October 2 – “Rocks, Santa, Eagle and Eiffel”

Ah, the places we have seen and the places we have been.  Just yesterday we passed through Holland (That’s in Europe, right?) and Greenville (That would be South Carolina, I thought) and Sacramento (California, I’m sure).  Except that the last two were at the same exit and all of them were somewhere in Indiana.  Weird.

I forgot over the course of this journal to include a very important reference.  That would be … Ian.  Ian showed up in at least three of the first parks that we went to.  Chris found out at one point that he was from Ohio.  I thought he said Iowa, so that’s what I called him the next few times he showed up.  I finally just asked him his name since we were spending so much time together.  Ian.  I’ll miss Ian. 

We made our way a little further east, of all directions.  Chris found a National Park site about 45 minutes from where we were, so off we went.  It was Abe Lincoln’s boyhood home.  We got our book stamped and then decided to take the hike back into the woods and see where his Mom was buried.  The featured attraction of this hike?  Rocks.  But not just any rocks.  Oh, no.  These rocks all had special Abe Lincoln meanings.  They dotted the landscape of the trail route.  Get a load of these “special” rocks:

1. A rock from where he was born in Kentucky.

2. A rock from the store where he used to shop.

3. A rock from Vincennes where he first saw a printing press.

4. A rock from the Berry-Lincoln store in Illinois.

5. Bricks from Mary Todd’s home in Kentucky.

6. A monument that used to mark the site of his parents’ cabin, but they moved it.

7. A rock from the White House of 1861.

8. A rock from an old soldiers’ home where he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation.

9. A rock from where he stood to deliver the Gettysburg Address.

10. A rock from the old capitol building where he gave his 2^nd inaugural address.

11. A pillar from the porch of the house where he died.

12. A really big rock from his tomb in Springfield.

I think there was another one, too, but I must have missed it.  Never fear, though.  At the end of the hike I was so inspired that I set up a rock of my own.  Mosquito Rock.  In honor of the early predecessors of the hundreds of mosquitoes that currently stand guard over the Rock Trail today.  Mosquito Rock is quite small, though, so you might miss it.

Right after Abe’s farm, we realized we were mere moments away from Santa Claus, Indiana.  How could we not go there?  We shopped in the Santa Claus shop and took a selfie with the nose-picking elf, himself.  That shop is where we found a new friend.  Little dachshund.  Brought tears to our eyes.  Know why?  She had a tiny little stub of a tail.  Sniff, sniff.  Her name is Stubby.  Most of the town was closed already, so we just drove by the monstrous statue of Santa.  We couldn’t spend too much time there, though.  We had more places to go.  Chris found another National Park.

This one was in a place called Dover, Tennessee, right on the Cumberland River.  Important Civil War battle fought there.  But we faced one obstacle between us and the park … Kentucky.  Not to be deterred, we set out.  Chris drove and drove and drove.  She absolutely destroyed the mileage through Kentucky until we got to the last little corner before we entered Tennessee.  The road narrowed.  The road curved.  The road twisted.  Civilization became sparser and sparser.  We saw lots and lots of two things: cemeteries and Confederate flags flying.  And I was pretty sure I heard some banjos playing in the distance.  Finally we pulled into Dover, however, and once we tracked down the temporary visitors’ center, we began the driving tour.  Gotta say, this was one of the pretty ones.  Oh, the canon replicas were amazing, but the view of the river from the Park grounds were breathtaking.  I can see why Fort Donelson was important.  The tour took us through the expected park, but it continued into the nearby town as well.  and one of the places was a restored hotel where U.S. Grant demanded the unconditional surrender of the fort (That’s where he got his nickname – Unconditional Surrender Grant).  The highlight of the tour, though had to be the most unexpected sighting of our whole trip.  We found (using binoculars and the telescopic lens of our camera) a nesting bald eagle.  Amazing.  That one I’ll remember.

Our final stop of the day was not far from Dover.  I took Chris to Paris again.  We had dinner in the best restaurant in the city.  We took selfies at the base of the Eiffel Tower.  It was so romantic.  What?  Oh.  Paris.  Paris, Tennessee. 

Psalms 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”

Father, it was sure exciting to see that eagle.  Your majestic creatures are so inspiring.  Amen.