This is kind of cool..I love getting plugs for my blog. I opened up my email and there was this notice. I followed the link ans sure enough, there was my blog.
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Let Confusion Reign
What is wrong with me? Did I forget to pack the well planned and organized me?
I arrived at the condo without a hitch. I checked in and was immediately introduced to Jessie and Branden, the 2 concierges. Jessie you may recall had reached out to me before my trip. Even more impressive is that she remembered me and our conversation. They gave me a welcome packet and a jar of local honey, made tons of suggestions for how to spend my time and made me promise to let them know if I needed anything, any thing at all!
Now after unpacking I am on my way to find someplace for dinner and a grocery store for breakfast items and I realize I have no idea what I’m going to be doing the next couple of days! I planned my vacation. I did it right here in these posts but now that I’m actually here I feel like I would be just as happy to plop myself out on that porch and just relax. Who wants to run around all over. Why not just sit back and relax?
I need to give myself a shake. As nice as that might be I can do that at home. Why spend all that time and money not to explore the sights. But what to do first? I feel almost as if I’m frozen with indecision. There are too many choices and I want to do them all.
I had a pleasant dinner at a little road side stand. Barbecue ribs, onion rings and something called “apple sticks”.
The closest thing I can compare this to is a skinny McDonald’s apple pie. The whole meal was good but those apple sticks were The Best! And the whole thing only cost $11:00 , soft drink included! I am beginning to understand why I haven’t seen any thin women yet. Rich barbecue sauces and all that deep frying… oh my, my arteries are groaning already!
Since I was on a mission I didn’t take my camera with me. Big mistake. I saw so many quaint churches, run down barns and shacks that would make the best pictures. But eventually I found a Walmart. I picked up a few things for breakfast and headed back. The shadows were getting long now and I wanted to see if I could figure out a game plan.
Maybe getting a good night’s sleep would make it easier to decide what to do tomorrow. My travel day is catching up with me.
Knoxville
I think I may have jumped ahead in my trip narrative so I’m going to back up just a tad. I have to mention the Knoxville Airport.
It is beautiful. As you leave the secured area and enter the main concourse there is a water feature with rocks and flowers. The glass windows allow the sunlight to create a natural looking oasis.
I did something I rarely do in airports. I stopped to take a picture.
I’m not sure if it was just a coincidence or if they are really that efficient but by the time I made it to the baggage claim my luggage was already circling on the carousel. I heard other passengers making surprised comments as well. I was off to the car rentals in record time.
I’m using Enterprise this trip. And it was at the Enterprise counter that I realized the first thing I had forgotten to pack… my GPS. Yes I can get one from Enterprise but at the cost of $11.00/ day. Normally I’d say skip it but the directions to the resort seem kind of involved and I don’t have a partner in adventure this trip so I would have to keep stopping to read them myself. I bit the bullet and added the GPS. (It was a good choice if a tad expensive)
The other unusual decision I made was to add the extra insurance. This essentially doubled the cost of my rental and again deviates from what I usually do. I had coverage on my own insurance and also coverage on my credit card but one thing neither of these insurances cover is the “loss of value” that the rental companies are now pursuing. It’s no longer good enough to cover the cost of the repairs if you have an accident. Now you have to worry that the accident will lower the resale value of the vehicle. (Show me the car fax)
Usually I take my chances that I won’t have any accident so won’t have to be concerned about resale value but for some reason I can’t explain I just wasn’t comfortable with that risk today so I took their insurance. Go ahead, call me stupid but at least I have peace of mind.
GPS set, luggage stowed, seat adjusted and it was time to hit the road. Gatlinburg here I come!
Photo of the Week ~ 19
This was the week of flowers. Part of the reason for the flora was that I was traveling and didn’t want to give away my absence. Flowers are everywhere. This was also one of the lowest scoring weeks but the tallies are in and the winner with a total of 21 points is Iris.
To Order prints click here: http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p161572686/h23673f74#h23673f74
Where’s the Fun?
Traveling is so much fun.
You know I love to travel but maybe it’s time to clarify something. I love visiting new places, I don’t love getting there. I can’t wait for the day we can just “beam” ourselves to our destination.
I roused myself at 6 am to feed the cats, shower and head to T.F. Green Airport for my flight to Knoxville.
I am not now and never have been a morning person. At my age I doubt that I am going to change that so any morning that starts at 6 am is a challenge to begin with. The only reason I can do it is for the reward at the end of the tunnel.
When I arrived at T.F. Green I was pleased to find out that I was Prechecked by TSA or something like that. Apparently it’s something new to make the TSA appear to be kinder and gentler. Passengers are selected at random (or so they say) and get to skip some of the more intrusive pre-screening at the security check point.
I didn’t have to take the laptop out, or my shoes off or even my sweatshirt (jacket). I just put everything on the belt to be screened and trotted through the scanner, not the new full body scanner but one of the old ones where you just walk through. Easy Peasy! I like this.
I flew US Air because Southwest doesn’t fly into Knoxville. I got to pick my own seats when I booked my flight. I like that so much better than Southwest’s first come first serve policy. Anyway boarding went off without a hitch. We boarded like normal down the jet way. We were on one of the little skinny planes.
Sandy (my sister) calls them pencil planes, just 2 seats on each side of a single aisle and 1 flight attendant. I had to change planes in Washington at Ronald Reagan International. The flight was just 1 ½ hours. Pretty short by my standards.
I was in for a surprise at Ronald Reagan. We landed and taxied not to a gate but to some spot in the middle of the tarmac. The stairs were lowered and we climbed down that way where we were ushered onto a waiting shuttle. It was sort of like a bus with the interior of a trolley or subway car. There were hand loops and poles but no seats. This shuttle delivered us to the terminal.
Hmmmm. I felt like all that was missing was the paparazzi with flash bulbs popping and cameras clicking. Isn’t that where the president steps out onto the stairs of Airforce One and waves for his photo op?
I killed the time between flights by having lunch. The special of the day was Maryland Lump Crab Cakes so I gave them a try. Good but not worth $15.00 and the waitress wasn’t rude but was severely lacking in the personality department.
When it came time to board for the 2nd leg of the journey we were once again loaded into a shuttle and ferried out to a row of “pencil planes” sitting in the middle of the tarmac. We were in a line of shuttles. Smaller utility vehicles buzzed around making me think of scenes from Star Wars where all the little robots and droids are zipping around.
Eventually we were unloaded and escorted to one of the pencil planes that had the stairs down. 1 ½ hours later we landed in Knoxville. The flight was uneventful which is always a plus.
Oh and we exited off a jet way this time. No steep stairs in the middle of the airport.