Hendersonville

Bill was gone for so long that when he came back he felt like taking a trip (uh, yeah, that's right). So we went for a little getaway to Hendersonville. We were going to go to Asheville for Bele Chere but there was no room at the inn. At any inn. So Bill thought Hendersonville was a pretty neat place and that's where we went.

It's very cute and quaint with much shopping.
This is the main drag there in Hendersonville.
This dulcimer was in the music store there. I'm thinking Mike might like a dulcimer... (why not? he likes every other stringed instrument...)
Here's me standing outside Binion's Steak House where we made pigs of ourselves. It was really really good. We had eaten a disappointing lunch in Hendersonville proper, so we were glad to have a good meal and good service here.
And here's Bill striking the same pose...
So the morning after the steak feast, we headed out the long way home. We went through Bat Cave and Lake Lure. It was very cloudy and misty. See? Chimney Rock is barely visible through the clouds, and the remainder of the mountain is just engulfed in the mist.

This is the river going through Bat Cave and Chimney Rock.
We ate lunch here. This is the entryway. There are many levels, loads of windows and beautiful wood. Can't say the food was anything special, but it sure was a pretty place.
Another view of the mountain wrapped in clouds. That little phallic shaped protuberence sticking up on the left is Chimney Rock.

And now we're home. Bill bought a million things for people - juggling balls and flavored honey for Mike and Kat, sparkly/glitterly flip flops for Sam, a big chunky wooden necklace for Chelsea, and a beautiful necklace and earrings which I'll wear, then post a picture of.

We also got some little mitten-type handles for the individual fajita skillets he got me a while ago, and some butter applicators for corn on the cob. We stopped at a farmer's market and got new potatoes and green beans. He bought me a very nice black apron (I've been wanting an apron).

We stayed at the Hampton Inn right next to the World of Clothing in Hendersonville, which Bill remembered from years ago as a really huge crowded cool place to buy good clothes at low prices. Suffice to say the place has gone downhill. It was not the cool place he remembered, but if you're a nurse (Alicia - you see this?) World of Clothing is THE place to buy scrubs. They seemed to have acres of scrubs. I did find a cute pair of shorts overalls that Bill bought me.

All in all a very relaxing and nice evening away from home.

Thanks Bill!

Mike's "New" Car

Mike finally bought a car. Here it is just before he drove it home. Obviously, it needs a little body work.
Tail light on the right is messed up. Smashed fender.
Here's the new fender. I searched junk yards yesterday and he had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to pay 60 or 70 bucks for the fender, then 100 bucks to get it painted, but Hooray! Lucked into this one for 75 that was the same color as his car! Yay!
From the back. See? I - myself - replaced that tail light with a new one.

Look at these lights. I think this is amazing. They were all cloudy and yellowish like the one on the right in this picture, and frankly, I thought he would new a new pair of headlights. The guy in Advanced Auto sold me this stuff that he swore up and down would work. I was skeptical, since Sam's are the same way and I felt I'd tried everything under the sun to clear them up with no luck. Lo and behold, the guy was right! The one on left is after the stuff, the one on the right before.
Before using the stuff...
After using the stuff.
This is the stuff....

Kwaj Pics for Kathryn and Beth

Kathryn - 1975 Bill - 1976
Beth - 1975
Phil - the "toe-bird" - 1975
Beth and Janet - 1975

Brad and Charla ("Don't touch me!" "Don't *you* touch *me*!") - 1975
Kathryn

Kathryn, Beth and Bill

Old Pictures

Bill's out of town, and I appropriated his scanner. Kathryn, I don't know who a lot of these are. I'm going to try to put the captions at the top. Here it goes....

Don't know who this child is.... UPDATE: Kathryn says this is my mom.
Same unknown child? (mom)
Is this our mom? YES

Same child... Mom? Yep again...
Where is this??? (We still don't seem to know...)
Mom. In front of the store...
The back of this photo has handwritten:

Mr. & Mrs. (Bettie) H. H. Heutschell and Florence Fuller (Mrs. Buddy Fuller). Bubba Fuller.

No idea who the are. Is that Mom Fuller all the way to the right? Lightly written in pencil at the top it says "At The Williams'" . UPDATE: According to Kathryn, this IS my great-grandmother, who we called "Mom Fuller" all the way to the right. In the middle is her brother, Bubba. On the left is his wife (I think) Sara Francis Fuller.

Grandma's old house? Still unsure...
The back of this photo says: "Hazel Smith setting Mrs. Jim Fuller's hair."
Children I don't know. My mother is the one on the right, standing.
Mom in her characteristic pose.
I love this one...

Written on this photo, in Grandma's writing, it says "Ladye Rucker. On her throne. Feb. 1972'"
Mom and Grandma at the new house.
Kathryn, Bonnie, and Mom. Christmas 1976.
Mom....
Kathryn and Bonnie. Both tasting alligator at Ralph and Kacoo's. All together now!

Rucker's Cash Grocery
Bonnie and Kathryn. Jan 1972 (that's when the pic was developed, anyway.) UPDATE: Kathryn says this was 1967 on her 7th birthday. (Why we are wearing long sleeves and long pants in August in Alabama, I have no idea, but Kathryn knows these things better than I.)
Reelfoot Lake. My grandmother is all the way to the left.
Baptism Day. Kathryn, Rev. Buck, Bonnie.

Ken and Brad.

Grandma, Mom, Kathryn, Alicia. Kathryn - what year was this?? UPDATE: 1984. The dreaded Christmas when Kathryn and Ricky broke up and she appeared on the doorstep unexpectedly on Christmas Eve.
Grandma, Christmas 1976. (She later gave these 2 jade pieces to me, although I'm ashamed to say now that I don't know what ever became of them.)
Grandma Bradford with great grandchildren. The day of Ken's funeral. September 1997.
Grandma with people I don't know.... (I think the man is Charles, my mom's brother, but Kathryn thinks it's someone else)
Kathryn, tell me who these people are....