#204 Nomad Diary. 14-20 September 2024. Two Cake Birthday Party. Grandson Owen Turns 3. Son Wesley is 38. 4th Week of 4 in Limestone County, Alabama. Moving On to Kingsport, Tennessee.

Grandson Owen's 3rd Birthday. Halloween Theme Decor. Oh my heart!

Owen with His Mom Erin and His Ghost Decorated Birthday Cake.

Our Three Local Sons. Samuel (30), Eric (Owen's Dad 39), and Wesley (38 Shares Birthday with Owen)

Grandpa Feeding Esther During the Birthday Party

Wes's Cake

Sandwich Buffet at Birthday

Chips and Veggies

Eggs and Condiments at Party Saturday. 14. Owen’s 3rd birthday. Halloween themed party at his house. It’s also our second oldest son, Wesley’s 38th birthday. I baked a mint chocolate cake for him by his request. I found a gf df recipe online and it turned out delicious! We had two cakes at the party. Darrell and I volunteered to bring a build your own sandwich buffet. It worked out well.  Sunday. 15. Church at our local congregation was enjoyable with a sermon on real joy. We went to lunch with our friends Kim and Tena. We have gone out with them a couple of times in the past and today we went to a Pho place. We all enjoyed the food and the company. Later in the day, I visited Erin for a short time. In the late afternoon we went to a monthly congregational singing at Hughes Rd church of Christ. We sat next to Erin and our two grandchildren: Owen and Esther. Eric needed to stay home and rest.

Swan Creek, Athens, Alabama

An Unusual Seed at Elkmont, Alabama Wooded Walk

Close Up Of Seed that Looks Like a Lighting Fixture to Me.

View Out Our Bedroom Window at Our Airbnb

Owen and His New Friend Austin at their Neighborhood Playground

Monday. 16. Darrell took the truck in for maintenance. I stayed at the house and read and studied and prayed most of the morning. I ate lunch quietly on our porch outside enjoying the breeze and the green leaf cover of the large trees nearby. Darrell and I are on the third day of tracking a newish diet. It is mainly for him to lose weight. He’s never dieted or tracked his diet in this way. I have tracked my eating and studied many diets over my lifetime. He’s learning about the math part of food science and he really enjoys it. I got him to download the free version of MyNetDiary app. Doing foods and meals together is very nice for me and makes it easier for me to accomplish my healthy eating goals too!  

Tuesday. 17. Online Bible study with christian friends in Kent, England.

Wednesday. 18.

Thursday. 19. We met our son Samuel for lunch at a local and new restaurant: Steam Brothers. They make steamed buns and dumplings. Later in the afternoon we took some of our things to Samuel’s house for storage. We packed lighter for our next few weeks. We are considering the space to carry our friend and passenger along on a Blue Ridge Parkway driving tour in mid-October. In the evening we went and played with our grandchildren Owen and Esther. 

Swiss Pantry on Hwy 64 Belvidere, Tennessee

Us Having a Picnic at Savage Gulf State Natural Area, Tennessee

Very Dry and Leaves Dropping Early with More Reds

Dry Creek on Walk at Fall Creek Falls

The Dryest I've Seen This Falls at Fall Creek Falls

Our Selfie at this Gorgeous Overlook

Friday. 20. Today we checked out of our Limestone county airbnb. We woke up early, did our exercises, cooked breakfast, easily cleaned up and packed our truck to enjoy our drive through rural Tennessee up to Kingsport. We stopped at a deli and got some sliced turkey to go with our cooler items. We drove towards Fall Creek Falls state park. We drove on two lane roads up into mountains. It was beautiful. Some trees at higher elevations are turning red. We think because it has been so dry. We saw small towns and curvy roads we had never driven before. Mostly the drive is shady with large trees coming right up to the sides of the road. Beautiful. We saw a turn into a picnic area and we stopped there. We discovered a clean restroom and a nice shaded picnic area. We had a conversation with a couple of hikers. They said there’s no water in the falls. They like their nomad sort of living. We shared our card and info about us if we ever connect again. We picnicked then went on to Fall Creek Falls state park. We picked a trail through the woods to see a large falls. The falls was very small compared to other times we have seen it. It’s very dry, but still a beautiful overlook and a beautiful day. We were outside of cell phone service and it took a bit more time to get closer to civilization to send Phoebe a message that we would not make it there for dinner. We hit some traffic on the highway to Knoxville. The traffic isn’t surprising. We stopped for dinner and then kept driving. We arrived by about 8pm. We met two of their friends from Alabama who were also staying at their house. Fred and Alan had driven up for the NASCAR race at the Bristol, Tennessee track. We got to hear about their adventure at the race on Sunday. 

Nomad Notes. I am looking forward to our move to visit Glenn and Phoebe, and then on to Asheville, NC for a housesit. I am also going to miss being with our cutie-pie grandkids here. Darrell has been on his diet for a week. He’s tracking and it’s good for both of us. I already was tracking my eating and activity. There is learning happening and he’s doing well. I’m sleeping better. Our Friday was an enjoyable drive through rural Tennessee. We had a picnic and a hike. We listen to nice music from Sirius radio as we drive. We were out of internet and phone range for a while. This reminded me that I want to download maps offline of where we will be traveling through mountains.