Fort Loudoun (Monroe County, Tennessee)

Beyond my love of the great outdoors and sense of adventure, I also consider myself a bit of a history buff and when offered the opportunity to visit notable historic sites, I always take advantage. While leaving the Knoxville, Tennessee area, one such site was only a short detour away and I had to go. Fort Loudoun was a wooden fortification built by the British between 1756 and 1757 to help garner support from the Cherokee at the outset of the French and Indian War. This definitely seems like some place I want to check out. Though the original fort was likely destroyed over time, it was recreated from the original plans in the 1930's.

A state historic site complete with visitors center/museum has been built nearby to preserve and educate on the historic fort. After passing briefly through the museum, I make way out to the fort, which sits on a small peninsula (itself on a small island) jutting out into the Little Tennessee River. The fort is of wooden construction and consists of a palisade surrounding somewhat complicated diamond configuration. As I read the information placards, I learn that it was also originally surrounded by a dry mote and row of thorn bushes. Built on a hillside, the palisade follows the contour of the land to fortify the structures within. At each of the four points of the diamond a platform has been built inside to host several small canons, which are shown here as replicas. I can imagine this would have been a fairly difficult fortification to attack with all of these defenses.

Inside the stake walls, a number of structures served as home to the residents. These include a series of barracks, a storehouse, powder magazine, and blacksmith shop. It's open and roomy in here and the flag of the thirteen colonies flies overhead. I can imagine being a British soldier back in that time and being stationed here at the furthest reaches of the known world. It must have been exhilarating. 

My tour of the facility now complete, I wander slowly back to my car still lost in my thoughts of what it must have been like back then. Back to reality though, I have a long drive home and I need to get started on that.

Meigs Falls (Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee)

 

After leaving the nearby Tuckaleechee Caverns, I decided to drive the short distance into Great Smokey Mountains National Park to visit a small waterfall visible from the road. Meigs Falls is not all that impressive, but is easily visible from a small pull off along the winding Little River Gorge Road. As I pull my car over, I see there are a number of people here taking in the view of the small waterfall. In the near distance, I spot a stream of water plummeting perhaps twenty feet over the left side of a rock cliff. The view is surrounded by fall colors, which definitely adds to the charm. However, I imagine this would be much more scenic after heavy rains when the waterfall is coming over the entire rock cliff, instead of just one side. Either way, it was only a short detour and worth a stop.

Tuckaleechee Caverns (Blount County, Tennessee)

Yesterday morning, I drove up to Knoxville to attend a Craft Beer Festival, but while I'm in the area, I wanted to hit a few stops. After a somewhat rocky night, I got ready and left the hotel headed for Tuckaleechee Caverns near Townsend Tennessee. This is a privately managed cave system like many others and draws a lot of tourists from the nearby Great Smokey Mountains National Park, though it is technically not within the park.

Arriving just as the facility opened for business, I checked in and paid the tour fee and just started looking around while waiting for the tour to start at 10:15 am. A number of others arrived afterwards and by the time of the tour, we had a group of about twenty people ready to descend into the earth. Our guide lead us down a hall way and then a winding ramp into the original sinkhole that revealed the cave to a group of children in the early twentieth century. It had been known to the local Cherokee, but apparently not widely used for an purpose. 

Here the tour guide offers a little history and a little geology, as well as setting expectations for the tour. He explains that there are some 410 total steps to climb up and down over the course of about a mile-and-a-half and that the full tour will take about 90 minutes. Everyone nods their agreement and we descend down a set of manmade steps into the depths. 

The area of the cave the tour travels through is mostly well lit with stairs, paved walkways, and hand rails. Like most caves, it's cool and humid. The first section seems to be little more than caved in earth, probably from the sinkhole. Soon though, we enter an area much more 'cavelike', complete with stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and a running stream below us. Though much like the many other limestone cave systems I've visited in the the past, it's still quite beautiful.

We walk a short ways before the guide stops us and begins providing some basic cave education, and explaining in basic geologic terms how some of the features have formed over the eons. There are some really nice columns here and a very large flowstone that is considered (dead), as there is no longer water running over it causing the mineral deposit to grow any further. 

The stream below our feet ebbs and flows, runs in and out of the rock and continues through the cave at a pretty good pace in areas. Eventually, we reach the Big Room, which is said to be the size of a football stadium, though it's difficult to discern as depth perception in caves, which generally lack flat surfaces, is challenging. We reach an area in this room with some benches affixed to the stone walls and our guide askes us to take a seat. He proceeds to demonstrate true darkness by shutting the lights off. He also briefly convinces some of the younger participants that they can create "friction light", but rubbing their hands to together very fast. It makes for a good laugh, when he tells them the truth. 

Turning the lights back on, he points out a couple of large stalagmites far in the distance, including one called the "Dinosaur's Toothpick". This is a unique one in my experience in that it is so slender. It's impossible to tell it's height from so far away, but informs us that it is over twenty feet tall. 

Leaving the big room, we return the way we came and then passing back by the staircase we first descended to get here, pass by it an continue in the other direction along a paved path, which runs beside the stream in a zigzag pattern. There are a few areas to watch one's head, but the path is relatively easy to traverse. At one point we stop and our guide tells of the chemical composition of the water and how clean it is thanks to the limestone filtration. He invites us to reach down, grab a handful, and drink it. I and a couple of others do so. It's not as cold as I would have expected; cool, but not cold.

As we continue on, the sound of slapping water begins to fill the cave and our guide informs us that we are approaching the waterfall. Finally getting there, we are treated to a magnificent feature. A narrows stream of water is falling over a steep cliff in the ceiling to slap against a large mineral deposit and fan out around a moderately sized room and then falling into what may be the origin of at least this part of the stream. Looking up towards the source as it runs over the cliff, I can see another waterfall coming over another cliff much higher up. It must go on and on like this, but beyond this second waterfall, is darkness and the unknown. This is a really spectacular site and I'm glad to be able to see it.

After our visit to the waterfall, we return to the entrance and climb back up the stairs, returning to the visitors center. This really was a nice tour and a very interesting cave system. The waterfall at the end was the highlight and I would recommend a visit for anyone in the general area.

Elkmont and Daisytown Ghost Towns (Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee)

It's about 5pm and with the sun setting behind the mountainside above me, I'm debating on sleeping in my car, rather than putting my tent up at the campsite I reserved. I brought a tent, but I also prepared to sleep in the car due to the high potential for rain overnight. Not that I mind camping in the rain, but as I want to get an early start tomorrow, I thought it might be just as well to save myself from having to break camp. After all, I bought this Subaru Outback because I could fully stretch out in it when I put the seats down. I decide sleep in the car. 

Since I don't have a lot of time, I quickly walk through the campground and across the main road to hike the short Elkmont Nature Trail. I had seen images of old houses and from the research I did, it seems they may be in this area. The hike is very short and does a loop around small stream, but offers no sight of any structures. I did see a couple of large turkeys though grazing in the area between the campground and the road. 

Debating on what to do next, I head to the other side of the river across a sturdy bridge and discover another parking area and trailhead here. Walking up the trail a short distance, I see some kind of stone ruins, but more like an entry gate to an estate than anything else. I'm not convinced that is the right way either. Doubling back, I head up the paved road and wander into the restored homes of the 1930's resort community of Daisy Town. This was a destination that brought the attention of the affluent crowd to the park. I'm unsure of when it was abandoned, but the National Park service has done a marvelous job of restoring the houses on at least one street of that community. I wander about a bit, but don't delay too long as it's getting dark. 

As I start to make my way back to camp, I catch site of what appears to be an old chimney up another hill and climb up to check it out. Once atop the hill, I can see that there are actually the ruins of at least 4-5 houses up here. These appear to be older than those at Daisytown, which just a bit more than a hundred yards away. I'm unsure of whether this was part of the town or perhaps part of the older town of Elkmont. After exploring just a bit more, I head back to camp to make some dinner. 

It did end up raining through the night and it continued well after I awoke. Not having to pack up the tent and other gear made hitting the road much faster. Though I had wanted to do another hike today, I decided against it with the rain seemingly all that was on the agenda for the day. When I eventually got home, I did a little further research about Elkmont and Daisytown, but still came to no firm conclusions. I'm convinced there is more to Elkmont than what I found, but it's exact location remains something of a mystery to me.

Cades Cove (Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee)

Before heading to the campground, I decided to do the scenic 11-mile loop around Cades Cove, which is one of the most visited parts of Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Though, I've been to the park a few times over the years, I've never been to this section and thought this trip would be a good opportunity.

The entrance was a little confusing and I had to turn around a couple of times, but eventually found the correct way and joined dozens of other cars exploring the area. Cades Cove opens up beautifully this time of year. This secluded valley on the southwestern side of the park and was home to several settlers before the park was established. Many of their homesteads have been preserved and are one of the draws to this part of the park.

As I make way down the one-lane road, following numerous other cars, we are gifted with sites of the valley, which remains grasslands (after being cleared by the settlers nearly two centuries ago after the Cherokee were forced to surrender their claims) surrounded by low rolling mountains currently lush with the colors of fall. Movement is very slow, as the cars ahead of me stop often to look at . . . well, I'm not exactly sure what they are looking at in most cases. 

Making a sharp 90-degree turn, cars get backed up a long way and I see two people a few cars ahead of me get out and begin taking pictures of something, but it's not until they have moved on that I can see what they are looking at. A large black bear, fat and ready for winter, had just crossed the gravel road and was lumbering through the field on the right. I didn't stop, but I did slow down to get a picture through my passenger window of this big guy. Unfortunately, there was a barbed wire fence somewhat obstructing the shot, but it still turned out pretty good. 

Continuing further, I park at near the Cades Cove grist mill and walk around to visit the preserved buildings in this area, which includes a home and several other farm buildings. They are all well preserved and this appears to be a very popular part of the area, as there are dozens and dozens of cars parked here and people walking around taking it all in.

Soon and after having seen most of the structures, I head back to the car and start heading out of the area. There are couple of more old homesteads along the way, but for the most part I'm just anxious to get to my campsite as darkness is approaching and I have another hike to do from camp. Overall, this was a pretty scenic drive into yesteryear. I only wish visitors would do as the signage asks and pull over instead of stopping traffic constantly.

Autumn Colors in the Smokies (Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee)

I had originally planned on camping in Great Smokey Mountain National Park earlier in the year, but had to change plans due to some family obligations. At the same time I cancelled my original reservation, I was able to make another for October. Now that time is here and I'm headed to the second largest national park east of the Mississippi River. 

As I traverse the winding Newfound Gap road, I'm can't help but be in awe of the amazing palette of autumn colors on these ancient mountainsides. This should be just about peak time and the examples I'm seeing, suggest that to be true. I know Acadia National Park in Maine is well known for it's fall colors, but the combination of color and the aging Appalachian Mountains just does something magical to the visual sense. The colors stretch out like thanksgiving cornucopia as far as the eye can see. Truly stunning!

Fort Yargo Super Moon Hike (Barrow County, Georgia)

Fort Yargo State Park is only a few miles from my house and knowing that tonight would not only be a full moon, but a super moon (when the moon is at it's closest point to the Earth), I decided to schedule a hike for the Meetup to for an evening event at the park. Why not get some miles in while enjoy the lunar show. That said, it had been drizzling off and on all day and while the forecast for this evening looks to be partly cloudy with no call for rain, I'm going to prepare just in case. I had called the park office before scheduling this hike to confirm that the gates didn't close until 10:00pm, by which time we need to be out of there.

Once at the park and after wrapping a work conference call, I met up with the hikers that had signed up for my event. Nine of us in all. We did a quick round of introductions and I explained the plan, which was to hike the loop trail around the lake, which should give us multiple angles to see the moon, which was set to rise about twenty minutes after our planned start time. With all of that out of the way, we crossed the long wooden bridge departing the visitors center and entered the woods. 

Joros, joros, and more joros. That is the theme of the first part of this hike. Very large, but harmless joro spiders seemed to have colonized this part of the park. We pass by hundreds of them waiting for prey in their large, sticky webs. We stop to take a better look at a couple of the larger specimen before continuing on. 

The cloud cover doesn't seem to be easing up and I'm beginning to doubt if we actually get any views of the moon. We continue on though, as there are two objectives to tonight's event and the moon viewing is only one of them. We make pretty good time as we round the northern end of the lake and by this time darkness is beginning to set in. The kudzu tunnels offer a season-appropriate vibe as we pass through them in the twilight. 

Shortly after this section, we begin to feel some rain drops and when it finally starts raining harder, I stop the group and those that prepared properly put on their rain gear. The rain is coming down pretty good now and we are almost exactly halfway across the lake from where we left our cars. We're going to get soaked, but ah well. It's still nice to be outside, though our chances of seeing the moon have shrunk to near zero. 

As we tromp through the wet and somewhat muddy trail, I point out a few things to my comrades, including the ground spider eyes which sparkle back at us when our headlights hit them. I also catch sight of a tiny little snake on the trail and we stop to examine him, as he slithers around in the mud trying to escape us. He's a tiny little thing, only about eight inches long and with a body-diameter of no more than a quarter-inch. Later, I will find out this is called a smooth worm snake and is common in this environment. 

Finally getting back to the parking area and fairly wet, we say our goodbyes and head to our respective homes. I use the restroom and speak with another ranger who very nicely informs that the trail actually close at sundown. I explain that I had gotten conflicting information from the park office and he doesn't make a fuss about it, but just wishes me well. Total distance for the hike was about 6.4 miles, which isn't bad for a Monday evening. On my way home, the rain stops and the clouds part just a bit to allow me to get a picture of the moon from my driveway. So, I guess it was mission accomplished.

Caesars Head - Devils Kitchen (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

I was thinking I was done with hiking and site-seeing for the day and was content to finish the drive home from Asheville, NC to my home, outside Atlanta, GA. Nature had other ideas though. After departing the trailhead where I got two different hikes in, I passed Caesars Head Overlook. I decided to turn around and check it out and I'm glad I did. 

Caesars Head State Park is apparently named for a large outcropping that someone at some point in time thought looked like the head of Julius Caesar. After having seen it myself, I'm not sure I see the resemblance, but to each their own. The overlook itself though is pretty impressive as it opens up south towards Table Mountain, exposing all of the lush greenness and very beginning of fall colors in the valley between. 

Walking around just a bit, I see a sign at the top of steel staircase that seems to descend into the rock itself. The sign says Devils Kitchen, and with I name like that, you just know I had to explore it. There isn't a lot to it, but what is there is a large fracture of one of the building-sized boulders that make up this outcropping. Though at an roughly 30° angle, the crack is perfectly flat and the staircase descends into it. After about forty feet, I pop out the other side and look back at what I just walked through. It's in impressive crack to be sure. 

The trail from here offers a view of the other side of Caesars Head, which doesn't look any more to me like the famous general than the first side did. I follow the path around and back up the other side, which returns me to the parking area. This wasn't really a hike, but the overlook and interesting geology made it worth a stop.

Raven Cliff Falls at Caesars Head Mountain (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

I'm headed home from a craft beer festival in Asheville, NC and wanted to get in a couple of hikes along the way. Departing from the same trailhead as my previous hike, I headed the opposite direction and followed a small connector trail to a second parking lot, from which the Raven Cliff Falls Trail departs. This short trail leads to what I'm told is a spectacular waterfall. There is another waterfall by this same name in Northern Georgia, which I have hiked to a few times, but it's only real claim to uniqueness is that it has carved out a trench in a large cliffside and now flows behind the scenes. It's pretty and a nice hike, but I've always been curious about it's South Carolina counterpart. Today, we'll see how they compare. 

As I make way downhill on a gravel path, I see a few other hikers and realize that this route actually shares trail with two much longer trails, the Foothills Trail and the Palmetto Trail, both of which I would like to backpack at some point in the future. So, there is a good chance that I will pass this way again.

Soon, the gravel ends and the trail passes over tree roots and dirt as it flows mostly downhill towards the vantage point for the waterfall. There are a few junctions and I pass a number of other hikers, but overall, it's a pretty easy hike. That said though, there does appear to be some indicators of coming rains in the cloud cover and I push my pace a bit more. I don't mind getting wet, but if I can avoid it, I will.

Eventually, I come to a T-intersection and having reviewed the trail map, I know I need to turn left while the option to the right is a continuance of the much longer trails mentioned previously. After only a short distance, I come to a covered observation deck which has been built on the side of the opposing cliff from Raven Cliff Falls. 

The waterfall is quite impressive and while I can't get anywhere near it from here, I am rewarded with a great view for my trouble. Several small falls cascade into small pools towards the top of the cliff, while the main highlight is the primary vertical drop of roughly 300 feet. I'm kind of glad we got that moisture overnight, as I'm sure it's contributing to the current impressive flow over the falls. 

Having seen what I came to see and with the threat of more rain, I turn around and head back the way I came. I make really good time and end up back at the trailhead where I left my car after only about 45-minutes. My distance for this little adventure was about 4.5 miles. When added to my earlier hike along the Silver Steps Trail, it's not a bad day at all. 

Silver Steps Trail (Greenville County, South Carolina)

 

Returning home from a Craft Beer Festival in Asheville, NC, I decided to get a few trail miles. My first stop was to hike the Silver Steps Trail near Caesars Head State Park just across the border in South Carolina. When I pulled in, the trailhead only had a couple of cars and I quickly put on my pack and after getting my bearings, headed into the woods. 

I think we got just a little rain overnight as the trees and ground appear to be a bit wet. No matter, that shouldn't stop me. This trail leads to junction with another trail in the park's system and towards a couple of waterfalls. I make good time along the well traveled path as it undulates through the forest.

Crossing over a small, rickety bridge, I find the junction with the other trail and begin down that path with the intention of reaching at least one of those waterfalls. However, as I continue I'm confronted with wet, slick rocks as far as I can see down the trail. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but I feel my ankles rolling occasionally as I try to traverse this terrain. The last thing I need is a sprained ankle and after some internal debate, I decide to head back the way I came. There are other options in this park. Arriving back at the trailhead, I check my tracking app and see that I got in about 2.6 miles on this short hike. More to come.

Preachers Rock (Union County, Georgia)

Originally, I had planned to lead a hike along a short section of the Appalachian Trail today between Hightower Gap and Long Creek Falls. However, after driving to the trailhead with a friend, it started pour down rain. That didn't deter us from hiking, but the Forest Service roads required to get to this rail are pretty rough and subject to washouts. I was concerned about getting my car back out of here after the hike. After some discussion, we decided that it would be best to pick another destination in the area. We settled on a short hike from Woody Gap up to Preachers Rock.

There were a lot of people at the Woody Gap trailhead, which has parking on both sides of the highway. Most seemed to be involved in a road biking event, but we managed to find a spot and after a quick check of our gear, we head up the fairly steep incline towards Preachers Rock. I've hiked from this trailhead all the way up to Blood Mountain in the past, but only come through this section at night and so, didn't really get the opportunity to enjoy the view. 

It's only about a mile each way and we quickly arrived at Preachers Rock, which is nothing more than a rock outcropping overlooking the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Though the rain had stopped, it was still quite foggy, which provided a pretty cool view from the top. We sat on the rock for a bit and share some pictures from our recent adventures. Once we heard the the thunder start rumbling again though, we quickly headed back towards the car. We only got in 2-miles on this short hike, but it was good to stretch the legs. After leaving the trailhead, we stopped at the Etowah Meadery and enjoyed a charcuterie board and a large flight of beer and mead. Overall, it was a very fun day even though it didn't go to plan.

Harris Greenway - Harbins to Tribble Mill (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

Failing to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro a week or so ago was something of a blow to my ego. While I know that I made the right decision for my own well-being, it's probably going to be messing with my head for a little while. I decided the best way to work through it is to get some trail miles in. A couple of months back, I hiked once again at the nearby Harbins Park and learned that a new connector trail as recently built to connect it to Tribble Mill Park. I didn't explore it much that day, but knew I would return. And today, is the day. 

Leaving my car at the entrance to Harbins, I start walking the Harris Connector Trail. I know at least some of it is a wide two-lane paved trail, but as I will learn, the entire thing is paved. So, this is more of a walk than a hike, but that's okay and as I'm in town, I decided to finish listening to an audio book. Edward Abbey's 'Desert Solitaire' will accompany me on today's adventure. 

The trail quickly departs the park and I do my best to stay in the shade, though there isn't much to be had. Also, the Joros are out! I find a large number of spider webs adorning the trees and bushes alongside the trail. These large invasive spiders tend to take over this region this time of year, as they have for the last decade or so since their accidental introduction into the ecosystem. They are quite large with a leg-span of up to four inches on a mature female. While they pose no threat to humans, their webs can be quite annoying due to their strength and the wide gaps they are built across. Luckily, I don't run face-first into any this day.

There really isn't much to this trail, it's simply a nice paved trail through the woods that eventually pops out to run parallel to New Hope Rode and past Archer High School before ducking back into the woods once again at Tribble Mill Park. There is a long boardwalk over a marshy area before leaving the woods the first time, but it doesn't really offer much in the way of views.

Entering Tribble Mill Park, there is a noticeable increase in foot traffic, as I'm joined by many other walkers and bikers on the paved trail. I choose to follow a route that circumnavigates Ozora Lake, before returning to the I entered Tribble Mill Park. 

Once I'm on my way back towards Harbins, I start using the grassy areas alongside the trail to relieve a little of the pressure on my knees. It's always easier to walk on earth than pavement. Along the way, I see a large earthworm (nightcrawler) struggling to get across the warm pavement. Seeing the dried up corpses of many of his comrades, I decide to give him a little help and save him from a similar fate. I'm not sure his wriggling around is truly a thank you, but I'll pretend to take it as such. I see a couple of more just a bit further up the trail, but I can't save them all and leave them to their fate.

As the end of the trail nears, the audio book finishes up and arriving back at the parking area where I left my car, I take a minute to use the restroom and wash my face. It's the day before the autumnal equinox, but it's still pretty warm today. Total distance for the 'hike' was 10.4 miles, all on pavement. I likely try something a bit more adventurous next weekend, but if nothing else, I got some exercise in today.

Tarangire Safari (Manyara, Tanzania)

 With my dreams of summiting the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro drenched in the dangers of high elevation sickness, I find myself with a couple of days at Lindrin Lodge before the rest of my group returns. At one of my friend's suggestion, I decided to arrange a one-day safari to Tarangire National Park.

My driver/guide arrived to pick me up bright and early at 6:00am and we quickly headed out along the three-and-a-half hour drive to our destination. As this was last minute and not originally planned, it's a private safari with just myself and the guide, who is incredibly nice and knowledgeable. As with all travel so far in Tanzania, I'm treated to an African massage as we make our way over the dirt and stone roads towards the park, but I'm able to see a lot of the country along the way, including several nomadic Maasai Villages. 

After we arrive at the park, my guide takes care of the necessary paperwork, while I apply a thick layer of sun screen and a park employee sprays our vehicle down with a tsetse fly repellant. I was warned not to wear black or blue as these colors attract the little beasts that carry sleeping sickness. 

With all of that done, we head into the park. While I often offer a lot of commentary in my writings, I think most of these pictures speak for themselves. The amount of mega-fauna living together in this one place is unbelievable to me. I didn't even think it possible for so many large animals to exist so close together. 

 

As we scan the horizon, my guide notices a lion lounging across a large tree branch just lazing the day away. Lions conserve their energy during the warm days and save up for the hunts, which mostly occur at night. In the distance, we spot another one and another one. Amazing!!!

                

After pulling alongside the river to watch a small family of elephants, consisting of two adults, two adolescents, and a baby, we're entertained by one of the adolescence is expresses significant frustration with a small white bird that keeps encroaching on her space. She runs the bird off, only for it to come right back and pester her again. I'm sure it's annoying to the young elephant, but it's actually quite comical to watch.

             

With our time here nearing it's end, we drive into one of the designated picnic areas to enjoy our boxed lunch. While doing so, my guide warns of the quick and clever velvet monkeys, which congregate here right around lunch time in the hope of snatching a tasty morsel. Just as he explains this to me, we see a coordinated attack at one of the nearby tables. One monkey jumps up and runs across the table grabbing an apple as he passes by. At the same time, a second monkey takes advantage of the surprised picnics at a neighboring table to grab a juice box and run back up a nearby tree. It takes him a while to figure it out, but eventually, he gets to the good stuff inside.

Honestly, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Seeing all of these beautiful animals in their natural environment, instead of enslaved at a city zoo is so refreshing. I can only hope we have the wisdom to protect them and the environments they need to survive like this. For now, I will have to just take the memories with me.