Standing Stone State Park, Hilham, Tn.

Hiking around the Park!

     Today was a nice day! We picked up one of our Grandchildren and drove to Hilham, Tn to go to the Park. We got a late start for us, but it was a last minute decision to go...so off we went. Got to the Park around 2 ish and started our hike.

     

     The very beginning of the hike was a little tiring for me, a pretty steep climb..but low and behold they read my mind...and had a bench at the top. Took a quick breather, then continued our hike. The rest of the hike was up and down...some parts being very narrow and a little slick from the rain the day before but not to bad. The trail was kind of easy after the initial climb, like I said ups and downs and a little narrow in spots, but a pretty easy hike on out!

     Me and the Grandson did the hike while my wife drove the car to where we were to finish. While waiting for us, she decided to walk around by the river...started to go down an embankment full of pine needles and slipped and down she went, hurting her ankle, leg and arm. Now that doesn't sound to bad, but my wife had a car accident years ago and had rods and pins and wires installed, so when she falls like that, she gets a tremendous amount of pain. She will be sore for weeks...hopefully she will be able to walk tomorrow, we will have to see! She sucked it up...but I could tell she was and still is in a lot of pain.

     Anyway, she will kill me for posting that...so....if you don't here from me anymore, you know what happened! Here are some pictures from the hike! I hope you enjoy them and have a great day! And I hope I inspired you to "go take a hike"

The Hike To Mt. LeConte!

Our little over 11 mile round trip Hike up Alum Cave Trail to Mt. LeConte!

     We got to the parking lot right about 9:20 am, both parking area's were full already. But we found a spot along the road for overflow. We started our hike about 9:30, stopping along the way in the very beginning to take pictures here and there. We continued to the area they call the Arch Rock where they have stone stairs that continue on up the trail. The next point of interest would be Inspiration Point, a nice view as your climbing. Continuing on you then come to The Alum Cave Bluffs, this marks about the halfway point. It is also a good spot to stop and have a snack or a meal and water before continuing along. It is 2.3 miles from the parking lot. It is still another 2.7 miles up to the lodge. And to us it also marks the spot where the trail becomes much steeper and harder to navigate. As you get about a mile or so from the bluffs the trail becomes steep in many different spots with many narrow rocky  spots that have a cable for stability and to help you get along safely. It is highly recommended you bring plenty of water for drinking. 

     Personally I would bring a minimum of 3 (16.9) oz. bottles of water per person. And as when anywhere in natural surroundings, pack out your garbage so future generations can enjoy the beauty of our recreational area's, and leave nothing to harm the environment or animals of the wild, including any food. 

     As you reach the Lodge, there is another trail on your right that goes to Myrtle Point and the Cliffs. That is a nice place to sit and relax, have some more food and drinks (packing out your trash), and taking pictures before making your descend back down to the parking lots. (You may also want to bring veggie sticks or trail mix to snack on in between stops to keep you going)! They have some rest rooms at the Lodge area around the cabins if you need to use the facilities before making your way down. And during there open hours, the Lodge sells Packed lunches if you don't bring your own.

     Below is a video I made of the pictures we took along our way. I hope you will take the time to watch it and enjoy the scenery, and I hope it inspires you to (Go take a Hike)! 

     And just to give you a time frame of the hike, with our stopping and taking pictures and eating or resting here and there it took us almost 8 hours to complete. We did spend about an hour or so at the top though!

 

Going Hiking Again, Mt. LeConte!

     Well, it's Friday, yeah! My friend is coming tonight and we are going to hike the Alum Cave trail to Mt. LeConte tomorrow morning. Baked another crock pot cheesecake, blueberry topping this time, packed snacks and food for the day long hike, got sauce and dough made and ready for Pizza tonight, we are on a roll! 
     I have been wanting to hike Mt. LeConte for about two years now, never had anyone to go with me. I don't want to hike alone, it is always better to have another person with you, you never know what can or will happen.

     If you are interested in checking out Mt. LeConte:

 hikinginthesmokys.com/lecontealum.htm

     I will up date you all with a new post as soon as I have a chance, with pictures or a video for sure, lol! Stay tuned and thanks for checking in on me!

     Have a good day, see you again soon, Mike!

Hand Tossed Pizza Making!

Today I'm making pizza for my grandson and daughter!

     I decided to blog my pizza making process for today's story. I will be showing it step by step. 

     I stopped eating Gluten a  couple of years ago, and I will tell you, it is tempting every time I make pizza to have a slice...but then it would not end up being just a slice if you know what I mean!

      Now, I have an electric oven and cook the pizza on the second shelf setting on 475 for about 6 minutes, then I switch to broil to cook the top till done to your liking, usually 3-5 minutes. You have to keep an eye on it when it is on broil until you see how it cooks in your oven. On a Gas oven, I find you need to cook on lowest shelf for 7 minutes or so then  put on broil. You need to experiment a little, every oven is different! If you have a stone, I would cook on 475 after the stone is at temp. for about 10-15 minutes!

     So much for the chit chat, you are probably here for the recipe and process, lol!

Music is sung and written by My good Friend, Bronze James with Chance James and Legend Reborn!

Thanks for visiting my page today! I hope it was helpful!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For some interesting reading about St. Patrick's Day go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick's_Day

From Me to You, Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Hiking to Abrams Falls, Cade’s Cove, Townsend, Tennessee!

     Me, my wife, three Grandchildren, and one of my daughters and her husband drove out to Cade’s Cove and took the 5 mile round trip hike to Abrams Falls. It was a spectacular day as far as the weather was concerned! The trail conditions were really good, just a few muddy spots from run off, but nothing to really speak of. I was surprised that we all made it out to the falls and back without any problems (meaning the grand kids did great, very little wining about being tired) they were great troopers!
     The only wildlife we spotted today were several deer around the park and along the trail, (and the grand kids of course) lol! Please take the time to look at the photo's of today's journey, and thank you for stopping by my blog!
     I am looking forward to climbing Mt. LeConte in the near future by means of the Alum Cave Trail, which is an 11 miles round trip hike! I'll keep you posted.

Hike To Abrams Falls VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL An update on yesterday's Crock Pot Cheesecake pics! Ah! Now that's a nice looking slice! Nice and creamy, sorry about the slight blur! (can I blame it on the camera...please? Lol)

Crock Pot Cheesecake!

Today we are making Crock Pot Cheesecake!

      Cooking cheesecake in the crock pot is an excellent way to keep the oven heat out of your kitchen on days that are hot enough already. It is almost virtually trouble free! Just mix, pour, put in crock pot, and forget about it for 2-3 hours depending on your crock pot.
     There are several ways to do it. For one you can use an already made store bought crust for ease, which I did here, sometimes you have to rig to fit as shown below, depending on the size and shape of your crock pot.

Another way is to find a bowl or dish that will actually fit down into your crock pot and make your own crust from Graham Crackers, Oreo's, Pecan Sandies, Animal crackers, Shortbread or whatever type crust you like.
     Step 1. Get all ingredients ready and together along with setting up your crock pot.
To set up your crock pot especially if using store bought crust. Invert a bowl tall enough to support the bottom of the pre bought crust. Add 3 cups of water and turn to high to heat up.

     

                                                                                    

                                                                                 

     Step 2. Cream the cream cheese, the sugar, the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and butter together until smooth.                                                                     

     Step 3. When smooth add 1 egg at a time and mix on lowest speed till just mixed. Then use a spatula to scrape down the sides and blend everything together.

     Step 4. Put you pre made crust on top of your inverted bowl.

     Step 5. Pour in your batter!

      Step 6. Place lid on crock pot and cook 2-3 hours on high, do not remove lid during cooking, it will cool off to much. Mine cooked for about 2.5 hours!

     

     Step 7. Turn crock pot off, turn lid some to help cool off about 1 hour. After cooling down for about an hour place in refrigerator for 4 or more hours. You can then top if you wish, or eat plain. I hope you enjoy!

     You can also feel free to substitute any of the flavoring to Almond, Amaretto, etc. You can also make the same recipe, but leave out the sour cream if you wish, it works just fine that way too. You can even add some heavy cream, 1/4 cup instead of the sour cream. Really depends on the texture and flavor you are looking for. I for one have made it without the sour cream, using just the cream cheese and was told it was the best cheesecake ever. But for this one I used the sour cream to see how it worked. 

Below is how it looks when it is done!

Below is how it looks after cooling for a while!

     Thank You for reading, hope you try this, it is really good, and it is simple to do! I made this for company

coming on Friday, so if I remember to take a pick of a sliced portion, I will post it then. Have a great day everyone!

Put my friends name to take pic, then added the rest of the topping, so we now have the finished product!