I Wonder as I Wander…

This is me



And this is Bob and I 'just a swinging'.

Several wonderful memories came along with our trip to Tennessee. First I mentioned the great food we had on Thursday. I did get my BBQ—first on Friday evening at the Regional Convention and then on Monday afternoon at a Mom and Pop restaurant in Chattanooga.

But first back to Tullahoma and the Convention…It started on Friday evening at Motlow Community College. This is an interesting college because the Motlow family donated the land and lots of the money for the buildings. The Motlow family is the ones who established Jack Daniels Distillery. It’s interesting because the county that Jack Daniels is in is a dry county—so you can’t buy alcohol, but they make it.

Matlow college is between Lynchburg and Tullahoma, and about five miles from everyplace else—it’s a beautiful campus with lots of trees and open space. The campus received about 200 acres—so there is lots of room for growth.

At the convention, there was an art display called ‘a plethora of puzzles’. It was great—students had created wonderful pieces from puzzles. Some used 20-24 different puzzles—one even used 64 different puzzles. The art pieces were layers of puzzles that were four layers. One was all Thomas Kinkade’s pictures of houses, another was Christmas, a couple were of wizards and unicorns, and one was made from puzzles of different places from around the world. They were all framed and beautiful pieces of artwork. I want to get some puzzles and give it a try—I might see if I can find some Thomas Kinkade puzzles.

Saturday, I had the Convention all day. In the morning, one of the guest speakers was Maggie Vaughn, the TN Poet Laureate. She was so great—extremely funny and her poems are so touching. Both Bob and I were laughing so hard, we had tears running down our cheeks! One of the things she said was that she couldn’t remember anything anymore—In fact, she even needs a machine because she doesn’t even remember to breath at night. I’ll have to tell my sister and her husband that, since they both have the C-Pac machines.

Bob had free time on Saturday. First he did the Jack Daniels tour. He said it was very interesting. Although it was cold in TN and some of the tour was outdoors. One thing he described is where they made their own charcoal and how they dripped the whiskey through charcoal to make it taste different. Then he went up to Nashville to the Grand Ole Opry. We are both country music fans—he used to listen to the Opry every Saturday night when he was growing up. So anytime he’s able, he’ll head for the Opry.

We had a great Sunday—we met up with my brother, sister in law, niece and great-niece and wandered around Chattanooga. There’s an area called the bluffs—it’s got a lot of museums, art sculptures, and a walk along the Tennessee River. We ate at a neat brewery and grill. Walked along the river, had ice cream at a Cold Stone. Later, Bob and I went to an IMAX theatre—saw a film on underwater life. It was really cool. We were also able to get popcorn so we could have our traditional Sunday evening supper.

Then on Monday, our flight didn’t leave until 6 pm, so we had some time to explore the area even more. We drove up Lookout Mountain--we had taken the Incline Railroad that goes straight up the side of the mountain several years ago, so didn't do that again, but we did go the Rock City. And I thought it was great--lots of interesting rock formations and cute little fairy tale displays.

We stopped at a little town called Bell Buckle. That’s where Maggie Vaughn the TN Poet Laureate is from. The town is full of little shops and lots of antiques.

Well, we were lucky again—hubby and I each scored a free ticket for giving up our seats on the way home on Monday evening. So now we have four tickets to use for him to travel with me! Yay! We were even put up at a Crowne Plaza Hotel and it was really nice—too bad, we were only there from 10 pm until 7 am the next morning. And we didn’t have any luggage.

Now we're home for a while and then have two weeks of travel in April (Tampa and Seattle) and then vacation in Italy! I can hardly wait!

I have mentioned several times that I love to travel. One of the really neat things that I like about traveling is the food. Whenever we are in a new place, we have to try new food and eat at different places. I certainly do not believe in going to McDonalds when I'm traveling (actually I don't go to too many fast food places ever).

Our latest trip is to Tennessee. We flew in to Nashville and headed south. My conference is at Lynchburg and we're staying at Tullahoma. But we got in around noon, so were ready for lunch. Another thing we usually do is stop and buy some bottled water and pop. So we started looking for a Target or Wal-Mart and a restaurant.

As we left the interstate, we saw a sign for "Steak and Shake". Bob said he'd eaten at one in Indiana a few years ago, but I never had--so we tried to drive to it. It did take a trip back onto the interstate, and a scenic drive back, but we made it there. At Steak and Shake, the hamburgers are made of chopped steak and really good. I had a portabella burger and Bob had a Hickory Bacon burger. And their shakes were really neat. They had one that was called 'side-by-side' It had two kinds of shake in the same glass--like vanilla/banana, chocolate/vanilla, peanut butter/chocolate, etc. Bob had one that was Orange Crème and Vanilla. I had a mint chocolate with hot fudge--Yummy!

Tonight we went to The Catfish House--guess what we ate? Catfish--and it was really delicious! They also served Hush Puppies and pickled green tomatoes. The special tonight was Fish and Frogs, but we chose to stick with just the fish and skip the frog legs. I guess there are some things that we won't try. Although I have had frog legs before--I remembered they were mostly deep fried batter and not much else. And I love cat fish--so why not stick with it.

One thing I will have to have while in Tennessee is Barbeque. Up north Barbeque is a verb. We Barbeque food--here Barbeque is a noun. You eat Barbeque. And I'll be thrilled to get the chance to eat some.

Hee Hee, I just stole this photo from my son's blog.

My last wanderings included a quick, and unexpected trip to St. Cloud, MN. That's about 270 miles from our place. I got home from TX on Tuesday at noon and got the call around 4 pm that I needed to be in St. Cloud to Charter a chapter at 4 pm on Wednesday. So I unpacked a few things and threw them into another suitcase--and we left at 9 am on Wednesday. Hubby agreed to be my driver! Yay!

So we drove to St. Cloud, checked into a Fairfield Inn, changed clothes, chartered the chapter and then went out to a fabulous place called Anton's Seafood. It's right along a river (although I don't think it's the Mississippi, because it wasn't big enough--I just looked at a map and it's the Saulk River that flows into the Mississippi). It was great food and great fun watching the ducks swimming by on the river. When they were going with the current, they were really moving fast.

In the morning, when we looked out--more snow. Although it was only 3 or 4 inches and light fluffy stuff rather than that heavy, wet snow that we were stuck in on Monday. We decided to take our time, have a leisurely breakfast, take a swim and hot tub, and then leave for home around 11 am.

I had a conference call scheduled for 3 pm, so we wanted to be someplace where we would get good reception on the cell phone. Since we travel through the iron range, sometimes phones and other electronic devices act up. We got to Virginia right at 3 pm, I made my call--for over two hours--and then we shopped a little bit, had a cheesy bites pizza at Pizza Hut (they're OK, but not all that exciting. If you eat them while they are hot, it's pretty good, but once they cool down even a little all that cheese congeals into a greasy lump.)

So we finally arrived home at 9 pm on Thursday. And now we stay home for a week. And we have a date with Turbo Tax! As my friend said "which might be a little taxing!"

My latest trip was to Austin, TX. I had the Texas Regional Convention--it was wonderful--great people and lots of fun! There wasn't too much exciting to report on that part of the country--although I did eat at a fabulous restaurant called Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen. They had wonderful food!

I left for Austin on Wednesday--the convention was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If I had every trip like this one, it might get old. Although it would have been so much better if hubby would have been with me. I guess I just can't leave him behind.

I got to Austin TX and everything went great until I was suppose to leave on Sunday AM. I got to the airport and they had cancelled my reservations because I had offered to give up my seat for a free ticket on the way down. They didn't need me, but had booked me on another flight--so marked me as a 'no show' and cancelled the rest of my reservation.

Well, I could have gotten on the plane, but they were way overbooked and were begging people to give up their seats, so I cashed mine in for TWO FREE tickets--YaHoo! BUT there was a price to pay....

First they said I could get on the plane that was leaving on Monday evening at 5:45 pm and I'd get home at midnight. I was suppose to leave at 7 am on Sunday and get home at 3:30 pm Sunday. Here's where if DH would have been along, we would have just rented a car and saw the sights for two days, but I wasn't real excited about that on my own.

So they set me up in a hotel, gave me voucher for meals and send me on my way, but said to call back around noon, because there might be a chance I could get on the flight that was leaving that evening. I went to the hotel, took a nap, called them back and found out that I couldn't get on that later flight, but they were sending a shuttle to San Antonio and I could get on that and catch a flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul Sunday, stay over there, and be on a flight to Int'l Falls Monday AM.

The shuttle picked me up right at my hotel (which I checked into at 8 am and checked out of at noon) and we drove to San Antonio--which is usually a 1.5 hour drive. However, we ended up in very slow moving traffic and it took us just over 3 hours. My flight was delayed some, so I finally got to Mpls around 9:15 pm (suppose to get in at 8 pm).

My son picked me up at the airport and I went over to his house--we didn't have much time to visit, because we had to get up at 6 am to catch my next flight Monday AM.

I got up early Monday, took a shower and packed my bags and looked out the window--YIKES a HUGE snowstorm hit the Mpls area--there was about 5 inches of heavy, wet snow and it was coming down steady. NW kept saying the flight wasn't cancelled, but we couldn't get out of the driveway--so I changed my flight to Tues. AM. (The Mon flight was eventually cancelled).

I did get to visit with my son, his partner, and then my daughter (who's school had been cancelled) braved the elements and drove over for supper Mon evening. So we had a nice time.

I finally got home around noon on Tuesday and it was great seeing hubby again. I do like spending time with him.

And I did score TWO free tickets. Again, I said if dh would have been along, we would have gotten FOUR tickets! Ahhh, If Only.... But these free tickets will allow him to go with me even more!

In all my travels, this is the first time I've managed to get any free tickets.

We spent another whole day in the Mountains before we left Denver to head home. We traveled from Greeley to Estes Park following along Hwy 34 and then Hwy 7 which was a 'long and winding road'. It was a really beautiful drive. We stopped at a neat little wayside rest area (a good bathroom story this time!)and walked along a bubbling brook. There was some snow around, but the temp was probably in the 60's. Some of the brook was snow and ice covered and some (that would catch the sunshine) was open.

We did see a herd of elk when we were in Rocky Mountain National Park. Bob said, "there's a elk--oh, there's another one, and another two over there." WOW there are several more over there. This was around the Ranger station and we must have seen 20-25 of all sizes.


Along the road south of Estes Park were several retreat centers. One was for the Salvation Army. We came around a corner and there was this chapel called 'Chapel on the Rocks'--which was so unexpected, but so beautiful. Especially with the mountains in the background.

Some of the houses along these roads were huge and perched on the sides of cliffs. I wonder who lives in them? Do you suppose they are just 'cabins' or their permanent homes? Do the people actually look out the windows and wonder at the beauty of the earth, or do they go to there homes, pull the drapes against the glare of the sun, and fire up their computer for work?

We're on the road again.... I guess I'm a pushover for song titles. It wasn't until Thursday night when Kara and Ross mentioned that "I Wonder as I Wander" is the name of a hymn--that I realized it. Now, as I blog--that song is going through my head. And many times I'm thinking of "On the Road Again" while we are traveling.

So we're in Colorado where it's a beautiful day—the sun in shinning and the temp hit 70 degrees yesterday (Of course I was inside all day—but today we can play outside!!)

We left home Thurs at 3:45 pm and flew to the cities. Since we had a 4-hour layover there, Ross and Kara picked us up and we went out to PF Changs--one of my favorites! We got into Denver at 11 pm (midnight our time), got our car, went to our hotel and went straight to bed.

Friday morning, we drove up to Estys Park and wandered around there—it’s such a neat place. The last time we were there a couple years ago, we went to the Stanley Hotel and looked it over. It is just gorgeous! Was made by the men who invented the Stanley Steamer (an early automobile). One of the ballrooms in the Hotel is where part of “The Shining” was filmed (that’s a scary Stephen King movie).

When we were here before, it was over Thanksgiving and Kevin and Carla were living in Denver. Scott, Stacy, Dylan, Sandy and Kara all came out--so we had a big group that went up to Estys Park. I remember Kevin looking at the ballroom and said it really gave him the creeps. Then we wandered over to another room on the other side and were admiring the wall coverings and furnishings. Kevin and I were the only ones in the room, when all of a sudden, a door slammed shut. We about jumped out of our skins! We also had to check out the Chocolate Shop--they have these huge carmel apples that are covered will all kinds of candy.

This visit, we walked around in their park (had to watch out that we didn’t step in elk doo doo). It was so nice out that we just basked in the sunshine (and came away with a bit of a sunburn).

Then we went into Rocky Mountain National Park. It is so beautiful with the mountains covered with snow and the roads winding up. We drove up one of the roads that is really high, although part-way up it was closed for the winter. I think it was around 9500 ft. We walked around there a bit (slowly—because there’s no air to breath). Of course, the beautiful scenery takes away your breath also. I love the mountains!

We saw another herd of elk, but didn’t see any big horn sheep. When we left the Park, we took a winding road that goes through a deep canyon. The mountains were straight up on both sides of us in some places. It really makes you feel miniscule. I always get kind of philosophical—thinking about what a tiny speck we are in the larger scheme of things.

The convention I was attending started Friday night. That night there was a dance with a Greek Gods theme, so I toga’ed up and partied with college students. The only thing missing was a keg (thank God). We had LOUD music, spinning lights, lots of dancing, and some really great togas—mine was a sheet from the hotel.

The convention continued on Saturday until 4 pm. Then we met up with my cousin and his wife and went out to eat with the two of them, six of their kids and in-laws, plus six grandkids—it was quite a crowd and the kids are all under 9 years old. One little guy was not happy—kept crying. I felt bad for some of the people around us.

We are going over to their place today and stay there tonight, because we don’t leave until 4:30 pm on Monday--so we'll have time to see some more sights!

Have I mentioned that I love traveling????

Now for some information and thoughts on the Underground Railroad and Slavery.

Kentucky was a slave state. In 1798, Kentucky adopted a slave code that defined slaves as “chattel,” thereby denying them basic rights—including citizenship, education, legal marriages, control over property, and even control of their own bodies. Even though various groups of Kentuckians made attempts, based primarily on religious doctrine, to end slavery, the tremendous wealth and status offered by slavery lured many poor whites to seek their fortunes through the trafficking of slaves.

Kentucky was the last slave state before freedom in the North and had large slave-holding centers located in the northern counties, which included Maysville. One of the things we experienced in the Freedom Center was a slave-holding pen. It was a split log building, with mortar between the logs. No windows or place for light to come in, except small openings high up in the rafters. The building was pretty tall--15 - 20 feet. There was nothing it in, except a few benches. They used to put slaves in there for days or even weeks at a time--with no place to go to the bathroom and not much place to lay down. It just made me shudder.

Kentucky has more than 700 miles of border with free states. I was surprised at how many states share a border with Kentucky—Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Cincinnati and several Indiana and Illinois communities contained large Quaker and anti-slavery Presbyterian and Methodist communities, as well as many free black residents. Those factors combined to make Kentucky a great pass-through state for Africans escaping to freedom.

Up until 1847, most of the fugitives from Kentucky vanished into stations in the “colored” quarters of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. But the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave owners or bounty hunters to go into the free states and claim their missing ‘property’. After that, most escaping slaves continued on to Canada.

The Underground Railroad is defined by the National Park Service as “a secret system—sometimes spontaneous, sometimes highly organized—to assist persons held in bondage in North America to escape from slavery.” It is generally believed that the term “underground railroad” came into use as a result of the growth in the railroad industry during the 1820s. The operating period for the Underground Railroad is normally considered by historians to be the years between 1830 and 1865.

During the Colonial era, more enslaved Africans escaped than during the 19^th Century. Many of these Colonial slaves escaped to form “maroon” colonies in the sea islands, the Appalachian Mountains, the Caribbean, and South America. Escapes to Spanish Florida and Mexico also offered slaves the chance to gain their freedom.

According to the 1998 Underground Railroad Theme Study published by the National Park Service, scholars and researchers estimate that about 100,000 persons successfully escaped slavery between 1790 and 1860. The Underground Railroad gradually became a more elaborate system as slavery was abolished above the Mason-Dixon Line. The lines were more clearly drawn between slave-holding and non-slave-holding territory, and the direction for fugitives was clearer.

An interesting bit of history that I had never realized (or even thought about) was how the bill that Thomas Jefferson signed in 1807 abolishing slave trade, actually created a commercial system that tore families apart even more. This bill would not let any more slaves be brought from Africa, but since there was still a huge demand for slave labor as large cotton plantations grew, the buying and selling of slaves grew. This was where the term “sold down the river” came from. During this time, bounty slave hunters and people who abducted freed black people from the north grew into a profitable business. According to one display in the Freedom Center, a young male slave would be worth around $1000.

As I looked at the exhibits in the Freedom Center, I was saddened by the fact that our country (which was formed ‘Under God’ and ‘freedom and liberty for all’) could have allowed this immoral practice for so long. I guess it emphasizes that moral and humanitarian issues will often times be overruled by political, commercial, and economic concerns.

When people look back at today’s society in 2000 years, I wonder what they will see…

Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, we left for Jackson, MS. That trip for us is an all-day affair. We leave at 10 am and get there at 8:30 pm. We fly from home to Minneapolis, to Memphis, and to Jackson. With some layovers at each place. The one nice thing about that, is that many times if we have a layover in Mpls, our kids will pick us up at the airport and we’ll go out for lunch or dinner and have a nice visit with them. On this day, our daughter picked us up and we went out to TGI Fridays, which is one of our favorite places to go.

Monday and Tuesday, I had training and meetings in Jackson. Then on Wednesday, we flew from Jackson to Kentucky (through Detroit). We flew in to the Cincinnati airport—which is actually in KY. We drove to Maysville, KY. It’s a beautiful area—right on the Ohio River. We went to a great little Winery in OH for supper.

Thursday, we wandered around the Town of Old Washington—which is an old town. It has a house where Harriett Beecher Stowe visited and watched some slave auctions happening on the square. That’s what prompted her to write the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. There were lots of unique shops and homes in the area. We ate at a tavern. Bob and I shared a KY Hot Brown. We weren’t sure what it was, so had to ask and then had to try it. It’s a slice of bread with turkey, tomatoes, and bacon covered with a cheese sauce. It was really good, but rich.

My retreat started at 4 pm at the Rosemary Clooney Room of a restaurant. She, as well as George Clooney (her nephew), are from this area. They have an annual Rosemary Clooney festival each year. The evening ended about 11 pm with a wine and cheese party at the hotel.

Friday, the retreat went from 9 am until 3:30 pm. I love the retreats and am usually 'high' during them--just so energetic and passionate about everything I'm taking about--but at the end, I'm absolutely exhausted. We came home and just vegged out in front of the TV (watching the Olympics Opening).

Saturday, we walked around the downtown area. There are some great historical buildings in the area. This area was also part of the Underground Railroad and there is a museum dedicated to the people who passed through, as well as the ‘conductors’ who helped them. A lot of the information on the Underground Railroad is not known, because it was such a well-kept secret.

Maysville has a floodwall. And in 1998, they commissioned Robert Dafford of Dafford Murals to paint murals on the wall. They are beautiful—almost look three-dimensional. They depict the history of the area from the early Native Americans on their buffalo hunts to the present day community. The area was an extremely busy seaport in the 1800’s.

We crossed the bridge over the Ohio River (which is build to match the Golden Gate Bridge) and went over to Ripley, OH where the Rankin House is. This was the home of a minister, John Rankin, and his family, and also an important station on the Underground Railroad. The house is way up on a hill, overlooking the river. There is a huge staircase leading up to it and that is known as the ‘Freedom Trail’. We were disappointed because the home was closed for the season. It would have been wonderful to see inside and the grounds. The community had lots of beautiful old homes.

We drove to Point Pleasant, OH and saw the birthplace and a schoolhouse of Ulysses S. Grant. Again, this was a quaint little town—with lots of great old homes.

On Sunday, we visited the Freedom Center in Cincinnati which is a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad. It was really interesting and heartbreaking and hopeful all at the same time. Some of the background on the Underground Railroad can be found at www.ket.org/underground/history/kyunderground.htm

I’ll go into more detail about the Underground Railroad and some of my thoughts later.