Tennessee Vacation Part V: The Final Chapter

Down the road from Norris Dan stands an old grist mill from the 1800s.

As if the mill wasn't picturesque enough on its own, the surroundings are serene.

 

Hidden among the trees on the right side of this picture is a paved path.  A woman passed by, jogging with her dog.  What a beautiful place to get your daily exercise!

Oh, what I would give to have this in my garden!

I once had a basement similar to this one!

But it didn't have this...

I admire the old craftsmanship.

 

 The water wheel is directly connected to the large wheel inside, which in turn is geared to the other wheels that drive the mill upstairs.

The corn is dumped into the feeder at the top.  I asked about how the farmers would get their grain up to the hopper.  The museum attendant didn't know.  I guess they had to carry it in sacks on their back, up the stone stairway into the top level of the mill.  Perhaps they had a rustic grain elevator?

Enlarge this photo for more information on the mill...

Of course, you know the wheel is water driven, but here is how the water is channel and controlled:

There are diverters at the top of the stream.  A determined amount of water is allowed to pass through to the wheel.  The rest is channeled directly to the stream below.

From the diverting system, it is carried to the wheel in a trough,

where the water is then dumped onto the top of the wheel.

Today, it would be a simple task to mount such a wheel.  Hubby and I could do it!  We'd just rent the proper equipment from the tool place.  I admire the quality of work they achieved without the modern equipment we take for granted.

I hope you have enjoyed traveling to Tennessee with me.

Tennessee Vacation Part IV

Norris Dam is a part of the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) system.  It was built to provide power and control flooding.  This dam is located in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  It has always been one of my favorite stops when traveling south.  (Cumberland Falls tops my list, but we didn't have enough time this trip to stop there.)

If you save this picture, you can enlarge it enough to read about the TVA.

This ivy has taken over large portions of the area.  You can see places where there is nothing but piles of ivy in the shape of trees, power lines and cliffs.  I think the way it cascades down the rock walls here is beautiful.  I would love this in my backyard!

The ivy has decided to camouflage the  pavement.  Wise choice!

In the background is the marina.

Don't tell Ali, but I like this stone stairway

even better than the one she helped me build!

Well, maybe not.

What picture do you see in this wall?

This is an example of resilience!

My style of landscaping!

Tomorrow, I'll conclude my vacation blog with pics from the grist mill.   Hang in there... one more day!

WARNING: It could happen to you. Would you know what to do?

Everything was fine.  We were almost through dinner when my cell phone rang.  The display said it was my oldest granddaughter calling.  I answered.

I couldn't really understand what she was saying... something about kitchen stool and choking.  She was crying so hard.  Dani asked for my prayers for Melody.  I heard that part.  Melody Lillian is my namesake... my fourth granddaughter; Dani's baby sister.  She will be three this December.

Melody had been running a slight fever.  The flu had been passing through the family.  A couple of weeks ago, the family doctor had told Dani that he thought her symptoms were probably from the H1N1 virus.  Now it was Melody's turn.  Daddy stayed home from work to be with her.

Mommy had just walked through the door from work.  Melody was sitting on the kitchen stool having her temperature checked.  What happened next is a blur...  They had been eating candy and Melody had a sucker in her hand when Mommy came in the room.  Melody started to get up from the stool, but suddenly collapsed into a seizure on the floor.  She stopped breathing and began turning blue!

The immediate thought was that she had choked on some candy.  Mommy had taken a first aid course years ago, but didn't remember much of it.  Dani, however, had recently completed a first aid/CPR course.  It was required for her nursery job at their church.  She performed the Heimlich on Melody.  No candy popped out, but Melody did start breathing again.

Meanwhile, Daddy had been on the phone summoning the paramedics.  As soon as the ambulance arrived, Dani called me to have me pray for her sister.

Hubby and I jumped in the car and headed for Middletown.  We went to the hospital first.  Melody was running a very high fever.  She didn't want to take her medicine for the nurse.  I said, "I bet she'll take it for Papaw."  The nurse handed him the medicine cup.  Papaw gave it to Melody and she drank it down.  Our job there was done.

Dani told me that she had been unhappy about the first aid course.  It fell on her birthday and lasted for hours.  She never thought about needing it for her own sister.  Now she is so glad she took it!  Who knows how this might have ended otherwise.

It turns out that Melody has the flu.  A fever of over 104* was probably the cause of the seizure.  She was released from the hospital tonight and is resting well at home.

We hear so much about flu prevention.  Everybody's running to the store for hand sanitizers and other items to help combat the virus.  But what about training?  All the hand sanitizer in the world wasn't going to make Melody breath!

I hope that everyone that reads this story will think about signing up for a First Aid/CPR course.  Most people live far enough from a firehouse or emergency center that, before help would arrive, permanent brain damage could occur in someone that had stopped breathing.  Sure, the 911 operators are trained to talk you through life-saving procedures; but wouldn't it make you feel more confident knowing you had been trained to perform them.  Your child's life could depend on it.  Please, think about it...

Tennessee Vacation Part III

Let me know if I'm boring you with my vacation shots.  Not that it will make any difference...

It was quite foggy the morning we left Pigeon Forge.  I shot a lot through the window of the moving car.  (Hubby couldn't care less about stopping to take pictures.  In fact, he'd probably like to throw the camera out of the moving car!)

We exited the highway south of Norris Dam to find the Appalachian Museum we had gone through on our last trip south...

These two shots were taken from the car...  Hubby was willing to stop for the tour, but they were having some special event and the place was jam-packed like a festival!

Within minutes, we were back on the highway...

I was thrilled that we could finally see the mountains we had been vacationing in!

We took another detour to drive over Norris Dam.

This is a shot along the road that goes to Norris Dam.  You'll see the pictures from the lake tomorrow.

 

Notice the rocks jutted through the trees.

I love driving through the areas of rock cliffs where they had to blast the mountain away for the highway.  It's probably the only place where man's progress actually made something pretty.

Here it looks like we're ready to drop off the edge of the world!

Image what these views will look like in a week or so, when the autumn colors are at their peak!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view quickly changes when you near the Ohio River...

It poured the last several hours of our drive, finally letting up a little bit as we approach Cincinnati.

Back in Ohio.

Oh yeah...  Did I mention we traveled home via Paris, France?

This is actually a 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower,located at Kings Island Amusement Park, north of Cincinnati.

Bear with me...  If you hate vacation pics, just don't come back here for two more days.  Tomorrow I will post a few shots from the lake at Norris Dam, Tennessee.  The ivy-covered cliffs are beautiful, as is the red, curving shoreline of the pristine lake.

Wednesday I will finish up my vacation posts with the shots I took of the old grist mill down the road from Norris Dam.  It has always been a favorite stop of mine.