Neilans

Par Three Golf

Just for the record - (no pix due to brutally hot, humid conditions which resulted in no one wanting to hold still one minute longer) - Sunil and I played par three golf twice recently. He had at least a couple of fours ... and I had one three. We both loved it, even if we were draggin' a by the end of six or seven holes!

Spruce Flats Falls Hike in the Smokies

This new-to-us trail is well marked and well maintained. It is not on the Smoky Mountain trails list because it is actually on the property of Tremont Institute.

It is rocky enough to be challenging, but is still very do-able.

Sunil stops at a high overlook to enjoy the view.

Spruce Flats Falls Trail

Sunil scraped his knee, and fixed it himself with his red bandanna. Grammylyn was right about always taking a bandanna!

Success! He made it to Spruce Flats Falls and they were awesome!

The carved log made handy steps for both climbing and descending.

Safari

Look for this design in a jigsaw puzzle coming soon to a Christmas present near you!

The water buffalo were right where they should have been: in the water. However, they soon hauled out and came up to our wagon to be fed. One of them licked Sunil's hand, as did one of the American bison, too, later. Slobbery, and AWESOME!

Briarwood Safari Part 1

Thw young bighorn sheep came right up into the wagon. While he was there, he scraped his horn against Sunil's arm, then (gently) headbutted him. Pretty exciting stuff.

Sunil fed the young elk directly from his outstretched hand.

The zebra got into the wagon as far as he could. He nipped a couple of people, but only adults and they were only startled, not hurt.

The male elk had large antlers covered in velvet. We got to touch them, and they were sooo soft. Actually, Sunil "head wrestled" him when he got too greedy and began gobbling the feed too fast. Quote: "He's really strong!"

The buffalo were shedding and shaggy, but still huge.

Briarwood Safari in Tennessee

Sunil feeding the beautiful little alpaca from the feed bucket while the Llama waits her turn.

Appropriate sign!

Yes, the Buffalo came right up and stuck out his tongue so we could drop the dry feed right onto it. Note said tongue is BLUE!

This emu was behind a fence, but others roamed freely.

Sunil and John are ready to hit the links at Kahite Golf course!

Grammylyn and Sunil ready for church.

Sunil looked great in his Sunday suit, white shirt and tie! (And so did GrampaJohn)

GrampaJohn and Sunil made a rough-sawn wren house for our deck.

Sunil loves to read his Mom's Kindle ... and does so for hours.

Spruce Flats Falls, Safari

Just an update: Yesterday Sunil and I went to the Briarwood Ranch Safari near Morristown, TN. It was awesome.

Today we took a new hike ... to Spruce Flats Falls, also awesome. It was a mildly strenuous but not very long (1 mile each way) hike to a tall falls with lots of smaller cascades and quiet pools where we could get wet on a brutally hot day. We both agreed it's our new most favorite hike. It's on the way to Cades Cove, but much closer - way before the traffic starts to back up, which is always a plus.

Pix to be added soon (if the boy ever goes to sleep before I do.) He's been good about going to bed around 9 PM, but lately so have I! Where he gets that energy, I don't know ... but if I could just get him to share, we'd be great.

Summer time and Grandkids

John, Sheela and Sunil out to dinner at the Yacht Club.

Sheela's championship award ... first place in her age group (against 10 other girls!)

Sunil and Sheela pick up their awards.

Sheela and GJ

Sheela has been playing golf (nine holes) with her GrampaJohn just like a grownup! Here they are at Tanasi course in Tellico Village.

Sheela and I attended a couple of Diversity of Life in America lectures this week in the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center outside Gatlinburg.

We learned about a rare spider that lives only above 5500 feet, in a particular kind of moss covering north facing rocks in spruce-fir forests. Interesting spider, booooring speaker.

Yesterday we heard an interesting speaker (Dr. Ernest Bernard) on the subject of "springtails" which are sort of arachnids (Collembola, to be specific) ... and among the most plentiful life forms on the planet. Who knew? They are tiny, but not microscopic, and we found a bunch of them in the leaf litter on the forest floor. They are EVERYWHERE.

High note: Sheela captured (sucked up in an aspirator) one of the rarest of them all ... only the eighth one ever captured ... and only the third in the Smokies.

Then ... Sheela and I were intereviewed by a photographer who was there doing a segment on the DLIA - Roger Herr, of HiDefSouth.

(Sheela would not let me use the photo of her being interviewed.) That's Zora, and Roger behind the camera, and Sheela kibbitzing behind them. We are in front of the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center. It was fun - after all, we got to talk about ourselves!