Tag Archives: Vacation

Dad Visits

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Last Tuesday, my dad finally arrived in Seattle. He’s been on the road since August 26th. Total road miles = ~4500. His vehicle = 2000 Harley-Davidson Road King plus a trailer. It’s an impressive trip. From his home in Minnesota her rode to Pheonix, AZ for a family reunion. From Pheonix he went to High Voltage Tattoo in Los Angeles, CA to get a new tattoo. This shop is run by Kat van Dee, tattooist from LA Ink on Discovery Channel. Dad tried for months to get an appointment with Kat, but was unable to get a reply from anyone. So he settled on one of the staff tattooist and a walk-in. That tattoo looks great and he walked away with a free hoody from the shop.

The big part of his trip was traveling up Highway 1 from LA to Legget, OR. It’s something that he’s wanted to do for years. The drive took about four days. He camped a couple of nights along the way. Drove through the Giant Sequoias in California, Big Sur, San Francisco. It finally arrived in Seattle late Tuesday September 9th.

We did the usual tourist things – The Space Needle, rode the Ducks and Mono Rail, the Underground tour, and the Smith Building. So he got a bit of Seattle city flavor. One night, we took in the SinnerSaint Burlesque [link]. I made an extra $120 bucks at the ATM. I never realized that the machines are part slots. And we were comped seats by the MC. All in all, a great night.

The only rough patch of the whole visit was our aborted trip to Mt. Rainier. We wanted to take his motorcycle for a ride through Mt. Rainier park. In Puyallup, we missed a turn. A block later we made a u-turn and dumped the motorcycle. Neither of us were hurt, but his motorcycle’s clutch handle was broken. We gerry-rigged it with a shoestring and rode back home. Dad has been riding motorcycles since before I was born. In all the years that I have ridden bitch this was our first accident.

Dad left this week on Wednesday morning and made it home this afternoon. It wasn’t a spectacular vacation full of adventures, I know. This visit is just about family. My family does great job of hanging out together. We BS, kid, and catch up. If the narrative wasn’t exciting for you, then check out the pics below.

Historic Jonesboro, TN

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This little town surprised me. Jonesboro was established in 1779 and is the oldest town in Tennessee. Most of the buildings in the downtown area are on the Register of National Historic Places. In its early days, the town was the gate to the first frontier and the stage road West ran through it. Andrew Jackson practiced law here. And the town is loaded with ghosts. I actually toured the town twice. The first was a daylight walk. The second was a night walk with a paranormal investigator.

Grandfather Mtn, NC

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The Appalachain Mountain chain is the world’s oldest and Grandfather Mountain is the tallest in the chain. We trekked around the mountain on a cloudy day. One of the draws, outside of the great views, is the Mile-high Swinging Bridge. While the bridge’s altidude is just about 5,280 feet, there is rocky ground just 30 feet below it. The park keeps a wildlife park inhabited by black bears, river otters, deer, and a bald eagle.

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

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The Biltmore Estate is a house in the grandest sense. George Vanderbilt (yes, of those Vanderbilts) had this constructed in 1890. The house encompasses four acres. That’s interior space. Four floors housed George’s family, guests, and staff. At any given time, the house employed thirty-five people. There were parlor maids, chamber maids, butlers, grounds keepers, cooks, and many others. During the planning phase, designers built towers to heights matching the floors so that views could be chosen and showcased. A three-mile drive from Biltmore Village Historic District winds through the estate’s land. I felt sorry for the poor bastards. Biltmore House is one of America’s castles.

Mom and I took the guided audio tour. I would have had more interior photos, but a docent told me that interior photos would infringe copyright (wtf?). We saw 62 rooms from the Billards Parlor to the staffs’ quarters. Art from Renoir and John Singer Sargent hung on the walls. Fabrics and wallpaper patterns were restored to their original state. The images you do have from me are of the exterior and grounds. Still, that was more than enough. The only real unpleasantness was getting caught in a downpour while in the greenhouse. It made the walk back to the car…uncomfortable. After the Estate tour, we stopped at a coffeeshop. By this time the rain subsided. Mom, however, brought the umbrellas with us into the shop. You know, just in case, we got caught in another downpour.

Piney Flats, TN

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This visit was my first to Piney Flats. It’s in the NE corner of Tennessee, a rural area dotted by small towns and criss-crossed by winding country roads. It reminded me of the countryside of North Carolina I drove through between home and college. Mom gave me an excellent tour of her stomping grounds. We saw a 225 year old family home, Boone Lake, and more farm structures near collapse than I have ever encountered. My stay reminded me that Southerners will wait until gravity has the last laugh before declaring a structure unfit for use. Southerners also still understand courtesy, hospitality, and how to construct and locate grand homes. The images here were taken near my Mom and Step-fahter’s home at Boone Lake outside Piney Flats, TN.