Happy Campers: Indian Boundary May 22, 2013

My favorite place to camp is Indian Boundary in the Smoky Mountains. I have been camping here since I was 2 years old. Whatever you are looking for in camp site this place has it including fishing, volleyball, picnic area, beach, hiking, kayaking, biking, lake and over 85 campsites with electric hookup. It is the best place to be in nature with still modern comforts of restrooms with warm showers along with a country store that has everything you need if you forget something. There is no cellphone reception and of course no WiFi for the “yippee” campers. If you are looking for spectacular mountain views, glimpses of wildlife, and a peaceful setting then you need to visit Indian Boundary.

They are open from April 19th through November. Gate opens at 6 AM and closes at 10 PM. They will lock you out but if this does happen to you, like it did to us, then you can set up camp in overflow for the night. It is $20/day per camp site. With the maximum of 5 people per site and 2 vehicles. You can make reservations online at www.recreation.gov

We stayed Friday-Monday and since there is not any cellphone reception we had no clue a frost was working its way to us. It was in the 20′s one night but we stayed nice and toasty in the pop up with the small space heater running. Along with 2 inches of rainfall on Saturday and the cold on Sunday we still had a great time. Below are some pictures from our trip.

Happy Campers: Defeated Creek Campground April 28, 2013

Last weekend, we took our new-to-us pop up camper to middle Tennessee to get away from it all. I reserved the campground on reserveamerica.com a few weeks prior hoping it would not rain us out again like it did a month earlier. Turned out to be a prefect weekend weather wise. The only downfall was the low at night got to be about 38 degrees. It was a bit chilly but we had a small space heater to help keep us warm and it did a great job plus we kept snuggled up near the  camp fire that was going all night. Once the sun came out and took the bitter chill off everything it turned into a bight warm day. We were able to go fishing on the lake and got to try out our blow up kayak for the first time. My mother-in-law got to join us one night and I think she enjoyed herself also. Hopefully this was just one of many camping trips to come this year.

Fun at the Zoo Weekend April 11, 2013

Over the weekend the husband and I enjoyed our day at the Knoxville Zoo. It is a prefect sunny 68 degree day, a great day to spend outdoors. Once the zoo closed, 6 pm, we were served a BBQ dinner under the white tent thanks to Elanco and Pettersons’ Vet Day at the zoo. This zoo is lacking in size in comparison to others, but it is decent and always improving. They are building on and will have some new attractions soon.  Here are a few photos I snapped along the way.

Project 365: Week 12 & 13 April 1, 2013

See the box in the upper left corner? My fish somehow found a way to jump in there.

We went to Camping World and now I know my retirement plans, RV baby

My two favorite men

I guess someones houseboat sunk in the river.

Snow in March, oh boy

Purchased a wooden Z and covered it in yarn and put some flowers and buttons on it. I love it!

 

Movie night

 

Movie Night, again

 

My sweet little guy

 

Made my spring wreaths

reupholstering my love seat

My owl book ends were wooden and I spray painted them white.

 

Painted one of my moms old birdhouses and hung it in the back yard

This is before

Hung my Z on the wall

Country Living March 28, 2013

Over the past weekend I went to visit my parent who live out country about an hour away from our home in the city. While I was there I decided to snap a few photos.

Good old Loudon, Tn; I miss growing up here. I love the simple life country living brings. You can’t get peace and quit like that living the city life but I like where I live now. Growing up in the country it was always a 40 minutes+ to go department store shopping and a 15 minute trip just to run to Wal-Mart. I love that I can ride my bike to Market Square, listen to the fireworks booming when the Vols score at the University of Tennessee and it is only 3 miles to Wal-Mart.

Knoxville maybe where I live now but Loudon will always be my home. I may not ever to move back home but dream home would be in the country. I want land more than anything. I do not need a huge fancy home; I could live in a 2 bedroom shack if I had at least 20 acres. I have been wanting backyard chickens for over 5 years now and I am sure my husband would love for me to drop this idea but I am stubborn. I just love animals of all kinds.

Maybe I will find some land outside of the city (not too far) and build my small ranch.  I girl can only wish.

Bird Watching In The City March 25, 2013

This is how I know I am getting older, I am writing a blog about watching and taking photos of birds in my backyard. I have been feeding and housing birds since I moved in our house however I did it more for the cats to watch them through the windows in the house but my indoor/outdoor cat tends to eat them.

The first picture is a Coopers Hawk that lives in my woods. He/she sits up the dogwood tree watching the small birds eat at the bird feeders and picks them off. Hey, it is a bird of prey. Below are a few of my better shoots of the birdies in my backyard.

Project 365: Weeks 10 and 11 March 19, 2013

Cajun Dinner Week

Had a light dusting early one morning

Um, no

Reddit Gift Exchange Scarfs: Homemade Harry Potter! I love it

My birthday present <3

Finally, finished.

Making my mom’s tablecloth and Mr. Mal is trying to help out

Crazy husky had a cat up the tree

Been wanting this for year finally broke down and got it

My fish sleeps on the filter. Scares me all the time

Waiting at the airport

Went into the husky’s cage and my husband locked him in. Sad puppy

Trying to sell our snake. I am not a fan

Red Beans and rice, yummy