Sevierville, TN 2018

June 29, 2018 at 0500 grandma Dot came to pick us up to start our adventure to Tennessee.  

We had breakfast in Findlay, Ohio, lunch in Kentucky and dinner at Chick-fil-a in Sevierville TN.  The cashier asked where we are from and how long the drive was:
Grandma:  11 hours, no big deal
Cashier in disbelief:  no big deal???!!!
go rest your feet
Lyn: why should we rest our feet, we've been sitting 11 hours

This was our accommodation at the resort.  Complete with full size kitchen appliances, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, one of which is a jet tub.

June 30, Saturday,  we picked up tickets for Dolly Stampede after listening to Wyndham salesperson over breakfast.   Sister-in-law mentioned about visiting Cade's Cove and since we don't really have a planned itinerary, we then drove to Cade's Cove, we drove by Pigeon Forge where the road that goes to Smoky Mountain is filled with restaurants, hotels, stores that cater to tourists and amusement parks.

We also drove by Gatlinburg, TN where there are also a lot of restaurants and hotels and pretty shops.

We drove around the Cade's Cove loop.

Old Methodist church.  The two doors according to a pastor I happen to sit beside while watching the July 4th parade is because one door was for women and the other door was for men.

We saw two deers with horn still in velvet.

Had picnic where a very kind local couple shared their picnic table with us.

Made Cairn after our picnic.

Before our picnic, we hiked up the trail to Laurel Falls.

Lots of these white flowers on the trail.

Laurel Falls..

On our way back after the picnic, we used the bypass Gatlinburg road since Gatlinburg although pretty was very traffic that day and we also want to see the view using another road.  We stopped by Pigeon Forge and had ice cream while watching people on rides, we were sitting in front of the sling shot.

The next day, July 1 was a Sunday.  We had a relaxing day enjoying what the resort has to offer.  We went pot pot golfing, swimming in the pool, played in the Splash park and had dinner at Applebees.  Grandma met up with a friend she haven't seen in 15 years but found each other recently online.

July 2, Monday, we decided to go to Firefox Mountain.  On our drive, we passed by a sign about a covered bridge.  Took a few pictures as we crossed the covered bridge.

Below are pictures at the Firefox mountain.

Bridge to Prosperity Mountain.

Made our own cairns.

Where wishes are hang.

We hiked up to the waterfalls.

They sell flavored hard maple syrup.

Had dinner at the Great Steak and Lube.

July 3, we went swimming in the morning.  Then we went to Gatlinburg to witness the first 4th of July parade.  The parade starts at 1201 midnight.

While in Gatlinburg waiting for midnight to come.  We went around town walking and riding the trolley.  Stopped at the Hillbilly Golf, rode up the incline and played a game of hillbilly golf.

Chairs were all lined up since the first of July according to our trolley driver.

Had dinner at the rooftop of  Loco Burro cantina.

Picture below is Blake Shelton's "Old Red" restaurant and theater in the making.  Will open sometime in 2019 according to our trolley driver.

We were situated on the 3rd floor of the parking garage across from "Old Red".  Played the flash pad while waiting for parade.

Midnight parade.  We were anticipating a very traffic drive home but fortunately it was not too bad and we were back to our room at 2:30.

July 4th,  after lunch, we went driving around Pigeon Forge and stopped by souvenir stores. The Island, The Wonderworks and the old mill.

We also went gem mining and had a blast having our stones named.

Then we went to Patriot Park to watch the 4th of July fireworks and a concert by Craig Morgan and an electric 80's group.  Waited for the shuttle to bring us back to The Island where we parked our car.  We got home at 1130p.m.

View from our balcony.

July 5, after lunch we drove around Pigeon Forge again and stopped by walmart to look at sunglasses for the "We are Cool Too" look, since Vyn got sunglasses for his band parade.  Took picture of the three of us wearing the same sunglasses.

At the Dolly Stampede.  We went through the stables and look at the horses before the show starts.  

We enjoyed some drinks and a mini concert before the Dolly Stampede show.

At the arena where we had dinner while watching the Dolly Stampede show.

Lyn had a wire wrapping lesson from the grandma after we got home.

Friday, July 6th was our drive home.  We started the journey back at 445 a.m. and got home about 3:30 p.m.

Hartwick Pines June 2018

Hartwick Pines has become a yearly camping tradition.  This year is different.  We scheduled this camping trip early January since it gets full so fast.  Although we have known that Vyn wanted to be at varsity band now that he is going to be in high school.  We never thought that the weeks we would pick would conflict with band schedules.

But of course out of the three vacations scheduled and booked early in the year, only one is a go without need for modification.

Hartwick Pines did not get so lucky.  Getting a refund is ridiculous since you will get charged 30% of the price paid and other fees.  So we tried to continue with the tradition.  Instead of doing camp for four days as booked the kids and I did a one night camp.  We drove up Sunday afternoon and stayed until Monday around nine in the morning.  The hubby stayed two more days.

We tried to fit in as many of our usual activities as we can while there.  We stopped by the playground and the kids played as long as they feel like.  It was one of the hottest day of this month too in the 90's and by the way, my car's ac was not working at full capacity so the drive was not a comfortable one.

Did some hiking with Bandit.

This year we got home to dry and hot temperature that slowly cools.  Last year, it was coming home to a city that was flooded.

Ludington Lakestride June 2018

This is the first time the kids and I were not able to join and watch the dad during his half marathon race.  I had to work this weekend.

Here is information of the Lakestride June 2018

As usual Ludington attempted to be the  guinness world record, this time as a single line of bicycles.  Here is an article about the attempt.

Here is the hubby's finisher medal.  He finished 6th in his age group.

Congrats on your second Ludington Half Marathon.

Bad Blood

This book is captivating.  Being a medical technologist who works in a hospital laboratory, I can't fathom the things she was able to do.  The depth she would go just to get the funding.   The things she was letting her laboratory personnel do and the deceit were unthinkable especially since her company deals with lives.  How her company lasted as long as it did was unimaginable.  Although, I already know what happened in the end and there were times when she would irritate me, I still can't stop reading the book to the end.

If you want to know about Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup, a company poised to change the medical laboratory world,  how it started, rise and fall.  This is a very good book that will keep you turning the pages.

Elizabeth Holmes was a young Stanford dropout with a great vision.  She is very charismatic and very well connected.  She was able to hire great minds from great schools and recruit people from big companies to come work for her.  Not only that, she was able to raise funds in the hundreds of millions from reputable investors.  She was on her path to become the next Steve Jobs.

People who heard her vision just poured in money after hearing her speeches.   She ran her company in deep secrecy and fear.  Different departments were not allowed to collaborate.  Obviously without teamwork and open communication within the company the goal was not met.  If you work in the healthcare laboratory field, you know the vision is just too good to be true.  But she was a great speaker who made people believe her even without visible reliable proof of anything.  

Big kudos to the writer/journalist John Carreyrou and those who helped him get the truth out.   Carreyrou did not waver and relentlessly pursue his investigation into the company against all the charming tactics, threats and lawyers Elizabeth Holmes sent his way.

Mackinac Island/Great Turtle Race 2017

The Great Turtle Race, the hubby has been running this race for years it has become one of our traditions during this time of year.  This year is also the 50th birthday of the hubby.   So instead of staying at our usual stay at Cabins of Mackinaw, we decided to splurge a little and stayed at The Grand Hotel.

Our view from Shepler's Ferry Miss Margy.

Sooooo excited!  Can't wait to see the inside.

View from our balcony.  The hotel was grand inside and out.  It was elegant, charming, very cozy and with most hospitality employees and interns being Filipinos, it is very comfortable as well.

Saturday on the day of the Turtle Run,  we expected a very windy cold and rainy day.  But fortunately, it turned out dry in the beginning and become cold and rainy when the hubby was in about 8 mile into the half marathon (13.1 Mile).

The kids and I walked  to the arch rock a few minutes ahead of the start time and waited for the runners there.

The hubby said that since the run started with the weather being so good, some of the runners started peeling off their sweaters and gloves as they run.

We climbed up the steps to the Arch.

This is our view from the top on the right.

View on the left.

The top of the steps was also the marker and water station for the last 5.2 mile of the race.

The medal for this year's race.  The hubby as usual was faster than the last turtle race and we missed seeing him finish this year.  He finished top 10 in his age group.  Congratulations to the hubby!!!  

Sunday, we decided to roam some more of the hotel inside and out.

Lyn wanted so much to ride this carriage since we got to the island on Friday but we decided to ride one on the last day.  She got her wish and more when she was allowed to ride right beside the carriage driver.  

Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017

 Thank you to my hubby's aunt Sally for sending us these solar eclipse kit.  We were able to watch the  eclipse and observe the sun, the moon and the sounds around before, during and after the eclipse 2017

When the hubby was a child, they used a home made sun viewing device using the cereal box.  The right side is cut out and replaced with an aluminum foil with a pin whole.  The middle cut out is the viewing area.  Definitely a cool way to watch the phenomenon in different perspective.

Here's a link of the solar eclipse from NASA

 We did not get the complete totality.  I saw a complete total eclipse in the Philippines in March of 1988.  We watched the eclipse using negatives.  Being in the photography business, we had a lot of negatives to pass around those who happened to walk through our store that afternoon.