Blog Header - Septemer 5, 2009

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oday’s header photo shows a hand-crafted wood spinner. These spinners are meant to hang from the roof of your porch or in a tree in your yard. They spin as the wind hits them. They’re quite beautiful.

I took this photo at Dollywood last year when our family vacationed there. I posted the full version of it (not the cropped header version) on the personal web site each of the employees in my firm are given. This photo was chosen to be highlighted on the “Photo of the Week” on our internal employee networking site.

Blog Header - August 9, 2009

This photo shows the Dollywood water tower used to fill Klondike Katie, Dollywood’s wonderful steam engine. Our family was in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, at this time last year. We loved our week spent there and at Dollywood’s ajoining water park. The parks are fantastic, the rides are beyond belief, the employees are delightful, and the entertainment is outstanding and family friendly. It’s a great experience. Oh yeah, the food is phenomenal as well.

A lot happens in one year. One year ago we thought that our family had grown permanent roots in Lynchburg, Virginia. Now, a year later, we are moving to Front Royal, Virginia, where I will be close enough to drive into the office regularly rather than working from home as often as I have for the past couple of years.

We will miss Lynchburg. We’ll miss my flexible work arrangements. And we will miss the friends we have made here in Lynchburg. But God is moving us on to new adventures, new friends, and a new location.

We’re ready for the adventure to begin.

Blog Header - June 18, 2009

Today's header photo is a picture I took during our summer vacation to Dollywood last summer. This blacksmith was a great guy. We had a blast watching him work, but it was really great to talk to him during one of his breaks.

Dollywood is such a fantastic place for families. We thoroughly enjoyed the week we spent there. As much as we love Disneyworld, David said that he'd rather go to Dollywood every time. I think it might be nice to switch back and forth, but Dollywood really is a wonderful place.

Blog Header - May 26, 2009

The train in today’s blog header is Klondike Katy. This train is almost a hundred years old and is actually a military veteran, having served in World War II and in Korea.

Klondike Katy is now stationed at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. David rode this train at least once per day when we spent a week at Dollywood last summer. He has always loved trains and this actual steam locomotive was a dream come true for him. He talked with the engineers whenever the train was parked at the station and probably would have been happy doing nothing else other than riding the train for the entire week.

Blog Header - August 24, 2008

This blog header photo is of the WonderWorks Children's Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. You can't tell from this photo, but not just the sign, but the entire building the museum is housed in is upside down. The foundation of the building is at the top of the building with a sidewalk surrounding it. You can see the edge of the foundation up in the sky on the right side of this header photo. There are trees and lamp posts coming out of the sidewalk, all aiming down. And the building is crunched a bit in a way that makes it look like it fell from above and sustained some damage when it hit the earth. It looks like a really cool place for kids.

Blog Header - August 20, 2008

Today's blog header photo is of the Dollywood Express, Engine 192 – Klondike Katy. This century+ old real steam engine train climbs the mountains around the Dollywood amusement park, running through beautiful forested areas and along cliff edges, giving the riders a good sense of the character of the Smokey Mountains. Unlike most amusement park train rides, this is a real train and very little of the ride actually goes through the ride and event portion of the park.

This is one more thing that makes Dollywood stand head and shoulders above the other parks out there. You need to take your family to this park soon. You'll have a blast.

Landscaping for God's glory

I gaze on beauty and may be myself deformed. I admire the light and may yet dwell in darkness, but if the light of the countenance of God rests upon me, I will become like Him. The countenance of His visage will be on me, and the great outlines of His attributes will be mine. Oh, wondrous glass, which renders the beholder lovely. Oh, admirable mirror, which reflects not self with its imperfections but gives a perfect image to those that are not comely.

If you do continually draw your impulse, your life, the whole of your being from the Holy Spirit, then you will see God and Jesus face to face.

—Charles H. Spurgeon, Daily Help, (January 17)

As I was organizing the photos from our vacation I came across this photo of an absolutely gorgeous flower planted along the entrance path to Dollywood's Splash Country water park. This flower and the myriad other flowers, bushes, trees, and other vegetation at the Dollywood parks made me consider the fact that we can reflect God's glory by seeking to display beauty.

Christians often speak of the need to honor God, but I don't often hear of ways that this may be accomplished. Of course the easy answer is "by obeying His commands." But if we look at God's character as displayed in nature we will see that God loves diverse beauty.

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
—Joni Mitchell

The environmentalists argue for the preservation of forest trees, prairie fields, and other natural elements. And in reaction many Conservatives (ironically, the original conservationists) say along with Rush Limbaugh, "the best thing about a tree is what you can make with it."

I think the Christian must come to this issue with a completely different point of view. We must approach the issue of environmentalism from the same angle that we approach everything—seeking the greater glory of our Savior. Edith and Francis Schaeffer dealt with this issue when I was in college in various books about art. More recently Nancy Pearcey has argued for Christians to be involved in the arts and for Christians to have an appreciation of the arts in her book, Total Truth. The Schaeffers and Ms. Pearcey have presented the concept that there should not be a secular/sacred divide. So we Christians should view all the world through the sacred lens, recognizing that this is God's world.

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

So how does that impact our view of the environment? I don't want to get deeply into this other than to say that we should view nature as indicative of God's beauty. We should not throw away the natural beauty around us by allowing deforestation (even on a small scale) without good reason. Good reason would mean that the trees are being put to a specific use that benefits society. We also should not allow nature to run rampant and turn to brambles and thorns that are left to choke out beauty by killing off all the other vegetation.

Replica of Dolly Parton's childhood home

One of the best examples I have ever seen of what can happen when we seek natural beauty is the small home in the middle of Dollywood that is an actual replica of the home Dolly Parton grew up in. This is a simple and modest home. It contains just a few rooms and makes use of a tin roof. But it is beautiful. The porch across the front of the home is covered with vines that have been pruned and maintained to give a decorative beauty to the front of the home. The flowers and other vegetation around the home, the rocks along the path, and the trees providing shade and insulation against the weather all contribute to a beautiful scene.

This is an aspect of the declaration of the glory of God that I think we Christians have lost sight of. Well ... most of us have lost sight of it. Obviously Dolly Parton has not. May we all be encouraged to display God's glory by making proper use of God's creation.

Home again, home again - jiggity jig

Our seven days at Dollywood are now over. We gathered our things, packed the car and headed out of Dodge, er ... headed out of Pigeon Forge in our Dodge on Friday. But before we left we had one last visit to Dollywood. This time we rode just a few rides that David really wanted to ride one last time. We went to a couple of food vendors that looked like they had really good food but that we had not been able to visit earlier in the week, and we took the time to just look around and enjoy the beauty of Dollywood.

We found it interesting to compare the visitors to Dollywood to the folks we saw at Disneyworld. Dollywood seems to draw a much more family-oriented crowd. There are many more grandparents at Dollywood than we saw at Disneyworld and there are fewer teenagers, which is interesting since Disney is known as having a target demographic of the very young children.

Thunder Head roller coaster

We still love Disneyworld, but were quite surprised at how well Dollywood stacked up against the giant that Disney has become. The rides at Dollywood are at least as good and we think they are significantly better than the rides at Disneyworld. This is especially true if you prefer cutting-edge, high intensity roller coasters. Dollywood's coasters are amazing. But Dollywood also has many rides that are geared for those who prefer a less intense experience and many rides that are intended for the very young children. So even toddlers can enjoy this amusement park. They even have a Veggietales roller coaster ride for the kiddies.

We stopped at the Blacksmith's shop and dropped off a few photos I took of him working. It's hard to photograph something that is in darkness (the inside of the blacksmith's shop is very dark) with bright light all around (there aren't very many walls around the shop—most sides being open to the public so everyone can see the blacksmith at work). But I enjoy the challenge of photographing in unusual lighting conditions. And I'm glad that we stopped to drop off those photos because the blacksmith was a delightful man and we really enjoyed talking with him.

We like for David to see workers who do things that are out of the norm—especially artisans. David is blessed with an abundance of creativity and these are his type of people, so we like for him to see them in action. But there was an added bonus to getting to know this blacksmith. He is also adopted, just like David.

So we have now left the paths of Dollywood with their gorgeous overhanging vegetation and beautiful fountains and streams and returned to Lynchburg. David realizes that Tennessee is a wonderful state. David has told us that he wants to go back to Dollywood for every vacation from now on. But we're glad to be back home. We could use some more rain here in Lynchburg. And a few more trees and other vegetation would be nice as well (Lynchburg is growing rapidly). But we love it here too.

God is good!

Beauty in design - at Dollywood

One of the things we really enjoy about Dollywood is the beauty of the place. Although Kim and I think that it is one of the things that Dollywood is trying to establish itself with, perhaps it simply stems from the fact that Dolly Parton loves this land. This is where Dolly grew up and a replica of her childhood home has even been placed in Dollywood so people can appreciate what Dolly calls "the simple beauty of this area of the country." And it is simply beautiful.

Dollywood's grist mill

The park has a wonderful collection of flowers and other vegetation planted along the paths and walkways and even around and interspersed throughout the rides. And even though this is not the Dollywood water park, there is water everywhere. Water runs down wooden sluices with drops here and there to introduce the sound of falling water. Waterfalls and fountains abound. And the constant murmur of the rippling water brings a peaceful sound cover to the typical noise of an amusement park.

Kim and David strolling along one of the paths

When we visited Dollywood 11 years ago, we were struck with the beauty and design of the place. And this visit has reinforced our impression. In the photo above and to the left, you can see a working grist mill. David loved the waterwheel and the fact that this simple form of energy runs the mill machinery. You can purchase grits and cornmeal that have been ground using this simple energy system, which, by the way, does not damage the environment in any way. In fact, while it doesn't damage the environment, it provides beauty in both sight and sound. I'd love to go back to this form of energy.

Enjoying the rocking chairs

Another great design element at Dollywood is that whereas most parks have thematic benches scattered throughout the park for those who get tired of walking, Dollywood has such benches but also has a large rocking chair area. After hours of walking, folks can sit and rock in these chairs, listening to the sound of the waterwheel from the nearby grist mill. It's really a great experience.

David has proclaimed that he doesn't care to go back to Disneyworld again. He wants to come to Dollywood every vacation from now on. He does tend to overstate his emotional responses, but I think that in this case it might actually not be far from the truth.

At the end of the day, as you can see from the picture to the right, you're kind of worn out. Well, Kim and David are acting in that picture. But we really have been worn out, but happy, at the end of each day.

Today we're planning on going back to Splash Country (as long as the weather doesn't turn on us; they're forecasting storms). And then tomorrow will be our last day here and we're planning on going to Dollywood for one last visit before heading back home.

On the way home, we will stop in Greeneville, Tennessee, and visit Kim's relatives there. It's been a great week. But the end is rapidly approaching.

A dark lining in the silver cloud

I guess I should get the "dark lining" explanation out of the way first. I got sunburned—like a lobster! In fact, I think I now glow in the dark. But the "silver cloud" part is that yesterday we went to Splash Country, Dollywood's water park, and had a blast.

Splash Country's Lazy River

Splash Country is very similar to Dollywood in that the scenery and the landscaping is gorgeous. There are a ton of rides, from the mild to the ultra-extreme intensity spectrum. And, of course, there is water everywhere.

Our visit to Splash Country included the perfect day for such a visit. The temperature was in the mid to high 80s, making it warm enough for us to really enjoy cooling off in the water, but not so hot that we were uncomfortable as we strolled around the park or waited in line for the rides. The sky was a deep blue with just enough clouds to give the sky definition and variety. We could not have asked for a more perfect day.

We began the day floating around the park on the "Lazy River." I could have stayed there all day. Other than the splashes from David jumping off of his inner-tube or the sensation of feet kicking our backsides as David swam under our inner-tubes, it was a very peaceful ride.

That's David coming down the left slide

But apparently David's fright from the previous day's Mystery Mine encounter had tempered because he was certainly ready to get back to the high intensity rides. He started with a rafting ride that begins way up high and runs down a tube through a series of twists, turns, spirals and drops and then shoots you out of the end of the tube down a huge drop and into a large pool. David loved it!

Then after some time at the wave pool, David and Kim rode the water drop slide. This thing is huge! It's a simple water slide except that it has a 100-foot drop that remains essentially vertical for three-quarters of the drop. Then it begins to bend to horizontal. By the time you reach the bend, you're traveling at a speed of 63 miles per hour. Again, David loved it. He and Kim both did this slide. I wisely stayed on the ground and photographed them. Kim said lots of water got in her nose. David said, "Woohoo! That was awesome!"

Splash Country also has a couple of large playgrounds sporting a variety of water-themed things for the young children all the way up to the old children (like Kim and me). One of the playgrounds is more gentle and seems to be intended for young children (up to about teen-aged).

Water, water everywhere

The other playground is huge and has the most amazing things in it for the kids to play with and enjoy. It's basically a huge jungle gym with things to climb on, slides everywhere, and all kinds of role-playing, adventure items. But scattered everywhere are twists on these themes that include water. Above two of the slides are large buckets on swivel hinges. These buckets fill with water as long as they remain upright. When the children turn them over, they dump their water on the slide below. So the more devious children (that would be David) can stand up above the slide and flip the buckets over at just the right moment to douse the kids sliding down the slide with about two gallons of water.

But these buckets of water are very small compared to the huge bucket at the top of the whole playground. This bucket holds more than 200 gallons of water. It has a high capacity pipe of water feeding it at all times and the full 200 gallons fills up about every 10 minutes, at which time that huge bucket tips over and dumps the 200 gallons of water over the whole playground. It's like a tidal wave every ten minutes.

Kim and a tired David at Splash Country

At the end of our day, David was exhausted but happy. Kim had gotten a decent tan and some good exercise. And I was burned to a crisp, but had a bunch of great photos.

We got to bed at a more reasonable time last night, so now we're ready to head back to Dollywood and see if I can exacerbate my sunburn some more. Oh, we might also ride some more rides and look around some of the cool shops and take another two or three hundred pictures.

Relatives and rollercoasters

Yesterday was our first full day at Dollywood. And we had a special treat. Kim called one of her best friends growing up (also her cousin), Wendy, and we made plans for Wendy to come out to Dollywood with her three kids. And that's what happened yesterday.

We didn't think to get a photo of the group before we became all bedraggled (like you see in this photo), so here is everyone (except me) standing in front of a waterfall and looking wet and tired.

David has always had a very special connection with relatives. He deeply loves his grandparents and his uncles and aunts and cousins. And this visit was no different. Even though Wendy is not truly an aunt (because she's Kim's cousin) and even though the kids are David's second-cousins, David was reveling in the idea of being able to enjoy the park and the day with his cousins. And he kept announcing that with great enjoyment.

White Water Rafting

David directed everyone to the cars that run around the track again. But once we got that out of his system, we got on to the things that the whole group wanted to do. One of the first things was the white water rafting ride. Kim got soaked on this ride when we rode it on Saturday, so we knew there was danger of major wetness in the ride. I wanted to get a photo of the group on the ride so I stayed behind and waited for their raft to come down the section next to the walkway. (It had nothing to do with trying to stay dry!)

When we visited Dollywood 11 years ago, it was fun and had beautiful landscaping, but there were not nearly as many rides as there are now. It's amazing what can happen in a decade.

Kim and David on the Sky Rider

With so many other big-name parks out there (the Disney parks, Six Flags parks, Busch Gardens parks, and others), Dollywood has to try to distinguish itself from the rest. We noticed 11 years ago that Dollywood is beautifully landscaped and that has stayed the same. Another thing that Dollywood has always been known for is that it is very well-suited to families and that characteristic is apparent from the high number of grandparent/grandchildren groups that you see there.

David riding the Scrambler with Haley

But it appears that Dollywood is also trying to distinguish itself through its roller coasters. The coasters at Dollywood are amazing. There's a mix of wooden roller coasters (for the purists) and steel coasters (for those who want more excitement and intensity such as what is provided by loops, inversions, and other things that are not possible on the wooden coasters.

Upside-down on the Mystery Mine coaster

The steel coaster pictured here is the Mystery Mine ride. Kim and David rode this together and Kim (who loves scary roller coasters) said that this was the most intense ride she's ever ridden. It completely freaked David out and he didn't want to ride intense rides for the rest of the day, even though he really enjoyed the Mystery Mine.

So in an effort to avoid intense rides, we went to the River Battle ride. This is a great twist on water rides. Many parks have water rides with water cannons lining the paths so folks on the paths can squirt the people on the rides. It's fun, but just doesn't seem quite fair.

Evidence of River Battle wetness

In Dollywood's River Battle the riders get to fight back. Each seat is equipped with a hand operated water cannon and the riders can fire the water at folks on the walkways as well as people riding in the other boats. There are also many targets along the ride that activate animatronics and larger water cannons and other special effects in the ride scenery.

It's great fun, but you end up very, very wet as you can see from this photo.

We're planning on going to the water park today. I'll update you with more photos tomorrow.

Transportation and more transportation

Waiting for the trolley

Most people visit amusement parks for the rides, and I guess that's the same for our son. Except for the fact that, while he loves the other rides, the rides that give him the greatest pleasure are the transportation rides. Kind of like planes, trains, and automobiles.

David has loved anything with wheels ever since he was a tiny baby. He used to lean out of his carriage in order to watch the wheels revolving. He would get off of the small rides outside the Wal-mart, lift up the rubber boot, and look at the inner workings to see what the wheels and gears were doing.

None of that has changed with age. In fact, he loves transportation even more now than he ever has before. He has branched out from trains to airplanes and even to the space shuttle. But his mind is filled with adventuresome fantasies whenever he comes in contact with transportation devices of any kind.

So it was no surprise that when we entered Dollywood yesterday, David's first choice in rides was the little cars that run around a track. These are pretty cool cars—'57 Chevies, early Corvette Stingrays, Packards, and other really cool antique cars.

But when we left that ride, we headed straight for the ride that I knew David would love the most—the steam engine train that rides up the mountains surrounding Dollywood. In the photo of the train, you can see that the tables near the train station are made of train wheels. There are train parts strewn in some areas along the track. All the things that David loves.

David was excited as we boarded. His exitement increased as the engine's steam pressure increased. And he began grinning ear-to-ear when the engine began pulling the train up the mountainside. Riding the train was fun, but not nearly as much fun as watching David enjoy the ride.

We had just a few hours at Dollywood after we arrived here yesterday afternoon. Today we begin our full week here. I'm already tired. But we had a good night and enjoyed the short time we were able to spend at Dollywood. The trolleys that shuttle folks around Pigeon Forge are fun, once you figure out their route (we made a mistake in that regard and ended up on one of the trolleys for way longer than we had intended).

Today some of Kim's relatives will be coming from nearby Greeneville, TN, to enjoy Dollywood with us. David has not seen these relatives since he was about 1 year old. So it will be nice to see them again.

I'll try to keep you posted as the days progress. My camera is getting a workout, as you might have guessed.

Retail store etiquette (Tennessee style)

Exhibit 1—John Deere Store

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is a tad bit different than Lynchburg, Virginia. And quite a bit different than Washington, D.C.

As an example—I present Exhibit 1, seen to the left. This is the front door of a John Deere store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I guess the first obvious thing that sets this apart from the typical retail store in Lynchburg is the fact that it is a John Deere store. Those are not all that common. But I'm sure there are some John Deere stores dotting the Virginia landscape somewhere.

But on closer inspection you'll see the small sign that has been attached just next to the door handle (so those who enter the store will be sure to read it). Yes, that sign does read: Please do not bring food, drink, or spit cups into the store. Yep - that was "spit cups."

How's that for different?