Something we've never done before...

We've told you about our trip in earlier posts.  After driving more than 3,500 miles and being gone just a few hours short of three weeks, we arrived home safely last night about 6:30 pm.

On the last day of our trip, we did something we've never done before.  We went to Gatlinburg WITHOUT going to one of our cabins!  Both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out have guests staying there.  So we spent Thursday night in a hotel in Pigeon Forge, then met our wonderful local property managers, Bob and Ingrid.  We gave them a bunch of supplies - new pillows, mattress pads, soap, laundry detergent, brochures and other stuff.  We had a great visit with them, and they even let us take their picture!

After spending time with Bob and Ingrid and getting caught up on everything, we made several other stops on the way home.  We'll tell you about them in future posts.

But you have to know how strange it was to be in Gatlinburg and NOT go to All Decked Out or Smoky Mountain Tower!

"The heavens declare the SUPER glory..."

I know I promised to talk about Gatlinburg.  We're getting closer.  Instead of being in Texas, we're now in middle Tennessee ... and we should be going through Gatlinburg before the end of the week.

But I just have to digress for one more time.  In Psalm 19:1, the writer (David) wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork."  That was certainly true on Monday night, when the 'super moon' rose in the eastern sky.   We watched it from Marcia's back deck.  It first peeked through the trees, then rose in full splendor.  So I grabbed my camera and shot a couple of pictures - like this one.

I've always liked the moon, because it's a reminder of who we are.  We're not the brightest thing in the sky - that's the sun .  But our role in the universe is to reflect the light of the sun ('Son').  Sometimes, we're not very bright.  Other times, by God's grace, we get to be 'super moons,' too.

Think about it.