Had a great trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). We spent 10 days camping along the bank of the Little Pigeon River at Riverbend Campground. Very well kept, quiet and peaceful with the cascading water right behind our campsite.
Always a good time when you you get to visit with family. Since Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg gets crazy busy on the weekends, we made a long day trip over to see my sister and brother in law, and my niece and nephew in law. Even got to see Mindy’s and Jeff’s new construction that is underway.
my routine was pretty much much Cade’s Cove in the mornings for bears, while Sharon slept in with the dogs. Then we hiked in the mountains after lunch, or I made sure Sharon got plenty of retail therapy. Hikes included Spruce Flat Falls, and Cataract Falls.
Wednesday Cade’s Cove is Auto free day. Meaning bikes and walkers only. I had always wanted to bike Cade’s Cove. So, I rented us a pair of E-Bikes from Vee Hollow Bike Shop in Townsend. Sharon and I did one lap in the morning. Car parking is an issue. The parking fills up before 6:30 AM. Volunteers and rangers stop all traffic, and use radios to direct incoming cars to the open parking spots. We go it line about 10, hoping the rush would be over, as Sharon clearly stated no way in Heck, she was getting up at 5:00 AM on vacations. We got lucky and the sent us to park at the camp store within 8-10 minutes. She did Excellent and had a blast. So much so we ordered a pair of E-bikes for trails at home and to take camping! After one loop and a couple bear jams, I took her back to the camper and her and the dogs took a nap. I threw my bike on the charger in the back of the truck. 2.5 hours later it was back to 100% charge. I headed back to the cove to photograph bears. This time I was loaded for bear. My 600 on my shoulder and my 100-500 in the saddle pouch. Saw 18 different bears. Photographed a few but nothing great. Too hard to focus on riding the bike and road to be able to search for bears. No real bear jams to speak of. Finally on my 3rd loop, I got some full frame clear cub shots finally! Everything had been way out in the fields so I had the 1.4 teleconverter on my 600mm prime. The momma bear bought her 2 cubs right across the road, 30-40 years in front of me. I had too much lens, and no time to dig my second camera with the 100-500 lens out of the saddle bags. All in all, great relaxing trip with lots of time in nature and a few “keeper” photos! Here are a few of my favorites.
Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent
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So super proud of Miss Shelby on completing her Bachelor of Arts from Culver Stockton College. She made the honor roll all four years while playing college softball!
Here are just a few of my favorite captures from her special day. It was an honor to be asked to photograph and help document it.
Jack and Audry went on their first date on May 1st, 2022. Four years later, Jack proposed on May 1st, 2026. Their wedding date is set for May 1st 2027. May 1st is their special date!
I had the distinct honor of being asked to capture their engagement session. It was very cool to be asked to capture their engagement. One session where I actually felt pressure and nervous.
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The Crater of the Diamonds State Park (COD) has been on my bucket list for a long time, even before we moved to Texas. Spring Break 2026, meant no grandkids duties so we decided to pull the camper down for the week of digging in the dirt.
Day 1 Sunday, we drove half way to our planned stop in Memphis, TN. We were about 1 hour out when the truck blew the front passenger tire. Thank goodness for tire pressure monitoring system. I was able to get it stopped and, on the shoulder, safely. Changing the tire was an adventure. Semis going by at 75 was shaking the entire truck and camper. Sharon called the non-emergency number and a sheriff came out and blocked a lane to move people over. Hardest part was getting the spare tire down from under the truck. Got the tire changed. The entire ordeal took about an hour. Worse part was left the key-fob on the bumper when I drove off. DUH! Got to @Tom Sawyer RV campground on the bank of the mighty Mississippi River. Pretty cool to watch the tug boats moving barges up and down the river. Our plans were to head to downtown Memphis to Beal Street for some blues and BBQ. Instead, I was took the tire to a 24 hour tire repair shop and got it back on the truck and the spare put away.
Day 2 Monday, we drove the remaining distance to Murfreesboro RV Park. It was a really nice little campground, 15 full hookup campsites. It was really clean and the staff was very friendly. At the COD you can rent screens to wash the dirt to find diamonds. This RV Park loans you the wagon, buckets, shovels, and screens for free as long as you bring them back. The campsite was only $30 a night and they gave us more than that in equipment rental. Pretty much camped for free along my line of thought.
Day 3 Tuesday, was at COD when they opened at 8:00. Was like 2 people behind Jack Pearadin. Jack is the guy that found the Million dollar 6.03 carat diamond in February this year. Jack and one of his friends preceded to dig a huge deep hole, near where he found his big one. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that alone. So, I stuck with my plan to find smaller pockets of colored gravel and dig and scape up that constate. I filled 3 buckets and headed to the wash plant. Day 1, I washed 13 buckets of gravel to get 1 bucket of centers and another bucket of pretty much the rest of the gravel for the grands to play in. That evening I had Sarah, the camp host watch me center gravel and she gave me a few more tips to get better centers. 13 buckets.
Day 4 Wednesday, back at COD. This time skipped the buckets and just filled the wagon. Was washing gravel next to @Joe Ziezuil who was washing all the gravel that he and Jack was pulling out of their huge deep hole. He had found 1 diamond before on his own. I asked him what I was doing wrong and he gave me the final piece of the puzzle. Thumbs up and off the screen when you are vibrating the gravel back down after making the loaf. Bingo, I was finally throwing “centers” like on YouTube. I would let one center dry a little while I was washing the next one. Then a quick look, and put the center in the Orange Home Depot bucks and the gravel around the center, or what I call a heavy center in the Green Menards buckets. You are allowed to take out 1 five gallon bucket per person per day. So, my plan was to bring home 8 buckets of concentrated gravel. 15 Buckets total.
Day 5 Thursday, my 66th birthday. Sharon wanted to go to one of the crystal mines in the area. We went to @Wegner Crystal Mines in Ida AR. They have several different levels of digs. $6, you can dig all day in their Tailings pile, $19 to be taken up to the active mining area for 2 hours or $57 all day at mine site. We went for the 2-hour dig. Once up there I went right to the 15-foot wall they were working with the excavator. I could see large clumps crystal. I used my rock chisel and hammer trying to get it loose for the first hour. NO go, another younger bigger guy took over and he worked it for a good 30-40 minutes and it was still there. Sharon was digging and looking around in the tailing and found several nice clumps. My last 40 minutes I joined her and I found a gem quality crystal point that she is going to wrap in a basket wrap for a necklace. Ran back to camper to let the dogs out. There was a single lady struggling to get his camper backed into her spot. I was happy to help. She was pretty frustrated and I ended up in her truck backing her camper in for her. We headed into town for Sharon to have some retail therapy. Afterwards, Sharon took me out to eat for my birthday at the @feed Bin Café. I had the best Chicken fried Chicken I have ever had. We I got back to the campground, Sarah the camp host asked me if I wanted 2 buckets of gravel that a previous camper had left after they realized they didn’t have screen to process at home for helping the lady get her camper all parked. It takes 9-10 buckets of dirt to get 1 bucket of gravel. So, another 18-20 buckets of dirt. I washed and flipped it at the campsite that evening to get another bucket of centers. The 3 guys from Texas who were staying in the camper next to me decided they weren’t going to take their 3 buckets of gravel home either. 20 buckets camp host. 24 buckets neighbors, 44 buckets total, and I didn’t even go to COD that day.
Day 6 Friday, Sharon she decided she had enough playing in the dirt. She dropped me off at 8, and picked me up at 4:00. I had bought a set of screens at Loyjoy Diamond Screens from Cindy. I noticed that Jack was using 24” screens and I was using 12” screens. Cindy let me trade my screens back in for a custom-made set of 16”. The 16” were perfect for me and I could process 66% more gravel. There was a High School football coach that had 10-12 football players out there. They started digging a huge hole and 3 or 4 of them were washing gravel. They could not get a center. So, I coached them. They were all throwing centers pretty fast. They were so thankful that they filled my wagon with dirt from their hole. I was able to wash 18 buckets that day for a “true” full bucket of centers only. I gave all my remaining gravel to 2 families staying in our campground. 18 buckets
So, with all the help from my new friends, Sarah camp host, neighbors for Texas, and the football team, I processed 86 buckets. Depending on how heavy the centers the gifted buckets were. My goal was 60, 15 buckets a day times 4 days. But ended up only at the COD for 3 days.
We both agreed we will go back; it would be more fun with more people the guys could dig and the girls could shop and play.
Day 7 Saturday, drove halfway back and stopped at Hinton RV Park, Sikeston MO. I chose this stopping point for dinner options. We ate at Lamberts (Home of the throwed Rolls) birthday dinner #2.
Day 8 Sunday, uneventful drive home! 1682 miles driven, truck average 11.4 in the wind and hills, $618 in Diesel, $249 in Camp fees, total vacation under $1,000. I don’t count food as we eat wherever we are at.
I am still processing the gravel at home in my garage diamond processing plant. At the time of writing this I have 4 possible, although I am guessing they ate crystal not diamonds. With 3 buckets left to process. Plus, the treasure buckets for the grands to find their stuff when they are over for Easter.
Another bucket list item scratched off. I’m tired, sore and happy!
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