walters family blog

Well, its just Walters' family stuff. That's about it, for that's its sole purpose.

Name:
Location: Bellville, Texas, United States

Husband, dad, grandfather, brother, entrepreneur, artist, writer, publisher, ad guy, teacher, musician, and dreaming of being a farmer.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Anniversary Trip...

I went fly fishing today but we were rained out. So, we spent our two hours tying knots, learning about leaders, tippets, rod weights, flies, etc. It was very beneficial. The river was beautiful, but the rain just got too intense. Mikki and I took a Lexus IS and went over to Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountain National Park. We saw some wild life and beautiful views.
The Hesse River...
Fly fishing shop
Spa cat being petted by Mik
Farm sheep
Wild Turkey in Cades Cove
Good close-up of a turnkey walking along the road. Way too tame.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Galen and Mikki celebrate 34 years

After reading about Blackberry Farm for years, we decided that it was time to check it out. Starting with the terrain, it is fabulous. After all, it is just a few miles from the park entrance to Smokey Mountains National Park. The weather is a bit damp and overcast, but that has made it okay to relax and rest for a couple days. Plan to fly fish tomorrow and take a Lexus (furnished as part of your stay here) ride up the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is quite the place. Words fall very short of the beauty, service and fabulous places to stay, rejuvenate, rest, and dine.
Now this is a celebration! On the veranda looking out over the mountains.
While we were awaiting a cup of hot apple cider, this fellow decided to put on a show by hanging with his feet wrapped around a limb while he dined on a nut.
The most famous shot of Blackberry Farm. Rockers are everywhere.
The pier and boat house on Walland Pond.
The cheese girls...
Tables for dining out on the lawn.
Everywhere you turn, there is another beautifully managed sight.
Yallerhammer pavilion from the upper trail.
One of the cart path bridges looking onto a fabulous mountain view.
The Garden Shed.
Wagon and rockers next to the garden.
Hanging on our door. Could not have been more of a sign from God:-) Really, it was a quiet reminder that we are blessed with a fabulous farm of our own idly awaiting our return.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Blackberry Farm for our 34th Anniversary

Mikki and I are celebrating our 34th Anniversary, (well, actually our 35th if you count the year it took her to convince me to marry her... Not really) at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee. Wow! What a fabulous place to celebrate our anniversary. We've had the pleasure of seeing a lot of places in our lives, but this is probably as well done as anything we've experienced. And, it's a farm, which is near and dear to our hearts. Although it was raining today (which was perfect), we saw beautiful sights. Here are just a few. More to come.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Grandkids...

Miscellaneous photos of the grandkids as they grow up...
Jack and Grey on Galveston Beach with MikMik and Molly last week.
Jack, Grey and Molly
Brody and PapaG work on the Prep-Kitchen at the farm. It was a job for a hard-hat.
Brody, Jack and Caroline at church.

Grand Daughters...

After Larry's funeral, the family gathered in Walters' fashion to eat a meal. I was able to capture this photo as the grand daughters (almost all) got together.
C

All great things come with a price:-)

We had just passing Clines Corner on I40 yesterday morning when I saw a large piece of tire pass me on the driver's side of my truck. Shortly afterwards I saw a cloud of debris coming from the rear passenger side of the trailer. Yep. Shredded it! Oh well, it was 55 degrees and windy. Very nice shoulder of the road to work and all the right tools. What more could I ask for? Oh yeah, a generator, compressor and an impact wrench:-)

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Picking up the trailer in Pagosa Springs...

Mikki and I made a run back to Pagosa Springs Colorado to pick up our trailer that we left there in July. We couldn't help but take a short diversion by Santa Fe, NM, as well as drive the mountain roads around Pagosa Springs. Over 100 miles on rock roads today.... I don't know that it could be prettier anywhere in the world. We caught the color changes perfectly. Enjoy!
Iglesia De San Juan church built in 1926. About 25 miles Southeast of Pagosa Springs on the Ute Tribal land.
We drove down South of Pagosa on the Ute Tribal land and came up on a ghost town. Literally abandoned and wasting away. There is a railroad track and this one Rio Grande car, a rotted water tank and several old rotting houses and store buildings. The church at the top is the only restored and maintained building in the place. Sad to see. There isn't a sign or anything to tell you what you are looking at. Very interesting!
An old farm house in the meadow. In the back of the house was a stall for their cows and chickens during the winter.
We turned a curve and off to our right was this amazing view.
Looking up...
Looking out...
Looking in...
We caught the color changes and a cold-front perfectly. The blue skies were amazing.
Wow! Probably overused that word today.
Several mule deer watching us watching them.
On highway 285 South of Chama NM, as the sun was setting this evening, I saw the moon and this mountain off to my left. Not the best photo unless you click on it and see the colors in the mountain. I like this.