A little perspective

The price of Gas versus Printer Ink
Compared with Gasoline.... ..Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 .. $10.32 per gallon

Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9. 52 per gallon

Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon

Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ......... $10.00 per gallon

Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon

Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon

Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 . $123.20 per gallon

Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ....... . $25.42 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER. . . Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)

Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? So they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of the ink at.......... ......(you won't believe it....but it is true........ )$5,200 a gal.. (five thousand two hundred dollars)

So, the next time you're at the pump,be glad your car doesn't run on water, or Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink!

Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump...

Papa and Baxter

Papa seems to be making friends with Baxter who also lives in his new house. I think the move was good for him!

A very good book

Very seldom do I finish a book only to start it all over again. Such was the case when I completeed So Brave, Young, and Handsome this week.

It's hard to say why I liked it so much. Maybe it's the characters? Maybe just because it's so different. I don't know. I even like the acknowledgements at the very end. The author says,

Finally, thanks to Robin for hearing my pages with persistent grace. Sometimes heroism is nothing more than patience, curiosity, and a refusal to panic.

So read it and tell me what you think of it.

More Alum Cave Trail

Here's what the path looked like for much of the trail. Shady and forested.

The cave is actually a concave bluff about 80 feet high and 500 feet in length. But it feels like a cave, as your voice echoes. Here we are looking up at the roof of the cave. And going back down now.

Hiking Alum Cave Trail

Last day! We decided to hike the Alum Cave Trail at the recommendation of the park ranger. Wish we could go back and thank him! We hiked gently uphill next to this stream for quite a ways. The rhododendrons were everywhere, forming a canopy high above us much of the time. They were not in bloom, but I bet in spring it is a sight to see. We crossed over many footbridges like the one below.

We had a little trail guide from which I read, from time to time. There were lots of these trees that looked like they were on stilts. I think it's some kind of birch which can grow on a rotting log, and then when the log is all gone, it looks like this. Here I am just getting ready to go through Arch Rock, where the trail actually goes through a rock. This is looking up some stairs they have made there. And here we are on the other side.

Cade's Loop Road

Thursday afternoon, we drove over to Cade's Cove with Laura & Jon. There wasn't time enough for the hike we had planned, so we took an auto tour around Cade's Cove. The area has been preserved to look much like it did in the 1800's, and we were able to visit several old churches and homesteads.

Hike to Laurel Falls

Thursday morning, 5 of us hiked to Laurel Falls, which I have read is the most popular destination by trail in the entire park. And it's true - there were a lot of people there! But it was a nice walk in the woods with a 75 foot waterfall at the end.