10- 27-30 -2017  hanging out with the grandpets:

I had hoped to get back up to the mountains and hike a waterfall, but had caught a cold right before we went.  Ended up not doing much---went to a couple movies and out to eat.  Also enjoyed the nice weather we were still having.

 Did go to probably our favorite restaurant there---Lakeside Grill (or something like that) and had a great dinner (salad with chicken in it!).

10-26-17  sunrise at Cades Cove!!!!


Since Tim and Faith had an early flight, I decided it would be a great opportunity to see Cades Cove at sunrise.  So we were up by 6 and on the road by about 6:30.  Dropped the kids off at the Knoxville airport.  Then continued on our way up into the Smokey Mountains.

Got to Cades Cove about 10 minutes before sunrise, only to find out they don't let you in until sunrise!  So we queued up---a little surprised to see so many people there already.

10-24-17  on our way to Knoxville---Amicalola:

Heading on up to Knoxville again.  This time we'll be watching Tim and Faith's pets while they go off to Kansas City for Faith's brother's wedding.  So we're heading up to Knoxville a couple days early so we can visit for a couple days with them, too.
With Knoxville being fairly close, we often take our time and head up through the mountains on state highways.  Sometimes I map out a place to stop, but today we just jumped in the car and took off.  Saw a few interesting sites along the way---

 Love how they decorate for Fall on farmlands!

10-23-17  an expensive day:

About a week ago Ken and I finally went to the dentist.  Since he retired almost 6 years ago, we hadn't been.  That's when we no longer had dental insurance.  But I'd been wanting to get a cleaning and Ken had a crown come off about a month ago---so he could no longer delay going.  So he had his tooth pulled and I had a cleaning.  Although they said my teeth and gums were in good shape, x-rays did show 2 more molars that had cracked under old fillings.  Back in the day---they use to drill out a lot more tooth when they did fillings.  I guess it was their insurance that you'd be back for a crown when you got older.  

Now that Ken is on Medicare and has a basic dental plan, he looked for a dentist here in Georgia that was in his plan.  Turned out it didn't matter since the plan only covered a cleaning and xrays.  So we bought the "family plan" for a discounts on services.  His extraction was about $250 and my crowns are about $1300 @.

Fast forward to today----I had an appointment to get one of the crowns.  It was suppose to be done all in one day---unlike the other 3 I have.  I was pretty excited about that.  So I got there about 9am for my 3 hour appointment.  The initial fun stuff was done---like getting my gums and tongue shot up and numbed.  Then the Dr. started explaining to his assistant or new dentist, or whomever she was, how to use the laptop.
Yep, I took pictures while  I was waiting for the shots to take affect.  The laptop is apparently connected to whatever is used to make the one day crowns.  And, of course, it decided not to work.  After they messed around with it for over 30 minutes and called technical support, the dentist said too bad, they can't do the one day crown today, and I can come back when the machine is replaced; or he could drill the tooth down now and put a temp on it.  Then come back in 2 weeks for the permanent crown---just like the old days.  Of course I elected to have it done the old way so I didn't have to get the shots again!    Isn't technology grand!

 I even got to watch HGTV while he was drilling away on my tooth. 

Although I liked the Dr., I'm not too crazy about being a guinea pig for the new Dr./assistant/whatever---been there, done that!  I suspect she'll be putting my crown on.  Hope she has a lot of practice in the 2 weeks I have to wait!  At least he didn't let her drill away on the tooth or build it up.  He did have her fit the temp. crown, though.  Still haven't decided when I'm having the 2nd one done.  It's actually the one that has bothered me a bit.  But the one he did today is the one he said was in worse shape.  Should have had them all crowned while we still had insurance!!!  Fortunately I had braces when I was a kid and had 4 permanent bicuspids pulled then and my wisdom teeth removed a few years later.  At least I don't have to worry about crowning them!

10-21-17  a trip to Cineta Winery with the guys:

Every since Angie and I went here to view the eclipse, we've talked about going back.  It is such a beautiful place and who doesn't like a good picnic---complete with wine?!  So we finally made it back!  We even had beautiful weather---70's and low humidity.

Angie packed up a bunch of snacks, and we bought a couple bottles of wine.  We even had a visitor---Buddy.  Apparently he's made this place his home since we were here for the eclipse.  Such a good dog!

 We sat and enjoyed the views and refreshments for a couple hours.

10-19-17  Georgia State Botanical Gardens in Athens:


Today is Thurs---pickleball day.  I told Ken if he takes me to the mountains or to the botanical gardens in Athens, I'll forego pickleball today.  My knee is still pretty sore.  I hope to not have to give it up, but figure I'll let it heal more, then try to work back into sports at a less intense level.  Hopefully that'll work.  I hate to think I'm done with sports!
Anyway----we went to Athens to the free state botanical garden there.  Hadn't been since tulip season, so it was about time we got back there!
We even stopped for breakfast along the way---gotta love Huddle House!  Looks like someone loved it so much they tried to make it a drive through.

 It's a really pretty ride from Buford to Athens.  Most of it is through the countryside.   More barns to photograph.

10-17-17  breakfast with our overnight guests and off to Atl Botanical Gardens with Angie:

Ken's brother Rick and his wife, Sue, made it here about 6 pm last night.  Just in time to meet up with Angie and Josh at Universal Joint for dinner.  Dinner and visiting was great.  Until we  went to drive away.  Ken noticed the side mirror was bent in, but didn't think too much about it.  He fixed it and we started to leave when a lady came over waving her arms.  Turned out she had backed into our car and left about a 5" long shallow dent in the drivers door.  We were in the 2009 Taurus instead of our new Edge only because Rick and Sue had parked behind the Edge.  Glad they did! She wants to pay to have it fixed and had someone she recommended.

 (We did take the car to the guy she recommended.  He said it would be over $350 and suggested having a paintless dent removal person look at it since he said the pearl paint is hard to match.  So we took it to a PDR place and was told because of where the dent is, he couldn't fix it.  Ultimately we called the gal back and thanked her for staying and telling us about the dent and we weren't going to have it fixed.  We suggested that if she wanted, she could make a donation to her favorite charity in whatever amount she wants.  Nice to know there are still people out there who take responsibility for their actions!  If it was our new car, it would be a different outcome, but fortunately we were in our 2009 Taurus that night).

Anyway----
Today we headed to Sugarhill Diner for breakfast with Rick and Sue.  They still had a 10 hour trip to get back to their place in Washington, Mo., so we visited over breakfast, then they took off from there.

 I took off shortly after that to play an hour of pickleball, then over to Angie's to head to South of Atlanta with her.  She won an auction for a piece of furniture and had to go there to pick it up.  Only problem was---the "buffet" was too large to fit into her Explorer!  (So she rented a van the next day and Ken went with her to pick it up.)

10-14-17  walk for breast cancer walk for the cure:

I have to give the apartment management credit for coming up with activities to try and bring the residents together.  They've had a polar plunge, a movie night by the pool, a paw party for dogs and their owners, taco night, and I'm sure I'm missing a few more.  usually we're gone when they have them.  But we did make it to the taco night a week or so ago (where I met a gal who loves volleyball as much as I do.  We even met one night and peppered a bit, but that seems to be as far as that's gone.)  This morning I was up in time to do the Breast Cancer walk for the Cure.  In fact, i arrived about 8:59 (suppose to start at 9) and only 1 other person was there.  We sat and visited and wondered if we had the wrong meeting place, then Carol and her husband arrived (the office manager).  They even brought a ton of snacks!

 fitness waters, granola bars, fruit, and even cinnamon rolls for those who aren't there for fitness. 

10-13-17  Supranos Grill and Sunset Cove sunset:

I forget how Ken found this restuarant, but it's a nice little place that we've gone to a few times now--- just had to get away from the Mall of Georgia area.  I believe this is still part of Buford, but it's up I-85 a few more miles.
Today I happened to notice their juke box.  Gone are the days of the record players!  Now you put an app on your phone and play the juke box from your table!  It's neat and sad at the same time!

 Looking towards the kitchen.

10-12-17  Pickleball!!!

FInally!!!!  I've found a group I feel comfortable in!  I was searching for more places to play volleyball or pickleball and came across this place in Suwanee (Suwanee Sports Club---or something like that).  They had pickleball listed from 11-1 on Tues. and Thurs.  That was perfect timing for me and Suwanee is close to us.  So I went.  Tues. we had 9 people there and 2 nets up.  They are a great group of people---mostly older like me, but with a few young or middle aged adults, too.  They are also all very good, but happy to have a newbie like me show up.  I had played twice before and had a very basic idea of how to play---somewhat like a mix between tennis and ping pong.  They were eager to coach me along and I think I've progress quite well for the short time I've played.  It is a lot of fun!!!  Thurs we only had 5 people, but the sitting out every 5th game was welcomed.  I'm happy to see that my heart and surgically repaired knee are doing just fine with the 2 hours of play.  Not so happy that my "good" knee is pretty sore for a couple days afterwards.  Hope that's just a getting accustomed to the new activity phase! 
The complex is mostly for volleyball clinics.  I hoped they would have adult volleyball, too, but they said there wouldn't be enough interest.

 A couple of the regulars. 

 A couple more.  Don't let the old people fool you!!!  They are quite the proficient players!!! 

So for $5 a day, or $25/month, I hope to be here a lot! 

10-11-17  New futon:

Ironically, this is the only piece of new furniture we have in the apartment.  And it cost about a third of what everything else did.  But we finally have some place for visitors to sleep.  With that in mind, we bought the best mattress for a futon.  It may even be more comfortable then our bed!  But finding it wasn't all that easy.  We went to 4 places before we finally found a decent one.  Fortunately I found a futon store about 15 miles from our place and they had a great selection.
Wasn't sure it would fit into our new Edge.  But it fit in with lots of room to spare!  

 Then came the fun of putting it together! 

 The back and seat finally done. 

We managed to get it together without killing each other.   Only took about 2 hours.

Perhaps the $60 delivery and set up fee would have been worth it!  On the other hand, I'm an old pro at putting them together now.

10-9-17  a walk in Ivy Creek Greenway:

Another late walk.  Didn't have to worry about the sun throwing shadows on the water---it was already low in the sky.  This is by our apartment complex overlook and picnic area.  I like to sit here and cool off after my walks or bike rides.

 The river just past the rapids---on it's way to our building.

10-8-17  Gainesville ATL Botanical garden:

Angie and Josh asked us a couple days ago if we wanted to go to the garden with them Sat. (today).  Of course I said we did---didn't even give Ken the choice.  The kids' membership is expiring soon.    We were going to go to the garden, then to the winery Angie and I went to for the solar eclipse, but they decided it was too hot and humid to spend anymore time outside then for the garden.  We're still having temps in the upper 80's with high humidity and heat indexes in the 90's.
It was another special event at the gardens---Fall Woodland Ramble and Goblins in the Garden. Along with a lot of scarecrows throughout the gardens, there were a lot of booths with merchandise for sale in them.
The walkway up to the entrance.  It certainly is still really lush and green here!

 They should have also added---don't touch the Lego creations!  I picked up the witch to show Angie and the hat wasn't on tight.  Yep, the face fell and pieces scattered.  Fortunately we spent a fortune on Lego's when the kids were small and Angie was able to quickly reassemble it!  Then she made me leave the building.

10-6-17  last day at the apartment pool for the season---

With temps being in the 80's, we thought the pool might still be warm enough to enjoy.  I'd say it was almost warm enough to enjoy---but we got in anyway!  I'd estimate the temp of the water to be about 69. 

At least we had the water all to ourselves!  We were told when we resigned our lease that the pool would be heated in the winter.  Wonder if they're still saying that?!

(I lied---we were back in the pool a day the next week, too.  With record breaking highs in the upper 80s a couple days in a row, we gave the pool another try.  We were the only ones in it again, but the water was actually a really comfortable temperature---78, maybe!  But it looks like Fall is about to arrive around Oct. 16th.)

(made it there again today---Oct. 15th---a cold front is expected tomorrow.  good bye summer!) 

10-5-17  sunset by REI:

 With it being so hot still, I've been walking in the late afternoon/evening.  I wish it was still light at 9, but now it's getting dark around 7.  Another month it'll be dark about 5:30!   Anyway---I like when I get to see a pretty sunset.   I was walking up by REI when I spotted this view with the tree branches in the foreground. 

Tonight was a pretty one!

10-2-17  heading back to Buford, GA, by way of Red Clay Historical Park:

I like trying to find a waterfall or something interesting to stop at on the way home from Knoxville, but I didn't spend much time researching that this time.  In the short amount of time I did before we left their house, I came across Red Clay Historical Park.  Never heard of it before, but it was close to I-75 and made a good bypass around Chattanooga.  So we decided to check it out.
Along the way, we enjoyed the views along I-75 towards Cleveland, Tn.

the Tennessee River?

It was another pretty day weatherwise and cloudwise.

10-1-17  a day in Knoxville:

No big plans for today.  Started it off by going out for breakfast.   After a great breakfast, we headed up to a park on top of a mountain overlooking Knoxville and the mountains beyond.

 Close up of the Sunsphere in downtown Knoxville from the top of the mountain (with my 150-600mm zoom lens).

9-30-17  our drive from St. Louis to Knoxville:

Well, another 2 weeks pretty much flew by.  Time to move along.  This time we were on our way to Knoxville.  Pretty much the same route as to Atlanta, except that we switched to I-40 in Nashville instead of staying on I-24.  We're becoming quite familiar with the scenery along the way.
At first, there's lots of flat farmlands in Illinois.

 Looks like the soy beans are about ready for harvest.