Dollywood

A great amusement park! As an adult, I thought that was a contradiction in terms. But I loved Dollywood. It had a theme--country--carried out very creatively in its shows, its decor, its food. It was clean and efficient. It had great rides and lots of activities for people who didn't like rides.

Michael drove to Dollywood with the children of Jeannine Moench Hansen, including Ryan, a math whiz whom Michael especially liked.

After Lisa and I arrived with the rest of the Flindt gang, the big kids (Spencer, Grant, and Kirsten), promptly disappeared and found their way to Michael, the Hansens, and the rest of the 12 teenagers Jill and Brent Clark ended up chaperoning. They used the cameras on their cell phones to show their day through their unique point of view.

Lisa took Alyssa and Bryce on little-kid rides and I hit the shows.

Alyssa and Bryce loved Gazillion Bubbles, in which a bubble master blew huge, strange-shaped bubbles and huge numbers of bubbles.

I watched a program of 50's dance and music, a program of country hits, and a program by bluegrass musicians who both looked and sounded authentic.

I also enjoyed looking at the country crafts, some of which had questionable utility!

The kids gathered for Southern cooking at lunchtime at Aunt Granny's, a buffet which included Southern favorites like fried chicken, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, turnip greens, and coconut cake.

Bryce and Alyssa loved the butterfly and horse sculptures.

We finished a perfect day with the ferris wheel and merry-go-round.

It's the People

We did lots of things at the family reunion, but just being together was the main thing. One morning we stood on the pier with our shoes off to take our family picture. The only family member missing was Kyle, stuck in his office in Seattle. During many mornings and evenings, we sat and talked before heading off on our adventures or going to bed.

The whole Spendlove family gathered on the clubhouse porch for the traditional Spendlove auction, with Jonny as auctioneer trainee...

with David as auctioneer.

The two of them auctioned off such pricelss items as a racy novel (bought by Grandma for Darrell because "You like those things"), superman underpants (bought by Ben Moreland, 17 but graciously donated to 4-year-old Ezra)...

and fried pork rinds ("As advertised on Janice's website"). No - Janice is a vegan, and her website advertises beets and tofu.

Nancy Moench distributed a book containing family members' memories of Grandpa Cliff. Lisa thumbed through it as she held Alyssa.

Another family event was the candy bar game, where family members tired to earn candy bars and then swipe them from each other. The Heath bar made the rounds.

There was a special candy bar game for the kids.

Mia had simple pleasures, such as playing with everyone's shoes!

After the fun was over, games of cards and Trivial Pursuit, fueled by Doritos, continued far into the night.

There were also a few healthy treats.

Families mixed together and also had time to regroup by themselves.

Make Mine Southern

When did we enter the rural South? Was it when we passed this sign, advertising fried bologna?

Certainly, by the time we barrelled through Nashville and reached the Smokies, we'd already reached the drawled speech, slower pace, and cuisine of pork that frames the charm of the South. The Smokies were magnificent. There really was a smoky haze over the blue hills. We got out of our cars and just gazed.

Our plan was to convene with family members in Great Smokies National Park. We did meet Grandma and Darrell.

We searched for Steve and Camille, but didn't find them. We had high hopes for a picnic...

but the rain washed us out. We chewed on sandwiches and cookies as huge drops of water pelted down. Dave and Lisa fled the deluge and took the little guys to our condo in Crossville, Tennessee, but Mike, Jonny and Jenny, and the Big Flindts bet that the rain would clear and stayed to explore the park. We wandered through and around a church in Cades Cove which was built in 1827. It had gravestones of Revolutionary War veterans.

We drove past other quaint homesteads, all abandoned now.

We hiked along a picturesque creek to a waterfall and swimming hole.

Michael saw five bears along the roadside and in the meadow, and all of us saw lots of deer.

Jonny plunged into the grass to get a better photo of a bear and her cubs.

It was nearly dark when we arrived in Crossville. The next morning I was up early, admiring the perfect stillness of the lake next to our condo. It was so still that trees and clouds were reflected in the water.