Provisioning

Spam anyone??

What exactly is a "beanie weenee???"

On the road and in the mountains

Decisions...we chose Chattanooga over Memphis.  Sorry Elvis.

Stopped at the large Civil War battlefield just south of Chattanooga.  There are numerous monuments to the soldiers and military units that fought here.

Wonder how these things work.

We went on to the mountains and saw the rare white squirrel.  I thought it was great to see such a pretty white animal...like me!  If he weren't so shy I bet I could get him a job in advertising.

 More walking in the mountains.  Sometimes I think Phil and Chris are crazy.

I couldn't even get out of the hiking today...

 The drive through the mountains was spectcular.  Great mountain scenery, fast flowing rivers and rapids.  Beautiful, but sometimes the roads could stand to be just a little wider.

Some things just shouldn't happen

Chris is "shootin varmints".

Someone, anyone, take that away from her!  Does she know it's bear hunting season?

Christmas in the Smokey Mountains

Christmas Day started fairly early for me...prepared the Weber, prepared the turkey and got everything cooking for Christmas lunch.  It is bear hunting season here, that is why I'm wearing my bright orange vest.

Aside from drinking wine and waiting for the Turkey to cook,
I had a lot to do...preparing veggies for roasting...it was an exhausting morning for me.

Finally it was time to eat.  As usual, I spent too much time with the wine and fell asleep.  Chris carved the turkey and I had some leftovers later.


After all the food, we all went for a walk.  We were in the Pisgah National Forest, where there are over 400 miles of hiking trails, so there was not an instant to waste and plenty of hiking to do.  There are some dangers in the area...Black bears live here and there are signs instructing on what to do when a black bear is encountered.  Fortunately for me, I was excused from all the hiking because of the hunting season.

 We cross plenty of streams and rivers.  Often there are nice bridges or crossings, but not always.

We clambered around on this rock face (John Rock) where I am sure we were not supposed to be.  Great views!

Lots of tall trees and scenic spots. After a few days in the park, there are still many many unexplored trails (by us), but we have more adventures awaiting in other places and need to be on the road south again..

Everyone shops at Walmart...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!  We are headed into the mountains to find a great camping area for a few days.  Not sure what sort of access we'll have to the internet, but I'll post when I can.  Maybe Chris and Phil will get me that Ipod for Christmas??

Thank you for your comments and encouragement also with the blog.
Happy Holidays,
Buster

Still here...

They haven't sent me anywhere yet.  I'm trying to get Phil and Chris to forget that hideous incident at the distillary involving Santa's sleigh and a small fire.  If I can just get the smokey smell out of my fur.

We went to visit General Patton's museum at fort Knox which was a little disappointing because they had just moved most of the artillary display to Fort Benning, Georgia.

This is the car that General Patton was killed in.  After surviving all the wars, he was involved in a collision with a truck after the war and died in Europe.

We spent a few days at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area.  Top spot for camping and along with great scenery and hiking trails, they have herds of elk and bison.

The animals normally continually graze and mind their own business, ignoring the tourists that come to gawk.  However, today they were curious and we sat still long enough for them to block the road.

 I'm glad they are herbivores.  Isn't it time to go?



Travelling south and looking for warmer weather

The US Air force museum in Dayton, Ohio is not to be missed if you have any sort of interest in military history or aviation.  There are displays from the days of the Wright brothers on up to todays modern equipment.  The hangers are huge and we went through pretty quickly having only a half day to see things. 

There are several space capsules on display as well as a room full of rockets.

After our day at the USAF museum, we went to Kentucky, the bluegrass state and home to the Kentucky Derby (roughly the US equivalent of the Melbourne Cup).  We drove past many beautiful horse farms, however the sight of a polar bear makes everyone nervous and we don't have these photos.

We did, however, tour the Buffalo Trace bourbon distillary.  Mainly there are large vats where the bourbon ferments and then barrels in all sorts of old brick buildings where it all ages.  After any number of years it is filtered and bottled here in this room.

Needless to say, I got into all sorts of trouble at the distillary.  It all started in the tasting room and things sort of got out of hand.  Phil and Chris are threatening to send me back to Australia.

Travelling update

We're getting warmer!  Pretty soon I can shem my winter coat.

We've travelled through Ohio and Kentucky since my last posting and visited the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio which was great...huge and very interesting.

Next we went to Frankfurt, Kentucky to see another military museum.  Next we toured the Buffalo Trace Bourbon distillary which is the oldest continuously operating distillary in the country.  They sold bourbon for medicinal pourposes during the prohibition.

We then headed west to Elizabethtown and visited the general Patton Museum up at Fort Knox, which is also where West Point military academy is located.  After a few days there we went to the Land between the Lakes National Recreation area which was a great spot to camp and do some hiking. 

I'll get some photos organized and do another post when I finish all this bourbon...

Life is Good

$2.75 for 25 ounces of beer.  Yes, America truely is a land of opportunity.

We travelled to Ohio and had a very nice visit with Chris's aunt and uncle.  It snowed on the way there between Milwaukee and Chicago, and again from Fort Wayne and to the east.  The next morning there was snow all over so Phil and Chris made the decision to go south.  Soft...yes.  The whole snowy winter wonderland thing is over-rated.

When I was a young polar bear I did the whole snow and ice thing in the arctic with the seals, but after getting the gig with Bundaberg rum and living in the tropics for a few years I saw the light.

Cheers!

Day at the laundry

We've been out touring all day and then it is back home and there is laundry to be done.  Don't worry about it guys, I'll do it.

Exercise...WHAT?

 Too much Thanksgiving and socializing so they say I need to exercise.  Got on the treadmill with some tunes and it didn't seem so bad.  Then they turned it on and I was supposed to run!  Are they out of their minds?

Ten minutes on that treadmill and gravity won.  Good night!!

On the road again...

 It is cold here in Wisconsin!  I am trying to get Chris and Phil to notice the long horns I've attached to the RV and consider returning to Texas soon.  They have all sorts of winter clothes but what about me?  I'm lucky to have this little scarf.

 Not only is it cold here, they do odd things to animals here and decorate the shops with them.  Frankly, it makes me a little nervous.

Caught up with several of Chris's cousins for a Green Bay Packer party.  The Pack is 12-0 for the season this year and we all got into the spirit of things with plenty of great food and beers. 

Buster goes to dinner

We went to dinner at Melissa, Tim and Katharine's the other night.  I found the perfect spot by the fire to have a quiet little drink.  Later they found me for another photo shoot...it is tough being so famous and photogenic.

Beautiful dinner...lots of fun and Chris needs the recipe for the Soup!  Thank you to Melissa, Tim and Katharine.

Thanksgiving preparations

Wednesday we prepared some cranberries and a pumpkin pie.  While the pie was baking I found a bottle of wine and relaxed for an hour.

Buster is asleep somewhere, but the pie is cooked and turned out great.

See how cold it was today (Wednesday), Phil and Chris were crazy enough to go out walking in the frosty morning and I have to go too.

Here is a poor little frozen leaf, the frost is really thick here.

Thursday morning we were all up preparing the turkey for roasting.  Can't wait for dinner!

 Stuffed, into the oven and ready to cook.  Wonder if I can find another bottle of wine?

While the turkey roasted I found a few more photos of our trip to Chicago. 
 That's me keeping an eye on everything we pass from the big window of the RV.

We saw a lot of these grain silos and grain farms in Illinois.

 Now...where is that wine?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from Buster, Phil and Chris