06/26/08

Todays pics are the last of Cades Cove, TN. Geesh... took me a while, huh? :) These are of the Cable Mill and the Rebecca Cable home as well as another cabin/farm area we stopped at. This area was like a "pit stop" with a gift shop, bathrooms and such. It had more interaction than the churches and other cabins. It was a beautiful area. We watched a blacksmith make a cross as well as walked around to see the barn and house.

While we were walking around we saw a national park ranger who was showing different things about the land. Some woman came up, who had already been a bit annoying and rude in the blacksmith shop, and told the park ranger that there was a snake going across the path nearby and she needed to come kill it! The park ranger told her she would come IDENTIFY the snake but she would not kill it because it is doing its natural thing... living! The woman then proceeded to go on and on about how she had just killed a black snake in her garage at home, yada yada yada... Let's just say the park ranger was not impressed with the lady. It was a black snake that crossed the path and it was interesting to watch. Now, do I love snakes? Not up close, but I know they have a purpose just like everything God has created.

Right after we saw that snake there was another one on the steps of the main house. Wesley was all about trying to see the snakes with the park ranger. She tried to find out what kind it was, but it was moving too quickly. You'll see a picture of Wesley with the park ranger looking for the snake as well as him holding up a snake skin. The park ranger allowed Wesley to keep a small part of the skin he had found as long as he promised to use it as a teaching tool at school. He readily agreed and was so excited. (Remember, he had just picked flowers just a few minutes earlier and we had to remind him he can't take things from national parks, so this was something he didn't want to do wrong. lol)

The area had a working mill. In fact, they ground the corn as we were in there. I took a couple of pictures but one didn't turn out very well because I didn't have a tripod. The one I posted below is of the corn coming out of the shoot once it had been ground. I love how a mill works. This one had the area built up that channeled the natural river to work for the mill. Mikayla is standing by that. Wesley is standing by a piece of farm equipment near the barn. The barn was an interesting built one. There are no support beams going down to the ground on the outside because of the beams put on the roof. It was quite neat to see and hard for me, the non-engineering mind, to understand. Neat barn, though. We also saw the little river nearby. Those pictures aren't that great to me, but I posted one anyway.

We also went by another cabin and went through it and the barn. Those are at the bottom. On our way out of Cades Cove we actually got to see a bear. It isn't the greatest picture because she was far away, thankfully, and she was in the middle of the trees, but I did the best I could. There were a ton of people pulled over on the side of the road trying to capture a picture of her. Some people were quite humorous with it. Cades Cove was just beyond words with the beauty I saw. I can only imagine how people felt when they lived there. I am thankful it is a national park so that it can't be turned into a shopping mall!!! Around here, it seems, most everything is built upon now.

I didn't get to post last night because Wesley had his last baseball game. I will admit that I will miss seeing him play. He came SO far this season and we are so proud of him. He's happy he played and he's OK that it is over until next spring. He's a content little guy.

Today I had to have an endoscopy (where they put the camera down your throat). I haven't said much to many people simply because I don't like to sound like a hypochondriac. ha! I have still had issues with my stomach even after having my gallbladder removed last fall. It would be alright for a while but when I hit high stress times, it would cause major problems. At the end of school I was having a HARD time with it and I became a bit worried that it was more than just acid reflux issues. I went to my doctor and he said it was time to do more in-depth testing so, that is why I had the endoscopy. I went to the specialist right before vacation and we made arrangements for the test to take place today.

I tried not to think about the "what ifs" while on our trip. There were a lot of things that could be causing my pain and I know stress only aggravates. I had to be there early this morning and they knocked me out for the procedure, for which I am thankful! The test showed no signs of any major problems and no cancer or things like that. They did find a place that is very irritated which could turn into an ulcer so after they test that further they'll know whether I need a different medication to heal that area. For now, I have to stay on the higher powered acid medication. It seems I am a high producer of acid and when I get stressed it only gets to be higher. I have a stressful job many days so that made sense why my stomach was causing me a lot of problems at the end of school. I also found out the medicine I had been taking became "immuned" to working in my body. Some of the over the counter meds don't do anything anymore if you have to take them for an extended period.

I wasn't going to write about this, actually, but I just felt so relieved when it came back all "clear" that I needed to write about it. I am thankful to the Lord for how He helps and has kept my nerves these last few weeks. When things are uncertain it can cause lots of scenarios to run through your brain. I found myself having to constantly give it over to Him. Of course, that is all He wants because He is the one Who holds our futures!

I was pretty out of it all day. Steve had to go to work after my procedure since he was off last week, so Mom took me home and stayed with me all day. The kids were at a friends house having a play date. I didn't tell them much about it simply because I didn't want them to worry. I know how Mikayla can get if she thinks something is wrong. She had a few moments of tears in the afternoon from what I understand. She is so tenderhearted when it comes to those she loves. I finally started feeling more normal around 5:00. Since I don't take a lot of medication I am easily "knocked down" when I have major meds. The kids were happy to get home and Mikayla was glad to see I looked "normal." lol

Steve is working late tonight so we'll be missing him.

It was almost 100 degrees around here again today... and will be the same tomorrow. In fact, they said tomorrow will be around 98 but will feel like 103. JOY. We really need some rain. We'll be going on our walk EARLY in the morning tomorrow before we start our cleaning frenzy. This is making me miss the weather we had in the mountains! It was so pleasant even on the hot days.

I better get off of here and read to the kiddos. They are playing and I know they aren't going to be glad to stop. lol

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Have a great evening!

Rebecca Cable House

The barn near the Cable Mill

Riverbed behind the barn

Wesley loving the farm equipment

The part of the mill the water was re-directed from the river

Mikayla by the re-directed water area

Cable Mill

Corn already ground being put in the container

Wesley and the snakeskin he found. Can you tell the sun was bright?

Back of Rebecca Cable home

Wesley and the park ranger looking for the other snake

Front/side view of Rebecca Cable home

Barn of another cabin homestead

Another homestead... to think, someone used to call that HOME

View from the front of that homestead looking out... just beautiful

Inside the barn on the homestead looking out

Back of the barn looking toward the front of the property

My pitiful photograph of the mother bear in the wild....