We're home!

Well, our week at Grandma and Grandpa's is over. Mom and Dad came back last night to bring Leia and I back home. We had a really good time. We had tons of things to explore and get into. I hope we weren't too much trouble.

We had lots of fun playing with Annie and Gracie too. They are Grandma and Grandpa's dogs. I hope I was able to adequately establish my dominance this time. Leia knows I'm the boss, but sometimes other dogs need to be politely told who's the Alpha Dog. That's me by the way.

We had lots of fun, but it's good to be home. Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Annie, and Gracie!

Holiday Road - Day 6 (end of the road)

We met back at the Vergne's house this morning to say our see-ya-laters before getting back on the road to Nashville.

From there, we wanted to see one last sight. The Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge is currently the largest cable-stayed bridge in the United States. It spans the Cooper River connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. Completed in 2005, it was built to replace the existing truss bridges that previously spanned the river. Ben and I, both being civil engineers, had this on our must see lists.

After spending some time admiring the bridge, we started the over 9 hour drive back home. It's incredible how much we packed into this week. We all had such a good time. Many thanks to Ben and Laura for doing so much to get this trip together, and to Matt, Paula, and Sophie for letting us take over there home for a few days.

P.S. Take a look back at some of the previous Holiday Road posts. Once back home, I noticed a few typos and corrected them. I also added a few links to give more information on some of the sites we were visiting. Thanks for tuning in!

Holiday Road - Day 5

We woke up this morning at the Ashley Inn in the historic district of Charleston. I've never stayed in a Bed and Breakfast before. It was quite nice. We were served a delicious breakfast out on the piazza (That's a porch, not a pie.) before heading out on our adventures for the day.

Our journey took us to the Fort Sumter National Monument. In April of 1861, after a long standoff, the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter which, in the eyes of the recently secceeded South Carolinians, had been occupied by Major Robert Anderson's Union troops. General P.G.T Beauregard gave the order to fire upon his former teacher rather than permit a U.S. Navy ship from resupplying the starving federals in the fort. It was another hot day, but we enjoyed visiting this part of our history.

Next, we did our shopping at the market in the downtown shopping district. We played with the idea of buying some of the handmade sweetgrass baskets I mentioned in a previous post. I had never heard of these before coming to Charleston. They are a tradition passed down as part of the Gullah culture. Gullah is the culture decended from the original enslaved West Africans that worked the rice plantations in this area. They are very nice baskets, but are really expensive. I think the problem is that I just don't have the appropriate appriciation of baskets that would otherwise motivate me to lay down a big chunk of change for a basket. We all eventually found souveniers for the folks back home.

We ended the day by having dinner with our friends the Vergne's and hanging out at there home for a while. Tommorrow will have a little bit of sight seeing followed by the long drive home.

Holiday Road - Day 4

Tuesday morning found us at Middleton Place which is one of the larger plantations in the Charleston area. It sits along the Ashley River, and produced mainly rice as a cash crop using a large number of enslaved West Africans who were knowledgeable about the cultivation of rice. Middleton Place was one of several plantations that the Middleton family operated, and was the "family seat". The main house was burned early in the Civil War due to the family's prominent support of the seccession. We took a guided tour of the gardens, and one of the rice cultivation process and it's use of enslaved labor.

Later on that afternoon, we spent some time at Folly Beach. The water was by far the warmest ocean water that I have felt. We had a great time playing in the water and brushing up on our boogie-boarding skills. Unfotunately we didn't get a chance to get any pictures from the beach, but trust me, it was a good time.

We moved into our bed and breakfast, the Ashley Inn, and concluded the evening with a good seafood dinner and stop by a local bar. Wait, it's not what you think!. It was Kaminsky's, a desert bar. Where else can you get milkshakes and cake into the wee hours of the morning?

Holiday Road - Day 3

Sorry for the tardiness of the next couple of posts. We've packed a lot into the past couple of days and haven't had much time for posting.

This was our first day to really explore Charleston. We took a carriage ride through the historic district, and toured the old Exchange building and dungeon. The homes and buildingsare beautiful and all are filled with such history. Charleston was a major player in the early beginnings of the Revolutionary war as well as the "war between the states".

Later we took a spin through the market and admired all the handmad "Sweet Grass Baskets". They are apparently quite a commodity ($$ cha-ching $$). FYI , the sweet grass is an ornamental grass that grows along the marshes in the area. The making of the baskets was an artform that slaves historically practced. It is still passed along from generation to generation.

We ended the day with dinner and a ghost tour of city. Apparently, just about every building in the city is occupied by a ghost or two. The stories were neat, but I didn't see any ghosts.

Holiday Road - Day 2

Today began in Asheville. This was nature day at Biltmore Estate. They have the most beautiful gardens, ponds, and nature trails. We started off by hiking through the gardens and down to a waterfall that acts as drainage for the bass pond. We even sneeked off the main path into an area marked "No Guests Beyond This Point" so that we could see the ingeneous filtration system for the bass pond which was designed by the original landscape architect for the estate, Frederick Law Olmstead. The photo below, of the bridge reflecting in the water, was taken from the restricted territory. We're rebels. I know.

After the hike, we ran into a nice lady that had a very cute 10 month old pug named Lola. As any reader of this site knows, we are big pug fans. We played with Lola for a few minutes and showed her owner some pictures of our Nele and Leia.

The rest of the afternoon was spend on I-26 headed for Charleston, South Carolina. We're staying with our friends, Matt and Paula Vergne, and their little girl Sophie. Matt drove us around downtown Charleston for an overview tour of the city.

Lola the pug

Charleston, SC

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

Holiday Road -Day 1

Last night brought Jenny and I and our friends, Ben and Laura Byars, from Nashville to Asheville. It's a pretty long drive. I tried to make it a little shorter, but a not so nice Knoxville police officer pulled me over and put a stop to that. We arrived late last night and got up early this morning to go to Biltmore Estate.

FYI, Bilmore estate was built by George W. Vanderbilt and, at 175, 000 square feet, is the largest privately owned home in the United States. We took the audio tour of the mansion and toured the grounds some too. Check out the pictures below. They speak for themselves.

Did you get the reference in the title of this post? If not, let me help. It's the title of the theme song in "National Lampoon's Vacation". I thought it an apropriate title for our road trip.

mystery solved

I'm so disappointed. A few weeks ago, I posted about the funniest roadside billboard I had seen in some time. "I pooted." It had to be part of some incredibly witty campaign. Alas, it isn't. It's just another dumb cartoon network stick figure acting dumb. The billboard was just modified to show the character seen here.

It's not even a good cartoon. Kids these days are really getting ripped off when it comes to modern cartoons. Except for Disney, all the new cartoons are poorly drawn stick figures muttering catch phrases. I do better artwork doodling on my notepad during particularly lengthy meetings.

So ends the mystery of the "I pooted" billboard. But, perhaps I've stumbled upon a new potential career as a cartoon network "animator". hmmm...

P.S. Be sure to check back with casadavis.org over the next few days to see photos of our road trip!

All better!

Well, I think i'm all better. Doc gave me antibiotics which mom and dad proceeded to trick me into taking all week. I don't know why I fall for the pill in a treat gag every time. Oh well. I'm all better which is what counts. Dad says I owe him for two emergency vet visits though. I think its like a million dollars or something. Perhaps I should look into getting a job.

As you can see, tonight was bath night. Apparently mom and dad are getting ready for a road trip to Charleston, SC. Nele and I are getting all cleaned up for an exciting trip to grandma and grandpa's house while mom and dad are on the road. I'm sure they'll keep casadavis.org up-to-date on their travels.

I'm sick.

It's been a rough few days for me. It all began on Saturday. I developed a little nose bleed. I was content just to lick it clean each time, but mom and dad got a little concerned because it just kept going.

Dad packed me up and took me for a "ride". It wasn't the kind of "ride" I expected. I was actually making my first trip to the emergency veterinarian's office. We sat around in the waiting room from about 11pm till almost 2am before they could look at me. I did get a chance to meet several other dogs but they were all sick too. The doctor poked me and stuck me with needles and took my temperature the bad way.

After all that, I thought I would get to go home to get some sleep. Not the case. They took me and kept me at the doctor's all night to observe me. I hate that. Dad came back and picked me up around noon on Sunday. I haven't felt quite the same since Saturday. The doctor got my nose to stop bleeding, but they still think I need to got back to the regular doctor's office tomorrow to figure out exactly why my nose is still runny and I am so tired all the time. Personally I think it's a case of rhinitis which is fairly common in Pugs. I have heard mom and dad say that i'm going to see my regular doctor tomorrow to get this all straightened out.

So that was my weekend. I'm resting now and trying to enjoy my Independence Day even though i'm still under the weather.

On a positive note, mom and dad were very excited this past week because dad passed his PE exam. I think it has something to do with his work. I know they were excited when I passed my PE exam and stopped PE-ing in the house. I guess that means dad is now a registered professional at PE-ing. Congratulations Dad!