Colorado Trip Aug 2-Aug 10, 2025

    Our trip to Colorado was excellent. 

We encountered a few incidents.

We were headed across the Million Dollar highway, but had to turn around along the way. The Million Dollar Highway is a winding road along the mountain cliffs. Our driver walked up the road to find a place to turn that big bus around. I told him later that if it looked like the back of the bus was going to hang off the mountain, I was going to get and watch him turn it around.

He did a great job. The reason we had to turn around was that a couple ran off the road, plunging 350 feet into the river below. Both were killed, but a girl sitting in the back survived.

The highway was closed for the rest of the day so rescuers could evacuate the people from the canyon. We missed our train ride from Silverton to Durango. Instead, we visited the towns of Ouray and Telluride.

Another day, there was a forest fire, and everyone's phone was going off, alerting us. We did not have to turn around; we were going away from the fire. At the Colorado airport, we follow our guide. He held up a US flag for everyone to see.

We had to go up and down escalators to the tram to our gate. Denver is a huge airport and is growing.

We were gone from Aug 2 to Aug 10.

We rode the Georgetown Loop RR. We rode the COG RR up Pikes Peak. We rode the Cumbura and Totlec RR from New Mexico to Colorado. The train stopped, everyone got off, and ate a buffet lunch. We didn't get to go the entire route because our connecting train was broken. We saw the Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde. We saw the Colorado Monuments and several museums along the way. We stayed in first-class hotels and ate delicious food.

2022 April 26-29, Trip to Knoxville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN (4 days) Dollywood Express Train Ride

 Travel to Knoxville, stopping at Baxter's Botanical Gardens. The gardens are only open to the public during April as part of the Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville. 

Baxter's Azalea Garden

We visited the White Garden, the Maze, the Bluebird Garden, the Lotus Pond, the Dogwood Rambol, the Gazebo, the Azalea Garden, the Iris Garden, the Asian Garden, the Ellipse Garden, the Fuji Garden, the Balustiade Garden, the Hannah Garden, and the Birds of Baxter's Garden. 

We spent about 30 to 45 minutes here. 

We then traveled to Pigeon Forge and checked in at Margaritaville's The Island Inn.

We walked around the Island and stopped at Mellowmushroom for dinner. 

Mellow Mushroom at the Island, Pigeon Forge, TN

We ordered a Hawaiian Pizza with a drink and spent $30.57.

Day 2 Wednesday, April 27

Ate scrambled eggs, 2 slices of bacon, fried potatoes, biscuits with strawberry jelly, and cranberry juice for breakfast at the hotel.

We rode to the Trolley Center at 186 Old Mill Ave, beside Patriot Park, where we purchased day tickets to take the trolley to Dollywood. The cost for all day was $3 each.

We bought senior tickets at Dollywood, which cost $166.10 for the day. 

Throughout the park, we saw flowers designed in the form of characters. We saw Busy, Busy Bees, Ring-tailed Rascals(Raccoons), Family Times (bear family), Round as a Peacock, Turtle, Frogs, butterflies, a Coat of many colors, Colorful umbrellas, Duck Days, The Dolly Wood Tree, Fines Farm, Doctor I. B. Painless Dentist, and Topsy Turvy.

Wildwood Grove at Dollywood 

We rode the Dollywood Express Train Ride and the Village Carousel. 

We bought cinnamon bread with Coke at Dollywood Grist Mill and spent $15

We ate supper at Huck Finn with green beans, catfish, creamed potatoes, and shrimp.

We stopped at the Margaritaville Store, where we bought 2 t-shirts. 

Coat of Many Colors Flowers

Day 3, Thursday, April 28

Today, we ate breakfast at the hotel: Muffins, sausage, & potatoes.

We rode to Old Mill Park, where we saw pigeons, geese, and mallard ducks.

We rode to Parrot Mountain and paid $53.11 for tickets, where we saw and fed many exotic birds. 

Parrot Mountain

Some of the birds we saw were the red-billed Tucan, Swanson Tucan, Keel-Billed Tucan, Kookaburra, Scarlett McCaw, Catalina McCow, African Pied Crow, Von Der Dickens Hornbill, Green-wing McCaw, Sun Conure, Mustache Parakeet, Golden Conure, just to name a few. 

We ate lunch at Firehouse Subs, ordering a small Steak and Cheese sandwich and a Medium Italian sub sandwich. $21.75

We rode back to the Trolley Center at 186 Old Mill Avenue to buy tickets for the trolley ride to the Gatlinburg Trolley Center.

At the Gatlinburg Trolley Center, we rode the trolley to Gatlinburg. We had a very entertaining driver, which made the ride enjoyable. 

Ankeesta and Black Bear 

We bought tickets for Ankeesta, where we rode the skylift up the mountain for $58.08. We bought lemonade and walked around, then took the Treetop Skywalk, which had a beautiful view. 

We rode the skylift back down the mountain and walked around Gatlinburg, stopping at Bubba Gumps for supper. There, we ordered a Forest Seafood Feast, which we split between us. It included shrimp, fish, fries, and coleslaw. 

Forrest Seafood Feast at Bubba Gumps

We returned the trolley to Gatlinburg Trolley Center and Pigeon Forge Trolley Center.

At the Old Mill, we purchased Relish and self-rising Cornmeal. $12.91

Day 4, Friday, April 29

We ate breakfast in the hotel: bacon, eggs, biscuits, jelly, fried potatoes, and cranberry juice.

We traveled home, stopping in Athens for Gas.

2017 May 16, Tuesday, Day Trip to Huntsville, Alabama

Hubby and I rode to Tennessee to buy our bi-monthly lottery tickets. Hubby went inside, scanned his tickets, and came back to the van. 
He said I forgot my wallet. Do you have any cash? I had enough money to buy the tickets for $28
We had an appointment at Champion Chrysler Dodge to get the oil changed in our Town & Country in Athens at 11:00 A.M.
We had to ride back home to get his wallet.
We stopped in Elgin for B12 shots and just made our 11:00 A.M. appointment at Champion.

They finished our van, but the oil light was still on. 
Hubby went back inside and told them they had forgotten to reset the oil. 
The woman came out and tried; she said the floor mat was too close to the gas pedal and was not letting it reset. 

Had to sit in the Slingshot sitting in the Showroom 

We rode to Huntsville, and our first stop was the Huntsville Train Depot and Museum.  The park area was open, but the museum was closed. 
A school group was visiting the park, and earlier that morning, a Civil War re-enactment Had Taken Place; the tents were still standing in the open field. 
We walked into the Museum store, the Caboose, and the Train Engine.
Huntsville Depot Museum Hours
Wednesday -Saturday 10–3 P.M. 
Gates Open 
Monday to Sunday, year-round, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
As we were leaving, a train came rattling down the tracks.

The Huntsville, Alabama Depot Museum 

Standing in the Engine Room 

Civil War Camps

Passenger Depot
Huntsville Alabama
Built 1860
Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company
Eastern Division headquarters are in this passenger Depot,
Adjoining yards and shops were captured by the Union Army on April 11, 1861.
Vital east-west Confederate rail link served, CSA soldiers imprisoned here.
The depot was later used by the Federals as a base for gathering supplies for the Western Theater
military operations. After the Civil War, the company returned to M & CRR Co
acquired by Southern Railway System in 1898, since 1971
preserved by the City of Huntsville. 

The main reason for coming to Huntsville was to see the newly renovated Big Spring Park.
There is a concrete walkway around the reshaped lagoon, where the water flows, allowing it to clean itself. 
There are park benches along the walkway, but no trees (so it will be hot during the summer).
You can walk right up to the water's edge. We saw children leaning into the pond, feeding the goldfish and ducks. 
We walked along the water's edge, and the fish and ducks followed us. 
I saw a young man feeding the fish.
I mentioned that I was going to buy some food, but my husband didn't have any change. 
The young man gave me a quarter. I thanked him, and I bought a quarter's worth of seeds. 
The fish and ducks gobbled up the food.

Goldfish and ducks are feeding. 

Big Spring Park Oriental Bridge 

Newly reshaped lagoon

Fountain 

Kids feeding fish and ducks

Huntsville Art Center 

We rode south on Whitesburg Drive to Airport Road, then onto Parkway, stopping at 
Rosie's Mexican Cantina for a late lunch.
We ordered a white chip dip and shared a Chicken Fajita. 
Rosie's Mexican Cantina on South Parkway features a beautiful garden filled with blooming flowers.

Rosie's Mexican Cantina Garden 

Rosie's Mexican Cantina Garden 

Rosie's Mexican Cantina Garden 

Rosie's Mexican Cantina Garden (Singing and playing Minstrels 

Parkway South is under construction (turning it into six lanes).

Road Construction on South Parkway 

Road Construction on South Parkway 

Road Construction on South Parkway 

We rode to Ditto Landing and saw a few geese, boats, and bridges.

Gaggle of Geese

Bridge Closed at Ditto Landing 

We rode down Drake Avenue to the RSA, where we filled up with gas and saw a few geese. 
We were home a little after 5 P.M.
My granddaughter had been texting me all day, wanting to know when we were going to come home.
My granddaughter, her daughter, and a friend came over around 5:30 P.M. to swim.
I did not get into the pool because I was too tired.

Touring Caves and Caverns

Luray Caverns with Lora is known for its profuse variety of formations and unsurpassed natural color.
Luray Caverns, originally called Luray Cave, is a commercial cave just west of Luray, Virginia, the United States, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems such as columns, mudflows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools.
Visited Luray Caverns on 12/19/2012. 

Forbidden Caverns Sevier
One of the most popular attractions in Sevier County is the Forbidden Caverns, they are an underground cave that stretches a half-mile.
Visited Forbidden Caverns 9/29/2014

Forbidden Caverns Sevier County Tennessee 

Cathedral Caverns Grant, Alabama
8/13/2014 

Fantastic Caverns Springfield MO 
8/13/12012

Fantastic Caverns Springfield MO
Fantastic Caverns is a show cave located in Springfield, Missouri. Fantastic Caverns is the only cave in North America to offer a complete ride-through tour, which lasts 55 minutes and is held in a Jeep-drawn tram. The trams drive along the path left behind by an ancient underground river. Tram occupants are encouraged to touch a particular section of low-ceiling dead stalactites.

Cathedral Caverns Grant, Alabama 
Cathedral Caverns State Park is a publicly owned recreation area and natural history preserve located in Kennamer Cove, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Grant and 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Woodville in Marshall County, Alabama. The state park's main feature, first known as Bats Cave, was developed as a tourist attraction in the 1950s. Cathedral Caverns was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1972 and opened as a state park in 2000

Desoto Caverns
4/19/2009

Desoto Caverns 

Desoto Caverns
DeSoto Caverns is a series of caves and a tourist attraction located in Childersburg, Talladega County, Alabama. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is touted as "Alabama's Big Cave". 

Mammoth Cave Bowling Green Ky
7/23/2007
Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. national park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. Since the 1972 unification of Mammoth Cave with the even longer system under Flint Ridge to the north, the official name of the system has been the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System. The park was established as a national park on July 1, 1941.

Lost Sea Entrance 
8/29/2006

Lost Sea Cave Sweetwater Tennessee 
Your Lost Sea adventure begins with a guided tour of the caverns. This involves a ¾ mile round-trip walk on wide sloping pathways. While touring the caverns and underground lake our guides will tell of the cavern’s exciting and colorful history. They will also explain the fascinating geological development of the immense cavern rooms and rare formations. At the bottom of the cave, you will board a glass-bottom boat for an exciting trip on the Lost Sea, America’s Largest underground lake.

Marvel Cave
Marvel Cave is a National Natural Landmark located just west of Branson, Missouri, on top of Roark Mountain in Stone County. The cave was known by the Osage Indians in the early 16th century after a tribe member fell through the cave's main entrance, a sinkhole. There is evidence that in 1541 the Spanish explored the cave, but the first recorded expedition was in 1869, led by Henry T. Blow. The unofficial Stone County chapter of Bald Knobbers, a local group of vigilantes, was rumored to have taken people to the top of Roark Mountain, and thrown them in the sinkhole.

Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City
11/11/2001

Ruby Falls 
8/9/2009

Ruby Falls
Ruby Falls is a 145-foot high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

2016 October 1, Saturday Banana Puddin' Festival, Car Show and Quilt Show Centerville, TN

I could not sleep and was up at 3AM watching TV and writing in my journal.
Ate a banana and two pieces of sausage for breakfast.
We were on the road by 7:30AM taking our time as we rode to Centerville.
The sun was just coming over the horizon and there was a cloud of mist that covered the ground.

We travel north on hwy 43 turning left on hwy 50 near Columbia.
Vendors were still sitting up at their booths when we arrived.
We walked around the square downtown, stopping and looking inside the old courthouse which housed several vendors.
Outside we stopped in front of the chicken wire MINI Pearl to take a couple of pictures.

Minnie Pearl 

We followed the signs to the open field where the Banana Pudding  Festival was being held.
Inside the gate, we were asked if we were first-timers and were given a banana sticker with first-timers written across the banana. There were several people placing pins on a large map to show where people were from.

Monkey Head

Smokey the Bear

Entering the Pudding Festival 

The woman said we have thousands of people from all over the world that come to our festival. We have a couple that come from Australia every year.

The Cook-off
The cook-off consisted of ten contests, we watched the first five.
Each contest made two of the same puddings, one for the judges to sample, along with samples passed out to the audience to judge.
The first pudding was to be auctioned off.

The first 5 contestants in the Cook-off

One of the contestant's Banana Puddin dishes

At 10AM we were at the Puddin' Path for 10 samples of different banana puddings.

The Puddin' Path Samples 

#1 Moon Pie Banana 

Baked by the Puddin'

Baked By: Bon Aqua United Methodist Church 

#2 The Chisel (Chocolate)

Baked by: Fairfield Church of Christ Youth

#3 White Chocolate & Caramel Banana Pudding

Baked by the Relay for Life: Friends of Hope Team

#4Bell’s Best Banana Pudding

Baked by: Shady Grove United Methodist Church 

 #5Pickadeli at the Hicadeli

Baked by Thomas Hickman Hospital

#6 Pudding & Pearls Banana Pudding

Baked by: Centerville Woman’s Club

7#Caramel Cheese Cake Banana Pudding

Baked by: East Hickman Baptist Youth

8#Party-lIne Banana Pudding

Baked by: Nunnelly United Methodist Church 

9#Classic Southern Banana Pudding

Baked by: Mt Zion AME Church 

#10Cinnamon Roll Banana Pudding

Baked by CrossRoads Cowboy Church

The puddings consist of bananas inside a variety of puddings, from various organizations.
Each organization had baked the pudding to raise money for their cause.
The Pudding path cost was $5 per person.
Once you tasted each pudding you could vote for your favorite with a donation.

We could not eat all the samples, some were very good, some not so good.
My favorite was the cheesecake banana pudding.

We stayed to listen to a couple songs sung and played by a group of three young people from the same family.

We strolled through the park, stopping to examine what each vendor had to offer.
We stopped at the car show and took several pictures.
We saw a replica of Mini Peal riding in a jeep.
From the car show, we walked a few blocks to The First Baptist Church on 123 Church Street to look at the Hickman County Quilt Guild.
The show featured, "Something old, Something new"!
Their mission is to promote an interest in the art of quilting.

Something Old, something new 

Two of the sweet ladies that we met at the Quilt show

My quilt pick!

We rode to Grinders Switch Grinder's Switch
Grinders Switch was the fictional hometown of the comic character Minnie Pearl, created and portrayed at the Grand Ole Opry by comedian Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, who grew up in the nearby Colleyville neighborhood of Centerville.

Watertower at Grinders Switch 

Grinders Switch 1940

Minnie Pearl said, People always ask me, "Where is Grinder's Switch?"

As I grow older, the place is no longer a little, abandoned landing switch on a railroad in Hickman County. Grinder's Switch is a state of mind -- a place where there is no illness, no war, no unhappiness, no political unrest, and no tears. It's a place where there's only happiness --where all you worry about is what you are going to wear to the church social, and if your feller is going to kiss you in the moonlight on the way home. 

I wish all of you a Grinder's Switch

On our way home we stopped at Ponderosa in Lawrence to eat an early dinner and late lunch.
We both ordered a steak and salad.

We still had a couple of hours to visit the Oktoberfest in St Florine.
The tractor was loaded with passengers as we approached.
We loaded into the wagon and rode around the festival.

Riding in the Wagon 

Oktoberfest

The Senior Center building was full of history about the German families that had settled in St Florine.
We walked inside but I stopped at the first display and began talking to one of the family members that lived in the area.
By the time I stopped talking the festival was about over.

Maybe I can return tomorrow