OPRYLAND

We left Haleyville on April 26 and headed to Nashville, TN.

We stayed at Nashville Yogi Bear's Jellystone park on Music Valley Drive which is very close to Opryland.

I  t cost $20 to park at Opryland, but it is free if you eat at one of the restaurants.

 

We ate at Crusades. Had great crab bisque.

We then took the Delta Riverboat ride.

Interesting fact about the water in the river.

lot of water from PA

The boat ride wasn't very long but it was narrated with lots of fun facts about Opryland.

It is the largest convention center without a casino in the USA. Lots of beautiful plants inside and out, and they change many of the plants with each season.

Saturday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry which is beside Opryland.

A Minnie Pearl impersonator.

George Jones had died the day before so a lot of his music was sung and tributes were given to him.

The Grand Ole Opry is on the air, longest live radio show, commercials and all.  There were four 1/2 segments.

The Boxcars, won an award for the top instrumental group.

He had a great announcer voice and did the commercials.

Kristen Kelly, a new singer, fooling arond on stage with her sister after the show.

We took the backstage tour after the show.

 

The green room where the performers wait to go on stage. The rail on the left is how high the water came during the flood in 2011.

There are 18 dressing rooms each with a special name. This is  Roy Acuff's dressing room, the only one with a open door which is the way he aways had it.

Looking out at the auditorium from the stage. I think every seat was filled when we were there.

We got to stand on the circle. The circle is from the original stage, an honor for any performer to stand on it.

You are invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Each one has a plaque with their name on the wall.

The line up for the show we saw. It was a fun night.

EARTH DAY

 On Saturday, April 20, Larry and I went to Bankhead National Forest, which is a little east of Haleyville.

 We hiked trail 201 (left red line) we went a little past 209. It was about 3 miles long.

 I had heard about the Big Tree( largest tulip tree in Alabama) but I didn't see these directions to it till we were done our hike. If we had left in the morning , packed a lunch and made it a whole day hike I might make it to the tree.

 Larry taking a rest.

 Larry getting a twig out of his shoe.

 some of the trail was a little muddy.

 The first I remembered it was near Earth Day  when we came to 6 people (4 women and 2 men) clearing the trail of trees. They were using  hand saws to cut  the trees that are across the trail, no motorized tools allowed in a National forest!  There were a lot of down trees. A very big job.

 Little flowers on the trail.

 Larry gave me some roses after work on Monday. No special reason, just cause he loves me! What a romantic. The other guys were asking him what had he done.

 By the end of the week the roses were getting weak heads, so I cut them and put them in a bowl, it made a pretty arrangement.

 In the lot where our RV was parked petunias started popping up. There use to be  homes here last year, but they had been taken down.  I picked a few before we left so I brought a little of Haleyville with us.

MUDDING AND SANDING

 I'm not sure why but my pictures posted in a crazy order, so they are a little mixed up for this week. We were excited  on Tuesday afternoon when the electric company showed up about 3 o'clock and put the pole in.

 The men enjoyed watching how they were wiring the pole.

 Notice the clouds. They got it wired and we had power about 5 minutes before it  started raining heavily. God's timing?!!

 We had another birthday to celebrate on Thursday,

 so of course there was cake and strawberries at break.

 Janice is very appreciative of everyone that is helping to build her house. She gave Gary and Gwen a basket of goodies,

 and a basket to Joan and Gary since these couples are leaving this weekend.

 Friday night we were invited to the Christian Aid Ministries appreciation dinner for the new home owners, and the suppliers that have worked with them. They had slides of all the homes they have worked on.  Since this fall they have built 12 whole homes, framed one (where we are working), did 2 major repairs and 1 minor repair.  They had 348 volunteers from 19 states and Canada with a total of 29,000 man hours. What dedication!
 

 Phil was the coordinator of  Christian Aid Ministry and helps us with our needs and questions.

 Mike was our construction site coordinator the first week we were here and Eva is in charge of long term recovery in northwest Alabama.

 A Mennonite youth choir from Tennessee was the musical entertainment. Janice is in red.

 Saturday, April 13, Gwen and Gary arrived. they left on the 21 and are headed to disaster rebuild project in Minot, North Dakota which is to start on Monday. 

 Our team for the week from left to right was Fran, Gary and Joan, Arlin and Sue, Gary and Gwen and Larry and Dottie.

 A lot of mixing of mud was done.

 Fran did the ceiling corners all week, mudding and then sanding.

 The rest of us mudded walls and ceiling lines, sanded and mudded some more.

 

 Gary and Larry worked on getting the vent for the washer and dryer  installed.

A group picture with Janice. Even Holly, Janice's dog, who has taken a liking to Fran made the picture.