So for a little over a month, my Kentucky Wildcat and I have been hanging out every weekend — and sporadic weekdays — spending a lot of time together and having a blast. Last weekend, however, we had to skip our normal routine due to the craziness of every day life; I was hard at work until Sunday afternoon with a large-scale server consolidation, and couldn’t quit babysitting it all long enough to have any semblance of “normal.”
When I finished late Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Since next weekend is Labor Day weekend, whatcha feel like doing for a week? I mean, I have to work, still, but we’ll have plenty of time to spend together if ya wanna…”
Fortunately, she’s as spontaneous as I am…
Without complaint, she sat idly by with me the entire week as I answered phones, fixed remote servers and did some on-sites. The on-sites were the best: she chatted with customers while I fixed their problems, which took a lot of pressure off of me as I tried to get things done quickly yet precisely.
Tuesday, for instance, a customer asked her if she liked baseball and handed her two tickets the next-to-the-last Smokie’s game. We had a blast, neither of us having been to see a baseball game in years.
Of course, the opposition team, the Chattanooga Lookouts, totally sucked. Their fast pitcher had his speed down pat, but just couldn’t hit a strike-zone. The most amusing part of the game came when said Lookouts pitcher messed up during Colvin’s bat in the second inning… He hit the catcher square in the nuts at full speed:
The next pitch, Colvin had to jump out of the way to keep from being hit, himself. The catcher was a little more reluctant to rely on his cup against his teammate’s 90mph onslaught:
After three Balls, two fouls and no strikes, Colvin finally knocked a good midfield, but was taken out at first base.
Thursday, after a Blount County onsite, we ended up heading to Cades Cove. “I’ve never seen a wild bear!” she told me.
“Oh, don’t worry — I’ll find ya one!” I assured her. I wondered whether or not I’d overpromised, because quite honestly, seeing a bear around here is a special treat. Still, I kept in mind that I’ve been lucky as far as bear sightings go, even managing to catch photos of them during the snowy mid-winter when everyone tells me, “They’re hibernating now!”
The heavy afternoon rain didn’t let up until we were halfway through the park, but we still managed to see plenty of foraging wildlife.
She was amazed at the size of the wild turkeys here:
But the best was yet to come.
Just before the turn-off to go to the old Abram’s Falls trail, there were two bucks hidden in the high grass to our left, unafraid even as close as fifteen feet away:
This 10-pointer probably would’ve field-dressed at around 150 pounds —a prize deer for Cades Cove. More amazing is that even at the end of August, he hadn’t bothered to rub the velvet from his antlers — nor had his much smaller friend, an 80-pound spike.
We turned into the road to the Abram’s Falls trail, and noticed tons of butterfles stealing nectar from the local foliage:
We continued around the loop, walked through the old town (the mill was open!), and spotted a young doe just behind the General Store. She seemed relatively uninterested in the people milling about, even as she stretched to eat the tender leaves of the rain-soaked maple above her.
As we left, we noticed another large group of deer in the field behind the restrooms. They were impossible to count, as some would lie down as others stood up to graze.
Continuing towards the park exit, past the homesteads, I pulled to the right and asked her to take a look to her right. Amazed, she turned to see a teenaged bear walking directly towards the car:
The photo was taken as he rounded a log, less then six feet from our open window. He continued towards the car, turning around the front and walking to the other side of the road. We watched him for nearly fifteen minutes as he foraged. Really cool. :-)
Finally, only a few hundred feet from the park exit, we had to stop for the wild turkeys in the road… Six of the largest wild turkeys I’ve ever seen, and I’ve definitely seen some whoppers over the years. But these — my God! — were taller than the front of the car, and flapped their wings in disgust as we pulled close.
Finally, they walked to the right, out of our way. Just before I was able to pull past them, they darted quickly back across the road into the forest to our left. From only a few feet away, we watched and photographed them. Note their size compared to the fifty-foot trees next to them — we’re talking monster turkeys:
Sunday night, we just had to go to Boomsday, especially given that I found us an unobstructed vantage point on the Calhoun’s balcony. Nothing better than up-close-and-personal, ya know?
Just before they started, I told her these were for her:
[ Awww, isn't that sweet? Thpft! 
]
Later Sunday night, we went to watch a band and met up with a few more friends. (We hung out with several through the week, and had a great time.)
On Monday, we reluctantly took the trip to take her back home.
We stopped at the old Frostee Freeze Drive-In in Tazewell for lunch. Hadn’t been there in maybe twenty-five years, and place is just as good as ever!
When we got to Cumberland Gap, I thought, “Hey, wanna go hike through Cudjo’s Cave?” Unfortunately, after we hiked nearly a mile through the nasty, post-rain heat and humidity, we found that that cave had been closed to the public for some time and renamed “Gap Cave.” Fortunately, we were able to stand at the lower entrance to cool off. The strong wind rushing out of the cave mouth stayed around 55 degrees — nothing beats natural air-conditioning!
Along the trail, we found several fossils in iron-laden limestone, several large pieces of chert, obsidian and flint, and a couple bits of micah & quartz encrusted pumice. Discounting the limestone, it actually seemed a bit odd to find volcanic rocks up there, but they definitely made us smile. 
As we left, we drove through the town of Cumberland Gap. It’s funny how we’d both grown up so close to it all of our lives, and never been. It’s an idyllic small town.
Although the layout is a bit more “general store” than “pharmacy,” Fuson’s Drug Store, started in 1921, still exists in all its Ice-Cream-and-Soda-Shop glory. Want a Chocolate Coke or a Strawberry Malt? Head on up… Good stuff. 
We spent the rest of yesterday driving around through history, enjoying our last bit of time together before next weekend. We visited the place where she grew up, and talked back and forth about different things we enjoyed when we were kids.
It was a hard ride back to Knoxville without her.
I woke this morning missing the Hell out of her, so after a while, I gave her a call. ”Hey, how about this weekend, I pick ya up on Thursday, instead?” I asked.
“How about Wednesday?” she laughed.
“Hmmm… Tuesday?”
“Why don’t ya just come up now?”
Life is good.
We both realize that there’s not a damn thing wrong with being impulsive, spontaneous, opening up and enjoying what life has to offer. Seriously … what’s the point of growing up if you can’t enjoy it?
Oh yeah … The best Labor Day ever.
