Pigeon Forge, TN-Chattanooga, TN 10/31 140 driving miles; 7.8 walking miles

BOO! And who wouldn't like a Happy Halloween? The drive from Redneck Vegas, family style (Pigeon Forge) to Chattanooga was (thankfully) uneventful. We drove to Lookout Mountain first to both visit the Civil War battlefield monument and to take advantage of the  spectacular view of Chattanooga from the clifftop perch. Once again,the battlefield statistics made note of the great sacrifice both sides suffered during the war. In this, the so called Battle of the Clouds, the collective loss numbered nearly 13,000. From there, we found our (so called) downtown hotel (2 miles, actually). The false advertsing sent Eduardo into a kerfuffful induced tail spin. Smoke was coming out his ears for awhile, but after a  few steps, a quite good lunch, and a bit of time, he got over it. Chattanooga helped. It is a lovely and lively town. It's set where the Tennessee river snakes through a plain like a liquid lover wrapping her arms around her honey. Home of UTC, the town is full of college kids, and the city has done a quite fabulous job of creating a shopping, eating, walking space. Besides UTC, the town boasts a minor league baseball team, an aquarium, and several points of interest for visitors. I like the feel of the place. While it's a stretch (As Ed would gladly tell you) to say this Red Roof Inn is downtown, we're finding it the same very adequate quality of other Red Roofs we've stayed in lately. Ever since Deb and Judy made their visit, we've stepped up our standards, I guess so we won't be too crusty around the edges when we get home. So snuggled in we are to watch football and baseball before continuing Southward tomorrow. As usual, kerfuffuls aside, life is good, especially today.

The river wraps itself around the town.

The battle for this high ground as well as control of the river was pivotal in the war between the states.

Across the way, the battle for the "low" ground, otherwise known as Missionary Ridge was one of the bloodiest encounters of the war.

Soldiers of all sorts took time to be photographed from this perch.

Officers and gentlemen.

Confederates and Yankees.

Lone men in contemplative moods.

And grinning self snapping tourists like me.

Best human of the day, Heather Barker, a recent graduate of UTC (English). She was great. Even though I accosted her unaware, she graciusly helped me figure out how to upload photos to the cloud from my phone. Once again, I'm taken by just how gracious we humans can be. I think we should follow Hearher's example and treat everyone we meet (Even very forward strangers with kindness). It would be a nice treat in this tricky world.

And of course, we had some thin gruel.

Asheville, NC-Pigeon Forge, TN 10/30 184 driving miles; 9.1 walking miles

Wow! In a trip of contrasts today may be the most shocking. We left Asheville under Carolina Blue skies, wound our way up to Chimney Rock State Park where we enjoyed the view on the best day of the year (According to the Ranger). The we ambled down the final leg of the Blue Ridge Parkway, enjoying a picnic lunch at one of the many million dollar view tables. Not to be outdone, we entered the Great Smoky Mountains, which is at once a continuation of the parkway (In motif), but totally different with its majestic spruce trees and craggy hilltops (They call them mountains back here). The Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park and every tourist on record was visiting today, the last (Awesomely beautiful) day of October. We were in bumper to bumper traffic through most of the traverse (.5 mile/45 minutes), but not to worry. We had plenty of time to look at scenery and we had an awesome mountain music radio station to listen to. The striking contrast came as we excited the National Park and tooled into Pigeon Forge, which we presumed was a sleepy little mountain town of 6,000. Maybe 6,000 live here, but today it seemed like all 2.1 million area residents were here visiting Dolly World. This place is Hillbilly Vegas minus the booze and dancing girls. It's wall to wall (5 mile strip) T-shirt shops, candy shops, arcades, go carts, amusement rides, hotels, food joints, photo booths, and did I say T-shirt shops. I mean, Wow! We went from the most pristine, low impact natural attraction you can imagine to this shockingly gaudy display of family based, Jesus saves entertainment. Dazzling! We over ate a home style dinner of turkey and fixins. Right now I'm fighting the tryptophan blues, a bloated belly, and as much regret as a country boy can muster. In other words, life is good, especially today.

Of course, we started the day at Biscuit Head. This is the BBQ Brisket Biscuit: scrambled eggs, thinly sliced potatoes, brisket in a biscuit smothered with jalapeno gravy. Deeelicious!

Luann, best ticket taker of the day.

One view from Chimney Rock.

The view from the Opera Box.

Smiley's view every day.

The view from the parking lot.

"Best" human of the day, Bud McFalls who gave us flawless directions to the back way to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Art shot of day: Mountain Pure.

Edwardo getting his heart rate up.

Selfie of the day: Devil's Peak.

Great Smoky Traffic Jam.

Pigeon Forge (Dolly's World) after dinner. Too much!

Glendale Springs, NC-Asheville, NC 10/29 140 driving miles; 7.6 walking miles

We had a lot of time to talk to day, since we drove most of the day Southward cruising at thirty-five miles an hour on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We've covered quite a bit of the 479 odd miles and we're not done yet. We'll travel through the Great Smoky Mountains on our way to Atlanta. The vistas we saw again today were simply stunning. I wish the photos could do them justice. Suffice to say, the parkway is well worth the visit. We talked quite a bit about the viral video now being bantied around like the toxic hot potato it is. Our consensus ended up being gratitude. To quote Joe Bonino, "These are no longer our concerns." But the action troubles me, though along with an incorrect focus (My opinion), the main stream talking/bobbing heads have also cropped the video ostensibly to protect the innocent. But I ask you to go to YouTube and take a look at the body language of the other students in the class, and more troubling, the body language of the teacher. Here we are focusing on cops in schools, proper responses, etc. And before I proceed on my rant, In no way am I condoning the policeman's actions. What I'm questioning is our decision to NOT focus on what happened in the classroom. In three days, we've seen an adnaseum loop of the take down, and we've heard a few platitudes promising better training for school personnel, but we've heard nothing of the student's "sin" and nothing specific about the teacher's actions. What we have seen is an abridged video. When I look at the other kids in the class who are completely disengaged, completely passive, my radar starts beeping. What is the climate like in that classroom, in that school? What support are teachers given? What emphasis is there on protecting the learning environment? What techniques did this detached teacher use before administrators and a resource officer were callled? The focus should be on creating a willing learning environment, and as a teacher, I always felt that fell squarely on me. I can sympathize with teachers who feel they have no support, but what happens in MY classroom is what happens in MY classroom. Having said that, I don't know the climate in South Carolina, but I do believe that kids want to learn, and given a chance, most will blossom. I also know (From hard experience) that no one wins in a "power over" situation. My bottom line for disciplinary action always started at the point a student took time away from the class (I didn't let kids sleep, elther), so what disturbs me the most is the focus of the discussion is on the "role" of cops in school. Cops in school!!! Goodness!! Let's focus on learning in schools. Let's focus on getting students involved in ways meaningful to their lives. Let's focus on training teachers to effectively manage classrooms. Let's focus on building the three legged stool: student, teacher, parent. Let's focus on teaching kids istead of rousting them like criminals. Finally, let's hear some honest talk from the actual players: the student, her classmates, the teacher, the administrators, and the cop. Instead, it seems like the easy answer is to villify (I admit, it looks easy) the officer, while the others duck, dodge, disclaim, and disappear. All I can say from my retired rocking chair is that life is good, especially today.

The sun came up with its usual promise.

In North Carolina, they call these mountains: Elevation 3485 ft.

Stunning vistas.

It makes me think the possibilities are endless.

Selfie of the day.

The owner of this estate donated it and the land surrounding it to the park system in 1950.

Best human of the day, John Wilson, security guard at Asheville's City Hall. Great guy who was willing to jibber-jabber with guys like us.

Art shot of the day: The Lock.

Hope of the day: Let's dance together.

Second hope of the day: Let's play together.

Question of the day: When will the self-serving two-faced duplicity end?

Bristol,VA-Glendale Springs, NC 10/28 120 driving miles; 12 walking miles

We've finally done it; we've turned South.  You wouldn't have known it from our travels today, though. We began with a stroll through downtown Bristol. Up one side of State street we were in Tennesse. Down the other side we were in Virginia. Our "best" human of the day, Danny Eller, a Bristol, Tennessee police officer patiently answered our questions and enlightened us on the happenings of his town. For lunch, we stopped in Abingdon, VA, a quaint little (8,000 pop.) village. From there we did what we've been doing lately. We twisted and turned on the mountain roads until we ended up in Glendale Springs, NC. We came here, I found out, to feed our souls. A fresco artist named Ben Long has painted pictures in several churches (5 in Charlotte). We visited two today. In the first church, the primary painting in of Christ on the cross with a father figure behind, welcoming him. The message is our creed: Christ has died; Christ is Risen; Christ will come again. The second church, which is here in Glendale Springs has a painting of the Last Supper. The message here is more complex (We humans are works in progress): It says those who come to this table are not what they were, nor are they what they will be. That's the good news, which is why I believe that life is good, especially today.

The street is literally the state line.

I love train stations. Bristol, VA is awesome.

We still have a little color.

Danny Eller. He didn't even think about body slamming me.

Food for the soul.

One vision of agony.

Wood carving of Christ in the wilderness.

Pen and ink etching oozing its agony.

Fresco paintings are not on the wall; they are the wall. If I were you, I'd make a pilgrimage here to be in the presence of this piece.

The ever doubting, Thomas.

To us, Christ invites, "Come to my table,  I have a chair ready for you."

He'll even take a hobo like me. That's me sporting my pig eating grin.

I may be grinning, but Ed thinks he's a mountain music star. (I think we better get out of these mountains; they're getting to us).

Asheville, NC-Bristol, VA 10/27 100 driving miles; 7 walking miles

The weatherman's prediction: 100% chance of rain. And he was right, but undaunted, we took advantage and slept in. When we did rise and shine (Figuratively), we used the easy magic of Smart Phone technology to find the "best" breakfast in Asheville. According to nearly three hundred highly satisfied customers who took the time to post a review, Biscuit Head is Asheville's top spot. We wouldn't have found it otherwise, but boy were we glad. The vibe was casual friendliness mixed with understated excellence. The coffee was hot, rich, and dark. The biscuits were big, buttery, flakiness. The eggs were soft, seasoned, perfection. The fried green tomatoes were crusty, tart, tenderness. And the grits were soft, cheesy, Southern goodness. My experience was decidely fuzzy, favorable satisfaction. I will go again: probably twice. After breakfast, we returned to the hotel, checked out, and made our out way to brave the weather. First, we drove to the visitor center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is near Asheville. It was especiially interesting because of the large interactive map they have there. From there we went to the Folk Art Center, which highlights Appalachian artisans. Astounding. Then we drove through the driving rain up, over, around, and through the dells and hollows in the mountains of North Carolina until we crossed over into Tennessee finally coming to rest in Bristol, which literally has one foot in Tennessee and one in Virginia. We drove just a hundred miles, but they were wet, twisting, dipping, diving miles. We didn't get a chance to talk to any "best" humans until Ed had a craving for a Jalepeno Kolache sold in the donut store next to the motel. There we met Heather, the cute and sprightly mother of four (Don't all great mothers need to be sprightly?) who has just returned to the area from Arkansas. She says the schools are highly rated in this area, and besides, grandma is here. In my experience, it's always good for a full time working mom to have grandma nearby to help with (Elijah-8; Cameron-6; Leah-5; Ethan-3) the kids. Heather says she's just helping out at the donut shop, which is owned by her ex-husband's father, and was happy to report that she just landed a new job. As the oldest son of a single mom myself, I know I appreciated how hard my mom worked to provide for me and my siblings. I also know raising kids is difficult business. I'm glad to see young  women like Heather working hard to make it. I see this over and over on my travels: people working hard, believing in the dream. Like Heather said, "I'll never give up." I like that attitude and attitude creates attitude, which translates to what I always say, "Life is good, especially today."

Best breakfast in Asheville, NC.

Full breakfast: two eggs any style, biscuit, and two sides (Mine: grits and fried green tomatoes).

The back bar.

Yuk! Yuk!

Great color in these mountains.

That bright rectangle is a sliding lense that pops up interactive info as it crosses various places along the parkway. Way cool!

No photos allowed in the Folk Art Gallery. I snuck one of these quite stoically cool fence people.

My view most of the day. This was downtown Boone, home of Appalachian State University.

Art shot of the day. We saw it in one of the mountain driveways.

Selfie of the day.

By tomorrow night, after another full day of wind and rain, the fall color will mostly flutter away. Glad we were to see it.

Heather. Go, Mom, go!

I resisted this temptation today (But tomorrow always presents another challenge).