not to mention that the doorbell plays "Jingle Bells".  I am not kidding!!

Dad skiing on the Tennessee River for the first time :)

Here's the house!  Nah, just kidding!  Just a house that we passed on the lake today.

The dining room/office in the rental house.  We have an awesome view of Loudon Lake from there!

Lord willing I'll post a video of the rental house soon!