2022/07/22 Special Edition. Our new home.

A tour of our new home, 29 July 2022

From the street. Our garage in on the right Part of our balcony can be seen. Our front door is on the right. The other garages are for the other condo units.

Our Front Door. Welcome and come in.

Enter the front door into our entrance hall. The door leads to a coat rack and storage that goes under the stairs. Upstairs leads to all our living area. Hi, Dakota. The window on the landing looks down on our driveway and the street.

The door open on the right leads to our garage. Also a new edition is our 2019 Camry Hybrid. 

Inside of our garage. Our truck was too tall so we got a new car that fits just fine. 

Dakota waits at the top of the second set of stairs that lead to the living room at the top. Behind the living room is the dining room. Back left is the door to the balcony.

From the Dining room looking over the living room at the fireplace. The windows on the left look out over the front door porch.

From the Dining room looking into the kitchen. The door on the left is the laundry room and the one on the right is the pantry. Since our dining room furniture will not be delivered until Saturday we take our meals at the kitchen hi-top counter.

View into the laundry room and the pantry. We had quite the struggle getting our washer and dryer scheduled for delivery. 

Carol checking out our new washing machine. Just making sure it's actually working since it's so quiet. 

Looking out our balcony door and views from our balcony. 

Standing between the living room and dining room looking down the hall to the utility room, linen closet, guest room, bathroom and master suite on the end. 

First two doors on the left is the utility room and linen closet. 

First door on the right is the guest room. Currently empty, but the walk-in closet on the right is full of boxes and stuff we still need to go through. Thankful for all the storage space.  

The last door on the left is the guest bathroom, across the entry of the bathroom is an alcove with shelves. 

The room at the end of the hall is our master bedroom. The queen size bed is for the guest room. We are still picking out our king size bed for the master bedroom.  The first door on the right is the bathroom. The second door is the walk-in closet. 

Looking into the master bath. Clockwise from left, double sink, toilet, shower and soaking bathtub.

Clockwise from top left, double sink, toilet, shower and bathtub.

Update July 30th. Our dining room set arrived and we are enjoying our first meal in the dining room.  

July 31st. Carol and Dakota enjoying the balcony. The weather was nice. Shortly, Carol is going down for a chat with our new neighbors in the last unit, Keith and Carol who have lived here since 2008. 

20210926 - 1015 Near Kristen & Dave, PA

 

Sun Valley RV Campground, Narvon, PA, 29 September 2021

Our home and rental car (Our truck was getting needed repairs). A nice campground only ten minutes from Kristen's place so visiting is a breeze.

 Near Kristen's house Mohnton, PA 04-11 September 2021

Selecting plants for Kristen's new Birthday garden. This could take awhile to sort out for size, bloom color and bloom season plus see if we can incorporate seed and/or berry production. 

Preparing the site takes more work to remove all the grass and then planting. We had sunny but cool weather which was good because it took almost an entire week to get this garden established. 

Winterberry came with a large bunch of berries. The butterfly bush (front) will be good for butterflies and hummingbirds. The blue pot is a well established chocolate mint.

Time to mulch and we are done. 

We found a "rare" red-backed salamander under a rock next to Kristen and Dave's front porch. Such a tiny thing under a very big rock. We returned it to its spot under the rock. 

20210910 - 0917 Gatlinburg, TN

Gatlinburg, TN, 10-17 September  2021

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, 11 September 2021

Did someone lose their sunglasses? If so, we left them on top of the sign. 

You never know what you might see down below. One of the most popular hikes in Pigeon Forge due to the scenic views of the Smokey Mountains that are easily accessible to hikers of all ages.

I see you, David. Do you see me? Exploring the decades old cabins.

Looking around The Ephraim Bales Place. The picture is of 
Minerva "Nervy" Bales who had 9 children. The entire family lived in a "dog-trot" cabin which is two cabins placed side by side with a space between and a common roof connecting them together. She died around 1926. The Bales family lived here from about 1890 to about 1930 when the government purchased the land. The original corn crib, barn and pig pen remain standing as well. 

Looking at an old mill at Alfred Reagan Place and the race from the Roaring Fork creek which provided the water to run the mill. The grist mill was a turbine or "tub" mill, the most common type found in the mountains. Water was channeled to strike a primitive horizontal wooden turbine wheel (middle photo), which turned and provided direct drive power to the mill stones. 

Tourist stop at Ely's Mill.  They have and do everything under the sun. Local crafts, antiques and seasonal honey, rental cabins, small weddings and photo shoots.

Day Trip up Newfound Gap Road (US 441), 11 September 2021

Views along the Newfound Gap Road. As you can see, the area is strewn with pebbles, stones, rock and boulders. Since most of the original settlers were farmers, ranchers and craftsmen. There is a saying that a handful of dirt is put between two rocks so the corn could be planted. 

Dakota wanted to try her luck walking the creek. But moving water always makes her nervous. 

Everyone else along the creek. Tori is very reluctant to go into the water. Her eye sight is bad and her equilibrium is failing. What kind of nut is this? We are pretty sure it is a Pignut Hickory Nut.

  

President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on September 2, 1940. This Monument honors The Rockefeller Family's generous donations. 

The inscription reads, “For the permanent enjoyment of the people. This park was given one-half by the peoples and states of North Carolina and Tennessee and by the United States of America, and one-half in memory of Laura Spelman Rockefeller by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, founded by her husband John D. Rockefeller.”

Newfound Gap Sights and Trails. This is an access point for the Appalachian Trail. 

Mingus Mill. The mill was completed in 1886, and was one of the most advanced mills in the Smoky Mountains due to its use of a steel turbine design. Mingus Mill was funded by Dr. John Mingus, and designed and built by Sion Thomas Early.

The Glades Arts and Crafts Community, 13 September 2021

Shopping day. The Glades Arts and Crafts Community is comprised of an eight-mile country road loop where over 100 artists and craftsmen parade their trades. What did we buy? A wooden Spatula for pulling a pizza from the oven and a fancy wooden pull knob for a ceiling fan. Any times we buy something we have to get rid of something in the trailer. 

That wraps up our trip to Gatlinburg, TN.