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?