We are 5 weeks into our summer hiatus so I thought I would give you a quick update to let you know we are still around.
We are still in Knoxville and will be until the 25th of September. Here are some of the highlights of the past 5 weeks:
Knoxville Open golf tournament – This was our second time visiting this tournament, which is a stop on the Web.com tour. My nephew is friends with the president of the title sponsor so we get access to the hospitality areas which is very nice on a hot afternoon. We had a great time walking the course and watching the golfers.
Meeting pro golfer – Three days before the start of the golf tournament a motorhome pulled into the space next to us. That day the gentleman from the motorhome set up a golf net outside. I thought it was a little strange as I had never seen anyone do that at an RV park in the past. I saw him practicing and then leave with his clubs. It was the next day, when I learned the tournament was in town, that I thought maybe our neighbor was a participant. On Thursday, the first day of the tournament, I saw him outside and struck up a conversation. I was correct! His name is Jarrod Lyle and he is a PGA tour professional who is working on getting his golf game back on track after a fight with leukemia. He travels to events in his motorhome so that he can bring his family with him (wife and young daughter) and be more comfortable during the tournament. We had a great conversation over the next couple of days, as he did not make the cut to play on the weekend. Never know who you will meet “On the Road”!
Special events – we celebrated our YOUNGEST daughters 27th birthday!!!! and our 35 wedding anniversary this past month. We are actually going to properly celebrate our anniversary with a family trip to Hawaii on the 13th.
Knoxville Art Museum – we visited the art museum in town which was very nice. For me it was just the right size! It features works from Knoxville artists which is a nice touch. For me, the neatest exhibit was a rendering of the Mona Lisa made out of spools of thread that looked like the real painting when viewed threw a magnified ball placed in front of the work. Hard to explain but when you see it you sort of just stand there and say “how did the artist do that?” Here is a picture of it I found on Google:
NASCAR Bristol race – Many of you know that I am a NASCAR fan and that my nephew and I use to have season tickets for the Bristol races. For four years I would bring my trailer to Knoxville and meet up with my nephew and then go onto Bristol, Tennessee (about 90 miles north of Knoxville) where we would camp in the yard of a house near the Bristol track. We stopped in 2010 because the track had been changed and the racing was not as interesting plus we were living on the road and it was a little more difficult to get back to the area during the race weekends. So, during this trip I though it would be fun for my nephew and I to go to the mid-week truck race at the track. It is a shorter night race and not very crowded so it is easier to get in and get out. We parked our car at the house where we camped and caught up with the owners then went to the race. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we only got to see the opening race of modified cars and not the truck race, which was postponed to the next afternoon. We still had great time seeing the track and how much the area has changed since we first visited it 20 years ago.
Boomsday – Here in Knoxville there is big celebration on Labor Day weekend called Boomsday. The big event is the fireworks on the weekend. As we did last year we went to view the fireworks with my nephew and his family on their boat. It makes for a great viewing, from the water, and it is less crowded to get there and get out via boat. This year the fireworks were cut a little short as a thunderstorm arrived just towards the end. The storm was not much of an issue and we were able to safely drive the boat back to the marina.
Next up is our Hawaii trip and then we leave to begin our trip to the west coast.
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