Hickory, North Carolina

On Wednesday September 29th we found our way to Hickory, North Carolina on our Land That We Love Tour, to the home we rented for our family to stay in during the wedding festivities for our niece and her love. We had a short drive this day, only 50 miles. We stopped at a Wal-Mart to gas up at only $2.83 a gallon in Lenoir. We were able to check in early to our VRBO and got a load of wash started before we ventured out to do some grocery shopping for our stay here. We had lists from each of our kids for what to buy to stock the refrigerator with. We enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then went back to our VRBO and waited for our kids to arrive from their drive after flying into Raleigh Durham Airport. Fun family days ahead for all of us.

It was wonderful when they pulled into the driveway later on this day and we were all together for 4 days.

The house we rented was on Lake Hickory.

On our way out of Boone, N. C. we stopped at Stick Boy Bakery and bought some bread and goodies to enjoy at our VRBO in Hickory N.C. This was a great bakery and if you are ever in Boone look it up.

We also stopped in at the mall in Boone and shopped at TJ Maxx where I found a different top for the wedding we would be attending. I packed something for cooler weather and the weather was nice and warm so I found something more appropriate.

This was the 9th day on the road for us with sunshine and blue skies again.

The Advent Season is upon us. Today I’m busy in the kitchen and this evening I’ll be helping with decorating our church for the Christmas season. We have a few of our own Christmas decorations up but not the whole enchilada!

Have you started decorating?

Miles Apart…

…but close in our hearts.

The month of November and part of October our families were split apart by work responsibilities and other circumstances. Auntie Lolo flew over to be with Jamie while their hubbies were in Arizona on separate assignments. Our grands love it when Auntie Lolo comes to help their mommy.

Everyone made the most of their circumstances.

It’s always better together.

We love it when Auntie Lolo comes to visit, too.

While our sons were in Arizona in different parts of the state they managed to drive the distance and get together for some much needed R & R together.

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

Psalm 133

These two with their work responsibilities keeping us apart are with us in spirit. Here they are at a marathon Lord of the Rings viewing party playing the part with their hair and attire.

Did I ever mention our daughter knows and writes Elvish. It’s a skill that will ~~take her far in life~~ be fun to pull out at the right times in life like a Lord of the Rings party or at the grave of J.R.R. Tolkien in 2004…Katie would not let us leave Oxford till we found Tolkien’s grave. This was no small feat! Here we are at Wolvercote Cemetery in North Oxford at the graveside where he and his wife are buried. His son is buried here, also. Katie left a note in Elvish, (yes, she learned to write and speak Tolkien’s Elvish).

EDITH MARY TOLKIEN
LUTHIEN
1889 – 1971
JOHN RONALD
REUEL TOLKIEN
BEREN
1892 – 1973

This Thanksgiving our Westside kids will stay on the westside. Our eastside kids will be at our house for Thanksgiving along with my sister and her hubby and Jamie’s mom, also known as Granny to our Grands. Nine at the table giving thanks for all that we have been given and all the love we share.

A Three State Drive

On Tuesday September 28th our Land That We Love Tour was shorter in mileage but longer in time because of the smaller twisty roads we would travel. Interstate 75 south to East 25 through the Cumberland Gap on to Interstate 81 northeast towards Bristol connecting to highway 321 into Boone, North Carolina. We traveled approximately 259 miles on this day. Kentucky to Tennessee and across the border into North Carolina.

We stopped in Corbin, Kentucky to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel Store #8. Dear had Biscuits and gravy with a side egg and I had the Two egg biscuit breakfast with their famous hashbrowns. Total for breakfast before tip was $17.98.

After passing through the Cumberland Gap tunnel we came across Lincoln Memorial University. We chose not to go into the National Park because it was foggy and visibility would not be great.

On Highway 25 East/South we pulled into this overlook.

Unfortunately we really couldn’t see much at this overlook because the valley was covered by fog…sigh.

The sign above shows what we were supposed to see.

After the morning fog the sun broke through for another beautiful day for travel.

We kept seeing a lot of these strange looking vines/ivy and we were curious as to what it could be. We researched later and that will be for another post.

Are you ready?

We were entertained along the mountain roads with how many Baptist churches we drove by. We aren’t exaggerating to say that we saw one about every half mile!

We made it to our destination for the night in the College Town of Boone. Hotels were pricier here and we paid $161.00 for the night with a total of 181.53 with taxes. It was a nothing special Courtyard by Marriott.

King Street in Boone.

Appalachian State University enrolls over 20,000 students. Lots of young people walking around this town!

We ate Linner at Macado’s on W. King Street. Fish and Chips, Black Bean Quesadilla and two drinks for a total of $32.87 before tip. After we ate we did a little shopping along King St. We stopped into the Mast General Store but didn’t end up buying anything. We heard about a great bakery called Stick Boy Bakery that we planned on stopping at on our way out of town on Wednesday September 29th.

Back to the present. We had about 6 inches of snow overnight so it’s a white winter wonderland for now.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Historic Boone Tavern

When we were done at the Ark Encounter on Monday September 27th we filled up our tank with gas for just under $49.00. The receipt was torn so I’m not sure the price per gallon. This tank would last us until we got into North Carolina. We drove south in Kentucky for 80 miles on Interstate 75 to the college town of Berea. We had a room booked at the Historic Boone Tavern. You can read about the Historic Boone Tavern located on the campus of Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. Our room charge was $119 and with taxes the total was $130.90.

It was nice to stray from national chain hotels to this beauty on our Land That We Love Tour.

We were able to check in earlier than we expected and went out to do a little shopping at an Artisan Village called Old Town Artist Village. The college campus was busy with students walking to and from classes. Berea is a college that does not charge tuition but the students given admission to the college agree to work 10 hours a week for the college in different positions around the campus.

This was a nice shop featuring woodcrafts called The Cabin of Old Town.

We had an early dinner reservation at the restaurant in the hotel.

I tried some deep fried deviled eggs that were delicious.

Dear tried the Shrimp and Grits. (When in the South…) Besides the deviled eggs I had a cup of soup, a salad, and we shared Steamed Mussels. We had a drink each. We shared Bread Pudding for dessert. Our bill came to $98.93 before tip.

Tuesday morning we would be checking out early and heading to Boone, North Carolina for our Tuesday night stay in the Appalachians. Are you catching the theme in this part of our country. In Kentucky we were on the edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

The Ark Finale

Today I’m wrapping up my Ark Encounter posts with a hodgepodge of photos I took inside the three level Ark. If you ever find yourself in Kentucky you really should put a stop at the Ark in your itinerary! The next overnight stop on our Land That we Love Tour was Berea, Kentucky.

Possible water storage on the ark.

There is a lot about the whole Ark experience that Noah and his family had that the Bible does not spell out. The Ark Encounter made it clear when they were taking artistic license.

A devotional popped up in my email about the time of Noah that I’ll share parts of here. It’s from Drawing Near by John MacArthur.

Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Before moving in judgment against the most evil and corrupt society in history, God appointed Noah to build an ark, which became a symbol of life and salvation to all who believed God. For those who disbelieved, it represented impending death and judgment.

Concurrent with constructing the ark, Noah preached about coming judgment. Peter called him “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), and every board he cut and nail he drove in was a living illustration of the urgency of his message.

God’s warning was stern and His message horrifying, but His patience and mercy prevailed for 120 years. As Peter said, “The patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark” (1 Pet. 3:20). The people had ample warning of judgment, but they chose to disregard Noah’s message.

As sad as the account of Noah’s day is, perhaps the greatest tragedy is that man’s attitude toward God hasn’t changed since then. Jesus said, “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39).

After 120 years of diligent work and faithful preaching by Noah, only eight people entered the ark. But God’s purposes were accomplished and the human race was preserved.

For your information there are many attractions on the Ark Encounter grounds. Ararat Ridge Zoo, camel rides, kangaroo walk about, Rainbow Gardens, The Village Smokehouse (food), Emzara’s restaurant (food), Southwest Grill (food), Zophar’s (food), Free Fall Tower, Zip-Line Tower, Truth Traveler Virtual Reality Experience (separate ticket for this event along with the Screaming Eagle Zip Lines and Aerial Adventure), Family Playground, Noah’s Village has pizza, burgers, hot dogs, soft serve and hand dipped ice cream and funnel cakes. Strollers and wheel chairs along with motorized wheel chairs are available.

Monument Walk at the Ark Encounter

On the way to the entrance of the Ark you walk through these monuments.

So much Biblical history illustrated and memorialized at the Ark Encounter!

For those of you following our Land That We Love Tour I’m sure you’ve noticed the amazing weather we’ve had all along the way. This ‘Encounter’ was on the 27th of September. One more hodgepodge of a post is coming from our Ark Encounter. Thank you for following along.

Sunday the 14th was a full morning until early afternoon for us as we were in charge of facilitating from the kitchen an all church potluck breakfast for about 200 people. It all came together nicely and we even had leftovers. Always hard to know what will happen at a potluck. Favorite conversation of the morning with a young lad newer to our church, “Is this all free?” and I answered. “Yes it is.” And he countered with, “when we go to restaurants everything costs money”. And I said, well…this is not a restaurant, this is a church, all of this is free.” 🙂 My feet, legs, and back are recovering from our time on Sunday. Hope you had a good weekend.

The Ark Encounter Continued

The 7 D’s of Deception. The Fairy Tale concepts of Noah’s Ark.

One of the displays/sections of the Ark that really struck me was the section they had displayed as Fairytale.

The 7 D’s of Deception

This made me think and examine how we teach Biblical events.

We purchased a children’s book about the Ark that was faithful to the whole story.

This is a very busy weekend for me with my responsibilities in the church kitchen. I’ll be putting my feet up on Sunday evening.

Have a great weekend.

This is a continuation of our Land That We Love Tour.

Inside the Ark~The Door

There were several displays inside the Ark that were so meaningful to me and one in particular that was a wake up call to me. I’ll be sharing more in the days to come as I’m able to upload the photos.

Back at our country internet I’m having challenges in uploading some of the photos in the order that we saw them but this display about the door was so meaningful to us that I uploaded the photos at our hotel in Kentucky with decent internet service.

There was only one door in the Ark. Noah’s family and the animals entered the Ark that would save them from the destruction of the world through that one door. We also enter the door provided for us for our salvation and that one door is Jesus Christ.

John 10:9 ~ I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved.

We were at the Ark Encounter on Monday September 27th as part of our Land That We Love Tour.

The Ark Encounter

This was a highlight on our Land That We Love Tour. We had this encounter 6 weeks ago on Monday September 27th. We drove 31 miles north of our hotel in Georgetown, Kentucky on Interstate 75 to the Williamstown exit. We got off the interstate and found the parking lot for the Ark Encounter. We bought our tickets (2 seniors 85.76 total with tax) and boarded the bus to take us to the Ark.

We followed God’s promise to get into the Ark grounds.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark, it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:8-17 (ESV)

510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high

Largest timber-frame structure in the world. Made with a variety of woods, including Engelmann spruce, Douglas Fir, radiata pine and bamboo.

3.3 million board feet of lumber.

On July 5, 2016, the Board of Directors of Answers in Genesis and Ark Encounter laid these 12 stones to signify that the life-size Noah’s Ark was built to remind coming generations and the whole world of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word.

From Joshua 4:3, 6-7, 24 in the Old Testament of the Bible: “Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan…When your children ask someday, “What do these twelve stones mean to you?” you shall tell them…these stones are a memorial…that everyone on earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Dressed and ready for our tour.

After walking through Monument Walk we were ready to enter the Ark. That will be for another day. There was so much to see and so much to read and learn or re-learn about Noah and the Ark and so much more.

Cave Hill Cemetery

As we entered Louisville, Kentucky we put the Cave Hill Cemetery in our map app and found our way there. This was the only cemetery we visited on our Land That We Love Tour.

Cave Hill Cemetery is a 296-acre Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of burials in Louisville.

Cave Hill National Cemetery, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is comprised of six burial sections at the northwest corner of the privately owned Cave Hill Cemetery, a grand Victorian-era cemetery that provided a proper resting place for the dead within a beautiful park setting. The national cemetery features rows of marble headstones following the curvilinear pathways of the grounds. The cemetery is the home of the 32nd Indiana Monument, also known as the Bloedner Monument, the oldest Civil War memorial in the country.

We missed out on these parts of the cemetery altogether. I didn’t research the cemetery ahead of time and it was just a side wish to be able to go to the cemetery because of our time constraints on getting to our tour in Shelbyville on time.