The Great Smoky Mouintians

We spent the last weekend in Pigeon Forge Tn. For Chris and April's 5Th anniversary. We had a great time. Deb and I picked up mom and dad about 8:00 on Friday morning and headed to the mountains. I had planed to go up Hwy 129 threw Blairesville then up to Cherokee NC. and take Hwy 441 to Gatlinburg. With all the bad weather last week I decided to stick to the bigger road and took 985 to 441 in Clarksville, and stayed on 441 all the way. It was a good call and we got to Pigeon Forge 2 hours earlier than expected. We met Chris, April, Katie, Bryan and Maddy, Peg and Steve and got to spend some time before the cabin was ready.

The view from the cabin was spectacular. April's family arrived at the same time as we did and we all settled in. A bit later Kelly and Josh showed up, safe and sound.

Chris and Bryan cooked hot dogs for us for dinner. (notice the hot dog in my hitch. I can see Steve's finger prints from here.)

We woke up on Saturday to a heavy rain and a breakfast of home made biskets pork tender loin and gravy thanks to Aprils parents and grandmother. It was good.

Aprils family went in to Gatlinburg but the Shore side of the family decided to hang in the cabin. That evening we had the anniversary celebration and we were joined by some of April's family as well as Chris's college buddy Jason and his wife Brandy.

I think we all had fun watching TV, playing games or just hanging. On Sunday we woke to a beautiful morning and got ready to hit the road home. Our side of the event stopped for breakfast (thanks Pop) before going our separate ways, Thanks again Chris and April for including us in your celebration.

September 22nd

Happy Birthday to my brother Jimmy and Happy Anniversary to Jimmy and Sue. One of the new status symbols in this country is a long marriage. You can not buy it, you have to earn it. Congratulations.

Never Forget

9/11 by the Numbers

Total number killed in attack 2,819
Fire Fighters / Paramedics Killed 373
NYPD killed 23
Port Authority officers killed 37
Number of employees lost tower 1 1,396
Number of employees lost tower 2 614
Number Killed on Flight 93 40
Number killed in Pentagon 184
Number Killed on WTC air craft 152

The numbers speak for them self. Today I heard more about the man that called Obama a lyre and ACORN than I did about 9/11. This should be a day of reverence and reflection, not politics. I am not one who thinks this should be a national holiday. Americans tend to make national holidays as a day off and forget what they are all about, look at July 4th and Christmas. I think it is up to all of us to keep this day a raw memory. How many people under 50 can tell you about Pearl Harbor?