the russell5

…I know the title is cheezy – Ryan made me do it. 

I feel like I should write about shopping or something girly since you’ve already had to read not one or two, but three posts recently on mountain biking.  But, we’ve only been shopping a couple of times on this trip and I haven’t found anything too spectacular except, of course, for the ‘stunning’ black dress Sarah helped me pick out at a consignment shop at the Factory at Franklin (stunning being her word, not mine.) Not sure when I’ll get to wear it, but I couldn’t pass up the great deal.

So, my thoughts are similar to Ryan’s on Tennessee…I really enjoyed it and I think the boys did as well.  (In fact, the other day Jackson said to me, “Thanks Mom, for letting us come to Tennessee & spend so much time with our cousins.”)  We had planned to spend 4 nights at our campground near Nashville, but we liked it so much that we stayed for 7 instead.  It’s very green which is certainly lovely, but I guess if you want green you also have to deal with the bugs and humidity – not so lovely.  As opposed to Arkansas, we could see ourselves living here if only it weren’t for the fact that everyone already seems to be saved and churches are a dime a dozen.  Anyhow, here’s my summary of Tennessee highlights…

©    I didn’t dislike Memphis as much as Ryan – it wasn’t my favorite part of Tennessee since I’m not much of an Elvis fan, but it was still enjoyable.  We had fun exploring the city as well as swimming in the small yet refreshing pool at the Graceland RV Park.  I think my favorite was the Peabody Ducks – I even found a children’s book about them at a used bookstore in Nashville.  It’s very cute!

©    The best thing about Tennessee = the LeJeune’s! It was lots of fun to spend so much time with my sister, Diane and her family.  The boys saw Kung Fu Panda, played tennis, and hung out with their cousin Jesse.  Ryan & I toured downtown Nashville during the CMA festival with Sarah & Billy. (Hence the photos of hillbilly boy & mostly naked cowboy – BTW, you have to pronounce that as necked.)  We took in part of Beau’s baseball game after visiting their church Sunday, which was fun to watch but super HOT that day.  Sarah gave us a tour of downtown Franklin. And we watched some of her dress rehearsal for the Music Man at the Renaissance Center (she’s so talented – check out this article to prove it.) And, did I mention I crushed Diane & Beau at canasta?  We shared many meals (accompanied by the all important sweet tea) and good conversation…an all-around GREAT visit.

©    Gatlinburg is a tourist trap x 10! It reminded me of a huge version of the old time carnival areas of Knott’s Berry Farm – candy stores, mini-golf, cartoon portraits, airbrushed t-shirts and funnel cake galore.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with funnel cake, mind you.) But, we found a nice campground a few miles east of the craziness where we could relax and have some fun with the boys.  They had a long waterslide and a nice pool that we all enjoyed.  We also drove through the Roaring Fork historic nature trail of the Smokey Mountains that was beautiful.

Even though its Father’s Day let me reassure ya’ll that ‘Mom’ is doing just fine.  I know some of you may be concerned about how I’m faring on this adventure of ours across the country – I am well, much better than I had expected to be so far.  In fact, as each leg of the trip ends and we move on to new place, I am a little bit disappointed that it’s ended.  I am trying my best to savor each new experience we get to share with the boys, knowing this is most likely a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Sorry for the length of the post, thanks for reading if you made it all the way here to the end.