Scenes from Russell County

After waking up at the crack of dawn I was awfully excited about the "Stay Smart" breakfast that Holiday Inn Express offers. The coffee was hot! Umm, that's really all that matters right? Good. I munched on what I think was a biscuit, passed by what could have been eggs, and gulped down some orange flavored water. Interesting. Ready to start my day with an hour long drive on mountain roads to my school, that's for sure!
Castlewood Elementary. Castlewood is known as the home of Daniel Boone, and there are a number of his Wilderness Trails in the area (keep reading for more about those trails). But back to the school--could it look more welcoming? A solid brick building overlooking a valley dotted with little homes and a white church. It was a great school with great children named Austin, Dallas, Houston (see a trend?), then also Carson, Clint, Savannah, Abel, Chastity, Charity, Serenity, Amberly, and even Diamond (bonus fact for Diamond-she was a blind albino). Interesting. I could keep going here, these are just the first names of the children I worked with today that popped into my mind.

After teaching, we (Donna and I) hit up one of the Wilderness trails. That's Donna in the background getting ready to start our serious hike. We switched into hiking shoes, I changed into a T-shirt, and she grabbed some apples and almonds. We're ready to go! The pictures that follow are some of the awesome scenery from our 3 mile hike and the pictures just don't do it justice. Just a reminder--you can click on the pictures and they should open larger in a new window. (Oh, and the trail started with a swinging bridge over a swiftly flowing creek...extremely exciting! And no comments on my outfit please.)







Leaving the Wilderness Trail and ready for dinner, we follow this guy (at 10mph) the wrong way up (and down) a mountain when we are really trying to go the other way into town to get some food. Interesting. I wasn't driving, so I was able to snap this great picture:

We ate at the fancy restaurant in town, called "Old Mill." We had heard about this place from some folks at our hotel, but didn't know how to get there. After spending a bit of time "exploring" the town and searching for it, we finally pull in to a Rite Aid after the hike to ask for directions. The manager comes out to talk to me and in a very thick Southern accent says, "Oh Lord, I'm headed right that way. Why don't you all just follow me." Small town hospitality right there.

Annnnnnnnd this is what I ate. I thought I ordered what sounded like the healthiest thing on the menu. All the description said was "Boneless Pork Chops with Vegetable." This option sounded better than "Seasoned Scallops" (I try not to mess around with seafood unless I'm relatively close to the sea) or "Chicken Mayo Salad." Turns out the pork chops were deep fried and absolutely delicious, with carmelized pineapple on top and what seemed to be an entire can of green beans. The second picture below, of the orange slices and scoop of orange in a plastic up, was what was served when one normally gets bread and butter. I had to ask what that orange scoop was and found to my wonder and amazement--Cheez Whiz!!!! I think the waitress read the wonder and amazement on my face and told me how delicious the Cheez Whiz is and that it reminds her of the cheese she gets at Christmastime. Interesting.



And the drive home...the moon was HUGE. This picture really does not even begin to capture how beautiful this scene was. I was driving and had to pull over on the side of the road to try and take this picture.


To sum up today in one word, it was INTERESTING. I had a ton of fun and had some seriously interesting experiences. I can't wait for tomorrow and the rest of the week.