Keeping Up With The Cohens

My Day At The Biltmore

I drove to Asheville, NC for two reasons today. Number one was to bring Bradley some clean clothes and resupply him with food and movies. Number two was to finally use a free ticket to the Biltmore that my friend Laura (who works there) gave me.

Wow.

First of all, the grounds are extensive. I think the most interesting thing I took away from today was that George Vanderbilt was influential in introducing forestry to the United States. You go in the front gate and drive, and drive, and drive. Through incredibly gorgeous woodlands and fields. Then you park. Then you walk (or take the tram). And then you see THIS...

Yes. It's humongous. 43 bathrooms alone. That's the most fascinating and fun statistic I took away from today. During a time when there was little to no indoor plumbing in households (1895), the Biltmore House had FORTY THREE. But alas, none that visitors could use in the house itself. I had to trek to the stables, which have been converted into cafes and gift shops. It was fascinating to imagine horses clopping around the area though.

One of the reasons today was such a good time to go was that the Flower Carpet is on display through the end of August. I had wanted to go last year to see it, but wasn't able to. That's part of the flower carpet in the first picture in this post, behind me. It was GORGEOUS. Here are a few shots of the carpet, which was designed after the fleur-de-lis pattern in some of the Biltmore architecture:

Look at me, getting all artsy with the stone architecture from the veranda!

Taken from ground level:

You can really see the design from the Louis XV suite they just opened in the house. Photography wasn't allowed inside, but I snuck this with my camera phone through one of the open windows (note the screen):

Here are more images from the gardens. Captions are above the photos.

I think the pink flowers are mandevilla. I just liked the way they looked against the stone work:

The rose garden was past its prime, but it still smelled good. Alas, as impressive as it was, I am still partial to the rose garden at the Huntington:

I didn't go in the observatory because I'm not into tropicals that much, but the building was gorgeous:

I preferred the small gardens outside the observatory. They were full of honey bees, butterflies, and humming birds:

Outside the garden shop I noticed how they had these huge pots buried in the hillside. I love the structural effect it gives, like you are at the site of an achaeological dig:

Espaliered pear trees. Wow! I love this and want to do something like it in our garden too:

As I was walking out of the garden, this view caught my eye. The mansion is in the background, but between it and me are lovely water gardens. I didn't wander over that way, but I kind of wish I had.

I couldn't photograph any of the interior details, but I did snap a few of the exterior architecture.

The sculpted stone was amazing:

On the inside of this rather ornate outer shell was a circular grand staircase with the most massive iron chandelier I've ever seen (4 stories tall!):

Gargoyles! (Just for you, Pammie...)

And last but not least, this guys and his buddies saw me out:

It was an amazing day. If you find yourself in the Asheville area, I recommend a stop. It is breathtaking!

Still Trucking

On Saturday, we drove from Eastern Pennsylvania to Columbus Ohio to La Follette. Spent the night at home, then took off again last night for Atlanta. We have two deliveries in Atlanta, then we're off to Birmingham for our last stop. If we can get a load north, we will, otherwise, we are deadheading home.

"Deadheading." I love trucker lingo. Deadheading is when you drive somewhere with no freight on your trailer. "Bob-tailing" is when you are driving the tractor with no trailer attached. "Throwing iron" is putting chains on your tires in icy weather. "Lumpers" are freelancers or contract services who unload your truck for a fee.

And I'm learning all kinds of stuff going down the road with Bradley!

• Even it you're on time to your pickup/delivery, there's no guarantee they're going to process you on time, and if they make you late to your next pickup/delivery, they just don't give a crap.
• Truck stops look the same EVERYWHERE. Some ARE cleaner than others, though.
• I can now check the oil in a big rig.
• I can get in and out of the truck without killing myself or huffing and puffing.
• I can't clean truck windows worth a crap.
• I can turn on the refer (refridgerator module for the trailer) and set the temperature.
• I can check the level of the refer fuel.
• Cars and trucks like to play games with truckers. And they're not funny games.
• A single bed in a truck makes a cozy sleeping place even though we do have to sleep head to toe.
• Bradley is VERY good at his job.
• I adore being on the road with Bradley!

And as promised, here are some pictures from the road...

This is what I see from my camp chair, going down the road. I've been knitting a lot, and have started knitting a bunch of baby caps that I hope to sell on Etsy. One of the comments I got on the blog a while back suggested I sell them there, so I'm going to try it!

In this one part of PA, we had a very steep descent down into the valley. Had to crawl it at about 15 MPH. But it sure was pretty, even though it was overcast and foggy.

The picture below is of Hopwood, PA, and it was sure quaint...

And that's the update as of this morning. More later!

Tuesday in Florida

As I posted yesterday, Tuesday morning started out with breakfast with Pammie. After that, I drove down A1A, which, for those of you not in the know, is the street that parallels the beach along the coast. That is, when you can SEE the beach. There's so much development now that mostly what you see are well-manicured grounds and condos. Sad. But I did tootle on up to Lake Worth Beach to look around. Since Pam and I opted for bagels, I did not get my cinnamon nut French toast from John G's. Sigh. But that's okay, the bagel was worth it.

I took a swing by the Lake Worth Beach, then headed into Downtown Lake Worth to go shopping and visit the playhouse where I used to volunteer. Sad to say, the economy has hit this area hard, and many shops were closed, including one of my favorites, Key West Crossing. However, I was very happy to see that my friend Andy's shop, Studio 205, was still open. Yay! I purchased a few things, as I always try to do, to support my friend's business.

The above is a picture of my beloved Lake Worth Playhouse. I spent many a fine hour there, working on all sorts of plays and musicals. From running lights to stage managing, I did just about every tech position there is for plays such as Evita, Noises Off!, The Taffetas, and Mr. Roberts. I made many good friends, one of whom is Jodie, who now runs the playhouse. I surprised her in her office and we sat and chatted for a while. They are weathering the economic storm pretty well for now, in part due to innovative changes like turning the small black-box theatre attached to the main playhouse into an independent movie house, as well as opening the stage for alternative events such as opera, ballet and music acts. If you are in town this weekend, the Playhouse will be home to a local drag show! Man, I wish I could be there for that!

I said goodbye to Jodie and headed into Lantana to visit and have lunch with my Uncle Tommy. I stopped at Publix (ah, Publix, I miss thee so!) to pick up our lunch: roast chicken, redkin potato salad, rolls, and green salad, with fresh watermelon for dessert. It was wonderful to see my uncle! He's as feisty as ever, and doing pretty well, despite the stock market crash.

He has an aide, Muriel, who comes a couple of times a week to help him out. She'll go to the grocery store for him, clean a little, take out the trash... odd jobs really. But she can't take a picture for crap! LOL! She took three photos, and the above was the best of the bunch. So I took matters into my own hands and did a self-portrait of me and Uncle Tommy...

For those of you who don't know, my uncle has had muscular dystrophy for most of his life, but, he is the quintessential fighter, and has never let it beat him. He lives in his own house, takes care of all his own investments and bills and business matters. He paints, plays guitar, plays wheelchair rugby, bowls, and has even started writing. He's dabbled in architecture/drafting and sculpture. He designed and built a ramp for wheelchair-bound people so they can bowl. Not to mention photography! I credit him with my photographer's eye. I'm absolutely certain that I inherited that from him. I don't talk to him nearly enough, but I hope he knows he is my hero. I love you Uncle Tommy!

We had a really great time catching up during lunch. He then took me on a tour of his yard, which he has xeriscaped and has let develop into a natural Florida scrub landscape. It's really gorgeous! The photo below does not do it justice. My grandfather was an awesome gardener, so obviously Uncle Tommy got the green thumb there. Uncle Tommy has put pavers down all around his house in a path that he can traverse in his wheelchair, and he proudly pointed out specific plants, where they came from, what they were named. I loved every minute! He is so proud.

After lunch with Uncle Tommy, I had some time to head to Downtown Delray Beach. I was waiting to hear from Bradley about the possibility of us getting a load out of Florida that evening. I hit Atlantic Avenue in Delray and just walked around for a while. I was hoping for more shopping opportunities, but Atlantic has turned into a smorgasbord of restaurants and cafes. I wasn't hungry, but I did stop in at a Starbucks.

You see, the woman who hired me at the Starbucks in Knoxville had come from South Florida. Weird coincidence, huh? But really cool! She used to work at Starbucks at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, as well as one of the Starbucks on Atlantic Avenue. Well, I just happened to pick the right Starbucks to wander into! I met her old co-workers and even snapped a photo of them to give her when I get back to Knoxville and start my new job.

I do love the architecture in Delray though, and I snapped this photo of the Colony Hotel. I wish I had had the chance to stay there. Maybe next visit...

About this time, I heard from Bradley that we did indeed have a load that he had to begin picking up that night. He had a pickup in western Delray and one in Boca. So I called Pammie and hung out with her until Bradley was up in Delray, at which point, I met him at the shipper's (it was a load of peppers this time) to deliver him some supplies. Since I had my mom's car, and since Bradley had one more pickup in Immokalee on the west coast, I drove back to mom and George's in Okeechobee to spend the night.

Wednesday morning, Bradley picked up his final shipment and headed north. Since he was headed through the center of the state, mom, George and I drove from Okeechobee and met him in Lake Placid, FL. I did a grocery stop so we had fresh supplies, then we loaded up the truck, took a quick photo op of the fam, and began our journey north. We have to deliver Friday morning in Denver, Pennsylvania. At the moment, we are getting ready to start our day after spending the night on the South/North Carolina border at a Flying J truck stop. We go through D.C. today, and I'm excited. Even though we'll only be on the interstate, I think I will still be able to see monuments. I'll try to take pictures and see how they come out. More later...

Monday in Florida

I need to back-post a bit because so much has happened over the past few days. I will divide the pics and posts in two, for Monday and Tuesday. It's Wednesday as I write this, and I'm back on the road with Bradley. Again, lots of pics, so I will caption under the photos...

Monday started with the drive from Okeechobee, where my mom lives, to Wellington, where Holly manages a feed store by the polo grounds. She has earned quite the reputation among professional horsepeople for really knowing her stuff about what to feed and how to take care of these multimillion-dollar steeds. I am so proud of her! Here we are at lunch. We had wraps and smoothies from Nature's Pantry Cafe. Yummy! 

Here's Holly and her gorgeous horse, Gucci. I took a bunch of pics, so here they are...

Here's Holly and her dog Roxie. If I could have a dog, it would be Roxie. She's the BEST DAMN DOG. EVER. She's going on 13 now, and she's so darn cute. She snuggled up to me for the whole ride from the feed store to the cafe where we had lunch.

 

Monday afternoon, I went to see my good friend Joan at her place in Delray. She and her significant other, Domenick, have lived in this condo for a year, and they've fixed it up beautifully. Joanie made coffee and had some delish cookies from a local bakery. We chatted and caught up for a few hours. Isn't it amazing when you are good friends with someone, it doesn't matter how much time has passed, you just pick up where you left off? Joan has been such a good friend to me for such a long time. We used to work together ages ago, and just kept up the friendship after we had both moved on. She is my confidante, my breakfast buddy, and my craft show comrade. I love you Miss Joan!

Here's Joan and her wonderful Domenick.

 

Monday evening, I headed over to Pammie's new apartment in Boca. She just moved (nice how I arrived just a week too late to help with THAT!) into a larger apartment through her same landlady, just a block away from her old place. The new digs are really cute, and I can't wait to see how she fixes everything up. She has such a talent for decorating. I've called her the Martha Stewart of our family, and she inspires me so. Here we are at breakfast on Tuesday morning, at Palm Beach Bagels, her favorite bagel joint. We had stayed up too late on Monday, watching the movie "Twilight" on DVD. We had a really good time just hanging out. I am truly blessed to have not just one, but two wonderful sisters.

 

I had to take a photo of these way-cool lights in the bagel place. Aren't they the coolest?

Well, that was my Monday/Tuesday early morning. It was chock full of great conversations, re-connections, and sunshine and WARMTH. The weather couldn't have been better... high 60s to low 70s, cooling off to the high 50s at night. I saw both sisters, a good friend, and even got a REAL bagel. In BOCA. (They don't have real bagels in Knoxville... at least not as far as I have seen... correct me if I'm wrong someone.) More later about my Tuesday...

Okeechobee, FL with My Mom

 

It's Sunday evening, and I'm relaxing at my mom and George's house in Okeechobee. It's so wonderful to be here. It's been three years since I've visited Florida, and although I'm only here for a few days, they will be quality days.

Today was warm and sunny. Bliss after so many cold and gray days in East Tennessee. Although, if Bradley gets a load from here to Fargo, I'm going to really see how the other half lives, as it's still full-on winter there. I do really want to see Fargo though. It was home to Bradley for many years, and our friends Frankie and Larry live there still. It's the base of operations for the trucking company Bradley works through (FAME, owned by Frankie).

Driving from Sarasota (where Bradley has to deliver at 4:30 in the morning) to Okeechobee was like going back in time. It's still the same flat scrub and sand, cows and palmetto palms. I saw a dead armadillo, a great blue heron, and a gorgeous osprey. No gators, but maybe it's too early in the season for them to come out.

I took a shower first thing upon getting here, because the last shower was two days ago, at a truck stop. I was sweaty and gross, but after the shower, it felt wonderful to go outside and stand in the sun on Mom and George's dock. They live on one of the many canals around the Lake Okeechobee area. As I stood there, a mama duck and her single duckling swam by. There was a lovely cool breeze, and all was quiet. Mom, George and I had subs for dinner, and had a great time catching up. Honestly, it's just so great to be in the same room with them, enjoying each other's company. What a wonderful homecoming.

Tomorrow, I'm headed to West Palm Beach, where I'll visit Holly at her job, grab a coffee with my good friend Joan, and have dinner with Pam and possibly Holly. I'm spending the night at Pammie's new apartment, then on Tuesday, I want to head over to Lake Worth Beach and breakfast at John G's (a mainstay for all South Floridians -- cinnamon nut French toast!), then, pick up lunch at Publix and head over to visit my Uncle Tommy. Bradley's last delivery is on Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully by then we'll know where our next load will be coming from. If not, our Florida stay will be extended for a little bit. More later!

Live, from Florida!

So, Bradley was able to get a load down to Miami, which means that tomorrow, I will be seeing my family! My mom and Pam are going to pick me up in Sarasota, where Bradley's first delivery is. He will go on to his other deliveries, including three down in Miami, finishing up Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully, he'll get another load out of there so we won't have much down time. However, I'm selfishly hoping we have just one day for me to show him my old hometown.

I'll try to take lots of pictures!

We have seen a lot of gorgeous country, including beautiful back roads in Arkansas and Alabama. It's spring, and it's busting out all over, especially Bama, where the dogwoods and redbuds are already in full swing. The farther south we got, the more green it got. I love it.

Tonight, we are at the Petro truck stop in Ocala. We'll get to Sarasota late tomorrow morning. I'm very excited, even though I will miss being in the truck with Bradley.

More later!

Walking 10 Feet Off Of Beale...

Bradley and I are on the road again, in Missouri today, but on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we were in Memphis. I took a bunch of photos, so I will just let them tell the story. Captions are BELOW the photos. I hope you enjoy this photoblog!!

We stayed in the Fairfield Suites outside Memphis, in Bartlett I believe it was called. Here's Bradley with Larry and Kristi, in our room Tuesday morning, as we prepared to head out to downtown Memphis. We arrived at the hotel late on Monday afternoon, got the rental car (Cadillac! Sweet ride!) and picked up Larry and Kristi from Graceland, where they had spent the day.

Here we are in front of our sweet ride, after breakfast at Bob Evans Restaurant. It was a gorgeous St. Patrick's Day, sunny and mild, in the 70s.

We decided to do a riverboat tour, and during our drive to the river front, we passed this cool building. It's called, simply, The Pyramid, and we learned that they built it for a basketball team, but I guess the team didn't like it or something, because it's basically abandoned now.

Here we are down at the Mississippi River. This is not the boat we went on, but it sure was cool!

This huge chain sunk into the cobblestones of the bank are called "dead men," because they are anchored into the dirt a full 6 feet. The cobbles were cool, too, although it was pretty funny that the riverboat tour directions mentioned how quaint it was to park on these "historic cobblestones." Yeah, quaint until you break your ankle walking on them!

Here's Larry and Kristi in front of our boat, the Island Queen.

Some detail pics of the boat.

Here are the boys, as we wait to shove off.

Bradley, checking out the bridges we went under.

You can see the Memphis skyline there, under the bridge.

Cool bridge details...

These folks were setting nets to catch fish.

Here's my handsome husband, enjoying the cruise.

Here's our reflection in the Mighty Mississippi's muddy water. We were perched at the prow of the boat. We had a blast on the cruise, and the guy who narrated the cruise was wonderful. Very interesting and informative. I recommend it if you visit Memphis.

Now, on to Beale Street!

Here's me and Kristi as we start our afternoon on Beale.

There are lots of cool signs and sights on Beale. Here are a few that caught my eye...

A rib joint. Serving big ass beer!

Here I am in front of Silky O'Sullivan's, getting ready to par-tay!

Here's all four of us. We met a very cool guy named Gino, who gave us some background on Beale's history and took this photo of us. Everyone we met in Memphis was really friendly and nice. We loved our time there! Oh, and I'm sure you've noticed our ties... Kristi got them at the dollar store in her hometown of Glendive, MT. We were the hit of Beale Street with those ties!!

We took a trolley ride around downtown and the riverfront, at sunset. What a great ride! Here we are on the trolley.

Enjoying the view from the trolley.

Sunset on the Mississippi.

We noticed this sign from the trolley, and lo and behold, auditions for "So You think You Can Dance" were happening in Memphis! We even saw a guy run out of the front doors waving his ticket to the Vegas auditions! Larry, Kristi and I are all fans, so we wandered up to the venue to see if we could find out anything about the auditions. We found two dancers who had to go back on Wednesday to dance again. I remember seeing this guy, Mark from NY, on the previous season. It was cool to see them, and I hope they go far in the competition!

Of course, we HAD to have BBQ ribs while we were there. We ate at the Blues City Cafe. YUM. Their slogan is "Put Some South in Your Mouth." Dang, I wish they had that printed on a t-shirt!

We stopped to listen to some blues music in this little alley way next to King's Palace Cafe. The band was awesome. There was terrific music on every street corner it seemed! Larry and Kristi really enjoyed it!

I have to say, we had a WONDERFUL time. Beale is a very cool place to party, and if you like blues music and BBQ, it's just the best. I'm so glad we went, and it was fun to be there on St. Patty's Day! More from the road later...

In the Home of the King

We are in Memphis with Larry and Kristi! Woo hoo! Bradley drove us in the truck, and it took us about 7 hours to get here. We are staying in a really cute hotel outside of Memphis. It was raining cats and dogs when we left Knoxville yesterday, but by the time we reached Memphis, it was bright and sunshiny and 70 degrees. Bliss! We rented a car and they upgraded us for free to a Caddy. Nothing like driving around the home of Elvis in a shiny new silver Cadillac. Larry and Kristi went to Graceland yesterday since Bradley and I were on the road. Today, we're planning on doing a riverboat tour and then hitting Beale Street for St. Patty's Day. It's sure to be rocking down there. I will try to take pictures. Have a great day!

Lexington On Ice

This past Saturday, I drove to Lexington to meet Bradley. He was on a load, and that's the closest he could get to Knoxville, so to resupply him with clean clothes and groceries, I decided to road trip it. It was a blast!

My good friend Jamie joined me for the ride:

Here we are in the snowy parking lot outside the Starbucks, where we stopped for a pit stop. Check out the ice from the storms they had last week:

It was gorgeous but treacherous. The interstate was fine, it was just when you got off of it that the roads turned slick. But we did fine. I'm pretty proud of my raised-in-Florida-spent-years-in-California self! I did okay, despite having my tentative driving get on Bradley's last nerve.

Here's my hubby, in 25-degree weather, in his usual outfit. Yes, he even wears this in 25 BELOW North Dakota weather.

It was a really fun day, full of beautiful, snow-covered sights. Kentucky is lovely, and I want to go back in the spring. Jamie and I want to go to the horse races when the season starts. Meanwhile, here's one last photo. You know how I love the snow in some ways. Here are my boot-clad feet standing in the powdery white stuff.

My Soggy Trip To Dollywood

On Saturday, I took a jaunt down to Pigeon Forge near the Smokies to take advantage of some free tickets to Dollywood that a friend of mine scored for me. I went by myself since everyone was busy with the pre-holiday countdown. I had fun! I love taking road trips, and this one was not far.

Dollywood was a heck of a lot bigger than I thought it would be! It was a soggy day, unfortunately, but at least it was kind of warm (about 58). I thought the park was gorgeous, and I'd love to go back some time when the weather was nicer. The good thing about the weather was that it was not crowded. They had decked the park out in millions of Christmas lights and wreaths. It was very festive.

I loved these honey bears!

I loved these birdhouses, and the wreaths and greenery were gorgeous.

Here's one of the area with the biggest rides. I want to come back on a not-so-yucky day and ride them.

I forget what this thing is called, but it's neat!

I want to join THIS union.

I wanted to ride the train, but number one, brrrrr, and number two, I wanted to go to a show at the same time.

All the trees in the park were lit. I love the way they did them... each tree had a different color attributed to it. Maybe next year Bradley and I can do that with some of our trees. That would be pretty.

Alas, I left before the lightst got into full swing. It really started coming down about 5PM, and people were swinging their umbrellas around with little regard to putting other people's eyes out. LOL! BUT, I did have a lovely time walking around the park and seeing the sights. Didn't see Dolly, but maybe next time!