Tennessee - Family and Opryland

We finally got to Centerville, Tennessee, and saw my sister and her family - it has been *years* and her family has *grown!*

I had a real shock the first time I said this out loud: "my baby sister's granddaughter..." =:-O



Mom and Dad brought quilts that cousin Goldie had made - what a hit!





A few days later, Aunt Mabel flew in. She is taking my place in the Prius Express...
That's a little joke - we usually drive 62 mph in a 75 mph zone (when possible without getting run down).




Today we went to Opyrland in Nashville. It is a huge glass-enclosed garden/convention center/hotel...









Annie was very taken with "Ivy" diVine - a performance artist.



This little guy is hidden away...



Mom, Dad, and Mabel leave tomorrow morning for the rest of the tour. I get more visitin' time in Tennessee, and fly home later.

People to visit with:

Natchez Trace

From Memphis, we turned South and East, heading for the Natchez Trace.
We drove through the upper part of Mississippi, and Alabama, then picked up the trace and took it back into Tennessee.



Crossing the Tennessee River...



I don't know that I've ever seen so many different colors of green all at once!



At Collinwood, we pulled off the trace to get a map and info, and met the *lovely* people of Wayne County, Tennessee. Maps, cookies, and a few local stories later, we get back on the Natchez Trace - happy people!

There was a small side road - one way, closed to RVs and trucks - that followed the old trace for about a mile.



We found an outlook, and pulled off the old trace for a look.



We crossed a stream...





At Duck River, we turned off and headed for Centerville to see more family :)

An interesting side note - we listened to an Alabama radio station for a while, and Rick Steves was interviewing Christopher Baker, who writes the Moon travel guide to Costa Rica - now *that* was strange!