Alex was dying to visit Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in Gatlinburg, TN. So in a last minute weekend trip we threw some clothes in a bag, except for the wife, she carefully packed her "trunk", and we headed out for "little Las Vegas".
After a grandpa detour of Knoxville that was guided by my Blackberry's Telenav set to shortest distance in lieu of fastest trip, in which I revisited every back road of my Mother's youth in Wears Valley, we finally made it to the smallest big city in Tennessee.
I guess if your a kid the shrunken heads are cool but all I could think about was getting to Porter's Steak House and relaxing next to a cool mountain stream.
With the aroma of waffles in the air we trekked around the hill side digging for anything that would even remotely resemble a fossil. After the initial excitement of finding snail shells, worms and millipedes_ eureka! Alex found what we think is a Brachiopod.
My son Barret’s band just released their first CD “Like No Other”. I know I am partial but this CD is smokin! My favorite song is “Back In The Day” that features some killer guitar by Dustin Concannon, the lead guitarist and vocalist for the band. Greg Brown also provides vocals and heats up the bass guitar. Barret keeps the funky beat going on drums.
The band will be playing at River Bend 2008 on the TVA Showcase stage Thursday, June 12th at 6:45 PM.
My darling daughter Allison Rene graduated from Red Bank Middle School on May 20, 2008. This is a special accomplishment for her. I remember as a toddler when she was diagnosed with autism my heart was broken, but only for a day. You see, Ally continued to bless me every day with her love and talents and today she has grown to be a beautiful young lady with all the talent any father could ask for.
Ally wants to be a writer of children’s books and she and I are currently working on a coffee table book of her art work which we will publish on Lulu.com
Family Miters 
The band will be playing at River Bend 2008 on the TVA Showcase stage Thursday, June 12th at 6:45 PM.