Vacation over(again could be boring) pictures to come

I’ll wrap up with days 3.5 through 7. We went out to the deadliest Civil War scene of the war. Stones River. We were able to see a little reenactment of one area and how the men would move and what happened to them, the little movie was very good and very moving. It’s hard to believe when war is so devastating and so destructive that we would do it on our own land against our own people. But it also reminds us how far some will go to protect what they think is right. We also went to the cemetery of all the soldiers who fell that day, on that spot, were buried.

Then we went to the Hermitage. Home and Plantation of President Andrew Jackson. We learned so much about what a great man he was before he became Pres. and after. He was on the Battle field at age 13 and never did stop serving his country. His wife died during his run for pres and never did serve with him. He became a very wealthy man before he ever became pres. And was smart in all his actions, and always very kind, along with his wife, to the salves he had. He only had two adopted sons, one white and the other and Indian boy he found and sent home from one of his battles. The Indian boy died young and then the other would lose all the family money only 11 years after Pres. Jackson died. This had to be my favorite stop, so rich in history and preserved as it once was. Even the house, the furnishings, the paint colors the bed linens, light fixtures, everything is the original. If it wasn’t for the heat we could have stayed all day.

On to the Gaylord Opryland and the National BSA convention. This place is amazing. I have never been in one place this big under one roof. It is just a maze of rooms, shops, restaurants, conventions halls, waterfalls, hidden walkways, 6 acres alone of the water and green atrium. Anyway the meals have been fantastic, the shows professional, the productions are Hollywood style the Scouts really know how to put on a good show. This is my first National Convention. They only hold them every 10 yrs. So 10 yrs. ago Jodi had just needed her 3rd appendix follow up surgery and so I could go. One night we were entertained by Josh Turner a new and I guess well known country singer; he was really good and put on a great show.

The spouse brunch was so much fun. We had a special speaker, Dr. Kevin Leman, who is a family and children book author and psychologist and also a great comedian about family, kids, husbands, wife’s and just life. It’s so fun when someone can take the normal and seemingly stressful parts of life and make them funny and normal at the same time. We laughed so hard we were hurting.

All in all this has been a fun time. There are a lot of spouses who I really like and don’t get to see very often and it was nice to just be with Kim with none of the normal stressors of life bugging us. Now back to the real world today, and I’ve heard the animals are still alive and Matt got a new job, so Roy here we come. I am blessed to have gotten to come and have such a great time.