Since Labor Day Weekend

Jeff did a great job with the DJ’ing this past Saturday evening in front of the Mountain Center in River Vista Campground in Dillard, Georgia. We had some technical difficulties the first 20 minutes but cleared them up. Since we use the River Vista sound system when we are up here it takes a longer period of time to set up. They have more equipment than we do and it sounds about the same as ours but it is more convenient to use theirs while we are here. You wouldn’t believe how many kids were in the campground over the three day holiday! The park was packed except for three empty sites so it was a very successful weekend. One of the things that River Vista does is a tie dye activity on Saturday mornings for anyone who wants to shell out $2.00 to make one. It was very crowded! We think about 125 shirts were made down by the stream by mostly children with the help of their parents and River Vista workcampers. The pool was very crowded since it was a very nice day. They also had hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and a pasta salad for $5.00 to anyone that wanted to eat it at 5:30 in the Mountain Center. We went and were disappointed by the turn out of people that were there. We estimated about 65 people were there. They made enough food for 400 so there were lots leftover. They froze the meat which will be used in October. The manager gave us some pasta salad and meat and it is very good!

The dance went from 7 to 10 and was a success! Kids were coming up to Jeff like he was a famous DJ and were enamored by him. I told Jeff he should make up some autographs of himself and the equipment and sign it for the little kids that want them. One girl was so cute! She came up to Jeff and asked a request and made sure that he knew that she knew him from two years ago when he did a dance here. Well, he didn’t do any dances here two years ago so it must have been last year. She and her friends were requesting songs that had already been played that night like the Cupid Shuffle for one. Adults were also around dancing up to the oldies of the 50’s and 60’s with a lot of energy. Kozmo was in her usual place under the table and just taking it all in.

Sunday evening into Monday morning brought lots of rain. I felt sorry for the people that had to leave Monday morning to go home since it was a real wet mess outside. The rain from that day followed into Tuesday and a bit on Wednesday morning. We are done with the rain as of now and looking forward to lower temperatures by this coming Sunday. We are supposed to get lows in the lower 50’s and a high of 72 for the day. We think we are going to Gatlinburg early in the next week for the day to do some shopping in the Crafters Loop and probably head to Pigeon Forge to see what is happening there. And yes, Kozmo will come with us!

Well, I (Jeff) didn’t finish this blog entry last week. So to update it, I can report that yesterday, Tuesday, we made our two hour trip through the Great Smoky Mountain Park from Cherokee over to Gatlinburg. The weather was outstanding. Our main purpose to travel to Gatlinburg was to drive through the Glades Road Arts and Crafts Community. There are about 100 shops where crafters sell their wares. We particularly go to three shops, two soy candle shops and one shop that makes their own lotions, soaps, etc. We tried the soy candles a few years ago and really prefer them over all others. There are many reasons we prefer the soy candles, here are some of the reasons:

Made with 100% natural soybean base & premium botanical fragrance oils

Unlike paraffin, soy is not made from crude oil

Reduces dependency on foreign oil & it's effects, while burning cleaner, & creating a greener environment

Contains no pesticides or herbicides

Burns longer and cooler than paraffin

Use melted soy as a lotion, great moisturizer for your skin. Only burns a little warmer than your body temp.

Cleans up with soap & water

Made with domestically grown crops supporting our U.S. farmers & our economy

Here are the two shops we buy them at (they have some different scents we like at each shop).

Dick and Marie’s Candles and More Than a Candle.

The other shop we love to shop at is Misty Mountain Soap Company. They make handmade soaps, lotions. bath products and other items. Check out their website. We’ll probably make one more trip to Gatlinburg before we head south for the winter.

Tonight we are going to dinner with friends, Steve and Cheryl, who own a site in the River Vista section of the resort. They winter in Titusville, FL, at The Great Outdoors, where they own a site. We are going up the road to Franklin to an Italian eatery we really like. We’ll report on that next time.

That’s about all the news for right now. So until next time….