Dollywood's Harvest Festival Begins

Friday, Sept. 23, was the first day of the  Harvest Festival.  We were blessed with perfect weather for our visit. The Kingdom Heirs sounded good, with the pianist stepping up to sing in the quartet now that Arthur Rice is gone. They actually blend a bit better now.

This 1900+ lb. pumpkin came from PA!

Our jackets felt good first thing in the morning, and in the shade later in the day too.

Pumpkins everywhere - some real, some just decorative.

One of the craft booths had beautiful wreaths for sale.

White pumpkins seems to be IN - I wonder how they taste.

Glory Way - they sang nicely together.

This family was excellent - minus their brother who moved away to be near his girlfriend 6 weeks ago.

The girls are 21, 18 and 16 and are very talented.  Their dad is on the bass.  

 

Gibbs Gardens Zinnias and Cosmos Steal the Show

The fields of cosmos and zinnias were so cool!

The butterflies loved the zinnias.

Motoring through the rose gardens

Leaving the gardens

We like Pueblo Cantina in Jasper - Mom had a veggie quesadilla that she enjoyed.

I loved my veggie enchiladas.

Randy didn't make a good choice - it was rather bland.  He knows for next time.  
We all brought food home for another meal.

 

The Long-Awaited Repaired Driveway

Since last June when we hired Caldwell Paving, we've been waiting for them to come and re-pave our crumbling, sorry-looking driveway (pictured above) with 2.5 inches of asphalt.  Randy called them time and time again throughout the months we were home, and finally told them not to come last fall since it was too cold in November for it to hold well.  We came home from Ryan's after a quick weekend visit the end of March because they told us they'd be coming in April.  Then all this spring, we kept getting put off due to equipment mal-functions, rain, etc. etc., but finally they said they planned to get it done in August.  

It was so exciting when they finally showed up Aug. 23 to start prepping it.  

They cut a nice clean edge they would put the pavement up against all along the drive. 

They spent two days digging up crumbling asphalt and carrying it away, and then putting down "pug" that they would pave on top of where they'd removed asphalt.   They said the paving team would come about a week later.  

Then the rains came, and we saw a problem with the grade and run-off, and we also couldn't get our boat or motor home out without scraping badly. So they came back and spent two more days correcting the grade, which meant tearing up more old asphalt . . .

. . . and scraping off a lot of dirt at the "crown" of the driveway to reduce the slope. 

They dug up more asphalt and put down about 4 inches of CTB (cement treated base) to pave on top of.

The paving team of 10 guys with four dump trucks of asphalt, the paver, roller, and other equipment, showed up on our anniversary, Sept. 14. I was soooooo excited - at last, our driveway would get finished!  

What a show they put on.  We 3 all enjoyed watching it all happen from our ring-side seats outside.

Shoveling the hot asphalt looked like back-breaking labor.  The guys worked so hard.

The lower area - done!

Attacking the front circle drive - it went fast.

The asphalt is 500 to 1000 degrees and was sure putting out the heat.  I asked one guy if he felt the heat through his shoes cause they walk on it pretty soon after it's down.  He had on nice workboots so didn't feel it he said.

Filling up the paver for the last time.  Almost full circle!

 I wonder if they usually have such a faithful audience.

This guy had the job I'd want on the team - pressing it down and smoothing it out.

Spreading the asphalt right up to the existing road to finish the job.   

Sweet!  Imagine the basketball games down there now, eh?

We're so pleased with the finished product! And I'll be more pleased when we can drive on it and get the boat out of the garage below. . .

    Can't help but think about the long-awaited second coming of Jesus and how beautiful His face will be, and then imagine what heaven will be like - so worth the wait. 

Of course, we're not walking or driving on it yet.  I sure hope it will hold up under our use once we do.  It's not the kind of "anniversary gift" we can afford again!