Missing Man Formation

This is a tough post to write, and the story belongs to others more than me, but I couldn't NOT write about something so significant to our family.

My brother-in-law Scott was diagnosed with stomach cancer in January.  We knew it was very serious, but we didn't think our time together was so short.  And though due to Covid, his kids had extra time with him, the rest of us were keeping our distance for his safety, so the time seemed even shorter.  Scott told us all at a family meeting that he wanted the time to be "sweet, " not "sad."  

The times we did share together were indeed very sweet.  He was feeling good enough to come over for the Super Bowl and even enjoyed some of the party food like he hadn't in weeks.

Scott had a birthday on May 1st and was in the hospital with some respiratory issues.  We were able to gather outside the hospital and sing and pray for him.   I didn't know that it would be the last time I would see him smile on this earth.

Scott went to be with the Lord on May 20th.  I will always remember how we ALL got to be in his ICU with him (in spite of all Covid rules and even regular rules!).  It was a very tough but sweet goodbye.  

Then we were very blessed when Scott's skiing friends put together a "missing man ceremony" for him.  We gathered at the dock as the ski boats went by in formation.  

Here are some special videos of the event:

Rogue River/Crater Lake

Thanks to some fellow campers at Kangaroo Lake, we secured a actual map of Oregon (so handy when there's no internet) and got some great advice on places to go.  This was a section of our trip when we had planned to be spontaneous.  We had no camping reservations, though we did plan to see Crater Lake at some point.  

So we did our first camping on a national forest back road (near Union Creek, which had a great little restaurant and ice cream shop). Crater Lake was not far away, and it was awesome! Our highlight there was a hike to Mt. Scott - all the more awesome because of the reminder of Scott. We also hiked to the headwaters of the Rogue River (which flows out of Crater Lake) and have ended up seeing many waterfalls on this scenic river - including a beautiful waterfall in this little town we drove to because it has the only internet for miles around. Just happened upon the waterfall.

Crater Lake was almost deserted during the week, at least until noon. We did not even have to pay to get in. Most people here are hiking with masks on all the time, which seems a little over the top, but we just put ours on when we see someone coming.

The water was cold!

Great Fire on the Mountain burger in Union City

Breakfast by Crater Lake

Headwaters of the Rogue River.  I was sick on this hike.

Waterfall in Prospect, Utah

Happy New Year 2021

 

Hello Friends!

Just when you thought the holidays were over, along comes a Christmas letter from your friends, the procrastinators, aka the Seamans! We hope you had a great time celebrating Christ’s birth and ringing out what has to be the weirdest year ever.

Even without Covid, 2020 was a very eventful year for us – a death, a birth, a wedding, milestone birthdays, a milestone anniversary, and an epic road trip.  And our first empty nest.  

Our first grandchild was due in March on our 30^th wedding anniversary.  Our little grandson arrived a few days early on March 14^th.  I traveled to Richmond for the big event, but the hospital had closed for visitors when a national emergency due to Covid was declared just the day before his birth.  While the world was going nuts, we were enjoying just hanging out and holding our new grandson.  He is a very happy and delightful baby, and Joseph and Rebecca are great parents!  We’ve also really enjoyed watching our sons become uncles.  

In May, Terry’s younger brother, Scott, passed away after a short but valiant battle with stomach cancer.  Scott was such a special guy, and we will always miss him.  Terry has spent a lot of time grieving, but he would be the first to tell you how the Lord has really met him in his grief.

One July 18th, we had a much happier family event!  Caleb married Meredith Hudson here in downtown Knoxville!  They had to scale things back a bit due to Covid, but we were very proud of how they handled everything.  It was a beautiful wedding, and we are so happy to have another daughter! 

Up until this July, our nest was still 75% full.  Then in one month’s time, Nathan got his first apartment, Caleb got married, and Noah moved back to college for in-person classes.  So we decided to take our empty nest on the road for a belated anniversary trip.  We flew to San Francisco, rented a camper van, and spent three weeks on the road in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.  It was a phenomenal trip.  And we just missed the fires!

We had a beautiful fall here and got to do quite a bit of hiking.  Then we hosted family and friends for an outdoor tailgate for Terry’s 60^th birthday, which happened to be the day of the Alabama game.  Of course, the game was lousy for Tennessee fans, but we had a lot of fun and won “tailgate of the week”!

We are thankful that Terry’s home renovation business has not really been adversely affected by Covid, and though I did some of my dyslexia therapy on Zoom this Spring, I have mostly been seeing students in-person and have been so busy that I am not taking any more students right now!  We are both blessed to really be enjoying what we are doing.  

Our kids are doing well.  Rebecca, Joseph and Judah are still living in Richmond.  Joseph is a helicopter pilot for the National Guard and is due to be mobilized to Washington, DC in early summer.  Caleb and Meredith are living in Chattanooga.  Their plan is for Meredith to begin travel nursing soon, and Caleb will work on finishing his accounting degree online while they move around.  Nathan is a nurse in the trauma ICU at UT hospital here in Knoxville, and he and his cousin, Ben, rent an apartment not far from us.  Noah is still a student at Lee University.  He has found a passion for directing and hopes to be selected to direct a show for Lee next year.  

We all got to be together during the holidays (and even had a White Christmas!), but we actually forgot to document it with a group photo!  Instead, I’ve included a collage from our year below.  

Hope your 2021 is off to a good start!         

          

Oh Baby!' It's Grand!

It started with a boat . . .

The first year we were married, Terry was really wanting to buy a competition ski boat, I had about $10K in savings that I brought as a "dowry" when we got married, and I suggested that he just go ahead and buy the boat!  He agreed but said that surely there was something I wanted that I could get some day as a sort of payback.  I said, "Well, I've always wanted a Kawai baby grand piano."  He said when we got a place that was big enough for one, I'd get it.  Well, about nine years later we moved into a house that was plenty big enough for a baby grand, but I decided it just wasn't really the time.  I still played my upright, and I think secretly I was worried that my kids would destroy a nice piano.

Fast forward to 2019.  We are on our second competition ski boat.  We don't live on the lake anymore, but we haul our boat to Melton Hill Lake to ski.  Terry's brother, Scott, was itching for a new ski boat of his own, and he approached Terry with the idea of joint ownership.  They would buy the boat together and keep it at Scott's dock. Seemed like a great idea.

So, Terry brought up the grand piano.  How about now?  He mentioned how I had just gotten inheritance money from my Dad's estate, and wouldn't it be nice to do something special with some of it? 

So here it is.  My baby.  My Kawai baby grand.  I play it almost every day and think about my parents and the sacrifices they made to pay for lessons and listen to my endless practicing.  The piano is beautiful, and we did not have to sacrifice our dining room for it - only do a little rearranging.  I even had black furniture in there, so it all goes together.

Merry Christmas to me! 

My Top Hikes

I love hiking, and I have been blessed to take lots of great hikes!  These have been day hikes, which I prefer to backpacking.  Some of the best hikes I have been on have spoiled me for some of the lesser hikes.  For instance, I have learned that my favorite hikes involve majestic mountains, water, and sweeping views - preferably all the way, not just at the end.  So though hiking in the Smoky Mountains in my backyard is fun, those hikes are not top on my list.

I've thought a lot about what makes a good hike.  To me the ultimate hike would have mountains, water (bonus if a waterfall), sweeping views, good weather (only sort of out of my control as I try to plan my visits when the weather has a strong probability of  being excellent), good company (I have never hiked alone), and a restaurant along the way (hey, a girl can dream).  And while I have a sense of accomplishment with a long and hard hike, I really appreciate a hike that gives similar views with way less effort.  

My top 50 hikes reflect my particular adventures on these trails.  Different weather or different company might give you a totally different experience. These hikes include mountains, lakes, ocean, waterfalls, canyons, desert, cool rock formations, villages, castles, and even several movie locations!   

So here is my list as of August 2026 (and except for #1, it is MY list, not Terry's).  Many of the hikes have their own blog posts and are linked. 

1.  Stairway to Heaven (Oahu, HI).  Terry and I have agreed that this will remain #1, as it was the first epic hike we took together.  And it is now illegal and comes with a huge fine to any who attempt it.  To be fair, it was also illegal when we took it, but a boy scout at a grocery store in Kailua recommended it and told us how to do it. I admit it being illegal did add to the thrill!  This hike goes up a rickety staircase to a radio tower used in WW2 and has almost continuous views of mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

2.  Four Mile/Panorama/Mist Trail (Yosemite,CA)  Also our longest hike at approximately 15 miles.  Truly epic scenery. One nice perk was having an entirely guilt-free breakfast buffet at Yosemite Lodge the next day.  

3.  Angel's Landing (Zion, UT)  Probably the best bang for the buck as it's a relatively short hike and totally legal, so it perhaps could have been #1

4.   PR8 – Vereda da Ponte de Sao Laurencios, aka “Dragon’s Tail” (Madeira, Portugal)  A totally awesome hike despite experiencing 50 mph winds and a brief rainstorm.  A pretty easy and relatively short hike with a continuous ocean view - sometimes on both sides.  Bonus features are a restaurant at the end of the trail and the possibility of taking a boat ride back to see the views from a different angle.  

5.  PR1 – Pico Areiro (Maderia, Portugal) A thrilling mountaintop hike with sheer dropoffs and an ocean view.  Hiking above the clouds part of the time was a bonus.  Nice restaurant on the top where I first tried Portuguese lemon tea. 

6.  Precipice/Beehive Trails (Acadia, ME) Two trails that are very similar, and you can do both in one day.  If you have to choose, take Precipice, but it is not open all year. 

7.  Cat Bells/Maiden Moor/High Spy (Lake District, UK) Such a special memory of this hike taken with my daughter!  I want to go back. 

8.  Hooker Valley Track (Mt. Cook, NZ)  So many great hikes in NZ.  But many of them were quite a challenge.  This one I could do over and over. 

9.  Roy's Peak (Wanaka, NZ)  - a hike with a continuous view!

10.  Portage Pass (Whittier, AK) - Pacific Ocean in one direction, glacial lake in the other, kettle ponds everywhere!

11.   Rob Roy Glacier (Wanaka, NZ)  - our first glacier hike

12.  Ben Lomond (Queenstown, NZ) - another continuous view hike

13.  Harding Ice Field (Kenai Fords National Park, AK)

14.  Chapel Basin (Pictured Rocks, MI) on Lake Superior

15.   Monterosso/Vernazza/Corniglia (Cinque Terra,Italy) - a very unique hiking experience from village to village.  Wonderful food in each village, and very picturesque. 

16.   Skyline Trail (Mt. Ranier, WA) - lots of wildflowers!

17. Mostnica Gorge/Voje Waterfall (Triglavski National Park, Slovenia) - not just good food for a hike, this was the best food we had on our entire trip 

18.  The Narrows (Zion, UT) - So fun to hike in a river!

1   19.   Ursa Beach from Cabo de Roca Lighthouse (Sintra, Portugal)  We were a bit rushed taking this hike as the sun was going down, but oh how gorgeous it was at the golden hour!

20.   PR1.2 Pico Ruivo (Madeira, Portugal)  We tried to take this hike twice.  The first time, it was socked in by fog and we almost did it anyway.  So glad we waited and tried again the next day. 

     21.   Levada Moinho/Nova (Madeira, Portugal)  Absolutely gorgeous hike with ocean view, mountain view, wildflowers, levada the whole way, and a tunnel and a cool double walk-behind waterfall!

     22.  PR9 – Levada da Caldeiro Verde (Madeira, Portugal)  This hike was 10 miles long but was an easy hike because the elevation change was so mild.  The water is a constant companion. 

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23.  Avalanche Peak (Yellowstone, WY)- This is the first alpine hike I ever took, and it was one that I took with my Dad.  A very special memory.  

1624.  Mt. Dickerman (Cascades, WA) - a hike a took with a guy I was dating (not Terry, LOL).  We ran into a thunderstorm on the way down and had to shelter in a cave of sorts.  

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1125.  Mt. Sunday (NZ) - LOTR fans will know this spot as Edoras, and here I am looking towards Helm's Deep.  We had this hike all to ourselves. 

1 26.  South Kaibab Trail (Grand Canyon, AZ)

 127.  Mt. Scott (Crater Lake, OR) - we took this hike a few months after Scott died

   28.  Taranaki Falls (Tongariro National Park, NZ) - in the shadow of Mt. Doom

29.  Lost Mine Trail (Big Bend, TX) - a hike with the whole family (Rebecca took the photo as she could not bear to get any closer to the edge)

      30. Devil's Garden - (Arches, UT) We got very lost on this hike but miraculously got a cell phone signal and downloaded the deluxe version of All Trails.  Also thought this trail was way more dangerous than Angel's Landing as there were no rails or anything to hang onto at times. 

2  31.  Wapama Falls on Hetch Hetchy Lake (Yosemite, CA)

32.   Figure Eight Trail (Bryce Canyon, UT)

33.   Savage Alpine Trail (Denali National Park, AK)

34. Pipiwai Trail, Seven Sacred Pools (Haleakala, Maui, HI) - a series of waterfalls ending in the Pacific Ocean

35.  Falls on the N. Umpqua River – Clearwater, Susan Creek, Fall Creek, Toketee (OR) - I've hiked to lots of waterfalls in TN and AR, but there were just a series of falls one after another along this road in Oregon.  Plus the name "Susan Creek" gave this series of hikes some points!

2 36. Mala Osojnica (Lake Bled, Slovenia)

2   37. Delicate Arch (Arches, UT)

2 38. Lake Como Greenbelt (Italy)  - an urban hike, lots of cobblestones, and an iconic scene from Star Wars

39.   Canyon Overlook Trail (Zion, UT) - great during the golden hour

   

   40. Lake Marian Track (Fjiorlands National Park, NZ)

3   41.  Bruce Trail – Horse Lake to Halfway Log Dump (Ontario)

     42.  Chimney Tops (Smoky Mountains, TN) - My favorite hike in the Smokies.  The first hike I ever took with Terry.  Also took our Piney Flats youth group here.  And all our kids.  I'm bummed that they no longer allow you to climb on the rocks at the end. 

   43. Mt. LeConte via Alum Cave (Smoky Mountains, TN) - I have a love/hate relationship with Mt. LeConte.  I have been up the Alum Cave Trail with Terry (fun and the most scenic route, but we locked ourselves out of our car on our return and it was very complicated to get home), the Trillium Gap trail with my sister-in-law (a very fun day), and hiking up a creek/bushwhacking with Terry, Carol, and the Eastman Hiking Club - worst hike ever with stinging nettles, blowdowns, and we barely made it UP before dark.  

   44. Carver’s Gap to Grassy Ridge (Roan Mountain, TN) - My favorite bald in the Appalachians because we have lots of good memories there.  Best when the rhododendrons are blooming.

    45. Grewingk Glacier (Homer, AK)

     

3 46. Max Patch (Smoky Mountains, TN) - easy hike, iconic view

   47. Charlie’s Bunion (Smoky Mountains, TN)

3 48.  Cummins Falls (Cookeville, TN) - part of the hike is in the water.  Also broke a bone in my hand when I fell on the slippery rocks

   49.  Laurel Falls (Hampton, TN) - one of the first hikes our kids took

4  50. Yellow Rock Trail (Devil's Den, AR) - lots of memories on this trail in Arkansas.  Terry and I took a hike here with my sisters when we were dating.  The curly hair is really something. 

    Honorable Mention:

     These are the hikes that would surely have made the list if they had been completed!

     Katahdin, Baxter State Park, ME

    This was the most frustrating hiking experience we have ever had because the logistics were immense, the trail was difficult, and we still didn’t summit. I’m not sure we will ever try again.  Details here. 

    Marathon Mountain, Seward, AK

    Didn’t finish this trail because we had to get back to the harbor for our dinner cruise.  The part that we took was scenic and fun!  I can’t believe people run up this mountain in a race. 

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