Going to Tennessee

[catzenmouse]

Tonight late we are leaving for South Central Tennessee. It will be Elena's first trip out of the state and as she does not like driving she is not looking forward to it. I'll let you know all about the interesting characters and unusual languages that are going to be spoken to us next week when we get back.

Ken

[START2]

Now ya'll be carefull back back in them thar hills. Hope ya find yer way to that shack between Pea Ridge and Happy Holler. We got the corn bread,  pinto beans and hog jowl waitin fer ya.

[START2]

dag nabbit, forgot to tell you we got lucky and I ran over a fine lookin possum last night so looks like we'll have some meat with dinner. Vals' saltin him down right now.

[Admin]

Tonight late we are leaving for South Central Tennessee. It will be Elena's first trip out of the state and as she does not like driving she is not looking forward to it. I'll let you know all about the interesting characters and unusual languages that are going to be spoken to us next week when we get back.

Ken

Seriously - watch out for nasty weather. Seems to be some unusually strong thunderstorms in TN right now.

Safe travels......

- Dan

[catzenmouse]

Thanks Dan. We made it with no problem. Lots of rain for the first half of the trip but no problems. The tornados were North and South of us.

 Had a find dinner of grits, hog jowls, and possum. Little messy with the possum as Darryl hit it pretty hard...

 Actually Val made some absolutely fabulous Shashlik the first day and yesterday we all went shopping and played mini golf. Our wild man Sergei the 5 year old made some fluky hole in 1s and 2s that had us all dreaming of being rich riding on the coat tails of the next Tiger Woods.

 We'll go squirrel huntin' later and see if we can scare us up some vittles for dinner. Maybe get luck and find us some polk salad and fiddle heads too!

Ken (way down yonder in TN)

[Captmonk1]

You keep making fun of TN and you are going to end up like those police looking for that moonshine still on top of ol rocky top. 

Let us know if you are coming to Memphis!  Nashville and Knoxville don't consider Memphis part of TN...but it is!!  Knoxville should be in North Carolina anyway.

[catzenmouse]

Funny thing is that this reminds me of a lot of places that I have lived and enjoyed. We actually threw around the idea of moving in this area but there is no work for me so we'll try to talk Start2 and Val into coming up our way. He's got a beautiful place here and I would probably have to be drug out of here kicking and screaming...

Ken

[groovlstk]

Ken, gotta love The Onion:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/oniontennessee2915.html

[LatinSwede]

That's right by my birth state of Kentucky, the moonshine capital of the world.

[Son of Clyde]

I have been to Nashville, Tn and it was a lot like the suburbs of Baltimore.

We took the route from Virginia through Tennessee on our way to Asheville.

It was very scary back in January driving through snow covered mountains with runaway truck ramps. Do they work for cars too?

One of these days I want to see Mt Airy, birthplace of Andy Griffith.

[Son of Clyde]

[START2]

Hey All,

Today Ken, Elena and Sergei headed home to Va. We had an excellent time. All of us got to know each other better. It's rare at our age that a close friendship can develop. One of those kind that has trust. Those are usually reserved from childhood through maybe 30. By then it seems all others are just acquintances or ones where some things stay guarded. I'm not saying excellent friendships don't happen after 30 or 40, just that for me it's rare. In Ken, what you see is what you get. I'm proud to have met him and he is a quality guy.

As for our wives, they are closer than sisters. I believe had they met in Ru/Ukr, there is no doubt they would have been close as well. As many of you Ru/Ukr women know or have found out since you have come here, just because you meet a fellow homelander, it doesn't mean you have anything in common. Elena and Valentyna are soul mates. I'm amazed. Even our boys got along good !!!

We all spent 4 days together and there wasn't a dull moment. I sadly was called away to work for a time and it couldn't be avoided so while Val and  Elena were out driving around or shopping, Ken went exploring around the ranch accompanied by one of our cats, Vasiliavych:D. Other times we grilled out having shaslyk which the girls prepared and we finished it up last night with a feast of beef filet, pork chops, sauteed shrimp, ocean salmon, baked potatoes and salad. MMMMMMMMMMMMM!! All on the grill. Thanks for the Russian piva Ken. I'll return that favor with some Chernigovske piva when we get back from Ukr. in june.

So, any of you who ever or would like to invite Ken as your guest sometime, I can tell you right now he is well house broken. Didn't miss the paper once;) I guess it's our turn to visit next. We will all be travelling this summer. Ken to Ru., us to UKr. Val would like to come the first part of August. I think we both feel those are our second homes and would like to make them our first homes in the future. I'd rather learn more russian than spanish at this point.

Clyde, are you sure you haven't been to our town? That looks exactly like our police chief. The only thing missing is his flashlight that he shines on that stop sign at night. It the only traffic light we have in town!!

Latin, the white lightnin is pretty good down here to. It doubles as fuel for the tractor;)

Capt., we may go visit sis soon. Will be in touch when we do.

Dan, Ken is now known as Tornado Kenny.:dude: He made it just fine but I couln't get him to stop "Twistin The Night Away"  

Well it's back to the routine. :?

 

[catzenmouse]

Just to set the record straight:

 I am NOT a nice person! It is a lie and only meant to ruin my  reputation that I have worked long and hard to build! Slander I say!  Law Suit!:X

Our wives are indeed like sisters from different parents. I don't think  I've ever seen Elena happier than seeing them together (or sadder as we  were leaving). Guess we'll have to get us a double-wide and park it in  the back field now!

 Valentyna is a stunning, warm, talented, thoughtful, and vibrant woman! Darryl you are one lucky dude!!!

 The boys had a great time playing on the trampoline and acting  more like brothers than newly aquainted kids. The night before we left  Sergei cried a bit saying he didn't want to go home. This, of course,  was an hour after he told us that he wanted to go home because he  missed his playstation 2.

 We're already planning some activities for your visit. Ballet,  opera, zoo, and Busch Gardens/Water Country are on the list so far. We  even talked about flying back for a New Years weekend with you guys.  Think  you'd mind picking us up at the airport or do we have to  hitchhike?

 It was a true pleasure being allowed to be part of your family  for a few days and as I have never been one to have a lot of friends  your words and actions speak volumes. I am proud to call you friend  Darryl. (MUSH ALERT! CEASE AND DESIST IMMEDIATELY!)

Ken

(still rather brain damaged from the drive so gibberish is the only way to go... )