~Author LoRee Peery~
Anniversary Vacation
Bill and I were
married on July 27, 1974. We began our life together without a whole lot of
money, so our honeymoon was a two-week camping trip to the Black Hills in South
Dakota.
Many days before
our wedding, we were blasted with a Nebraska heat index of 100-plus degrees.
The temps in the Hills dropped into the fifties most nights, so we were
thankful for sleeping bags. I wish I had pictures, but we didn’t have a camera
at the time.
Our big car
was a pale green 1968 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors. We pulled a
silver trailer with a pop-up tent. To this day, we talk about some of the
campgrounds we entered, driving down, down, to a mountain creek, only to leave
again because of the objectionable-looking campers already there. Many nights,
our lullabies came from the roar of motorcycles, since the rally in Sturgis is
the first week of August.
A bright
memory from our return trip occurred at Ft. Robinson in northwestern Nebraska.
A green ragweed, not yet turned into a tumbleweed, began to shake near our
tent. Then, little, by little, it descended into the earth. When it was
underground, tiny clawed paws filled in the hole.
Forty years
later, our adult children planned a big party at our acreage. We were blessed
with tolerable weather and the presence of forty family members. I do have a
camera and treasure the two scrapbook keepsakes from July and August, 2014.
I’d always wanted
to see Nashville, and was thrilled when the RWA conference was scheduled at the
Gaylord Opry Resort a few years back. It flooded. The venue was changed. Bill
knew how disappointed I was.
God is good,
and worked it out…
I fell in
love with the TV show Nashville and
put visiting the city on my bucket list. In 2014, we agreed to take our
fortieth anniversary trip to Nashville. We decided to camp at Opry Resort KOA,
in a cabin.
Our first vacation
foray was to the historic town of Franklin, where a Blue Grass Festival was
being held. Along the way, my niece and her husband were delightful tour
guides. Highlights included Leiper’s Fort, Loveless Café, and a bit of twisty
drive along the Natchez Trace. Along the way, I snapped a picture of The
Bluebird Café.
The night of
our anniversary we were treated to a lightning storm, and fell asleep to
thundering rain. We sat bolt upright at a nearby crack and knew the strike was
near. Upon awakening, half the tree in front of our cabin lay stretched across
the neighboring porch.
Our gift to
one another was a bus tour. Our driver hit Music Row and pointed out multiple
highlights. The tour included the historic Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music
Hall of Fame Museum, a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry, and Gaylord Opry
Resort. We spent the next day at Bell Meade Plantation.
I want to go
back.
Thank you Loree and congratulations on 40 years of marriage!
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