Nashville

My wife Karen's mom & dad Bill & Hazel Gustin just celebrated their 50th wedding anniverary in late October! This past weekend the four of us took off to see The Grand Ole Opry and stay at The Opryland Hotel. I'm not able to get out of the office very often so for me it was a breath of fresh air! The Hotel is a must see...simply incredible! The Rockettes were performing and we got tickets to the show. The girls liked it! The Grand Ole Opry was held at the Ryman downtown Nashville! A blend of old country music and modern artist were featured. A good time was had by all! We toured Studio B on Music Row were over 30,000 songs have been recorded including half of Elvis Presley's recorded songs. That was a great field trip!

Southern Ohio Travel Guide

With gas prices on the rise and family budgets tightening, many families may look for vacation spots a little closer to home and less costly. Brown Publishing who owns our local newspaper, just put out a magazine called TRIP - Southern Ohio Travel Guide. I thought it was well done, informative, giving many options for the family to have a good time in an affordable, close to home manner! If you haven't saw one, check it out! They are around town, available at the Times Gazette newspaper office, or see me!

Vacation

Lake Tahoe in the Fall! Karen and I spent a week vacationing in Lake Tahoe during mid-October.

Karen and I flew into Reno, rented an SUV and headed for the Sierra Nevada Mountains!

Lake Tahoe is located on the California/Nevada line at approximately 6200 ft. elevation surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Average depth of the lake is 100 feet of the purest water on planet Earth! The lake is 12 miles wide and 22 miles long. Waterfront real estate is owned by prominent business people and movie stars and can be purchased in the 7-8 digit range. We stayed in the Mariott at South Shore across from Tahoe Tom's Gas Station where Tom Cruise made a movie. Outstanding dining with spectacular views of the lake made for enjoyable evenings. The Edgewood and The Chart House were our favorites!

We visited Virginia City where we walked the streets of the old desert western town. Karen and I took a train ride through the countryside and toured the largest silver mine ever discovered in Nevada, the Comstock Load.

We visited Yosemite Valley and National Forest for two days. Karen took 8 rolls of pictures of trees and rocks! The Sequoia trees were amazing! The Tioga Highway winding through the 750,000 acres was breathtaking! Glacier Point is a must see! El Capitan and Half-Dome were my favorite rocks. The waterfalls were incredible!

A visit to the Apple Hill area allowed us to enjoy the Fall Harvest Festival. Apple cider, apple fritters, apple pies, apple wine....everything apples!

The most memorable event of the trip......being stuck on a gondola for 35 minutes! No cell phone service, no communication with anyone.....I decided to take a nap!

We highly recommend this amazing trip to anyone with an adventurous spirit!

Tags: Vacation, Lake Tahoe, Trip, Adventure