We journey on...

Woodford Reserve, white oak barrels

Day 5: Kentucky is home to the Bourbon Trail. This is a driving tour seven distilleries within about a 50 mile radius that provides on-site tours of their distilleries, history of bourbon and  whiskey in the US and, of course, gift shops. We took a tour at the most historic distillery: Woodford Reserve. Bourbon has been being made there for over 200 years, although the ownership and legality of it has changed many times. The facilities are set in the vibrant green hills. The buildings are all made of stone and a smell of sweet yeasty bread hangs over the grounds. The tour takes about one hour and I would highly recommend doing it. You don't even have to be a bourbon drinker, or a drinker of anything, to enjoy the history, the science and the atmosphere. We stopped in four of the distilleries but only took the tour at Woodford Reserve. Each of the distilleries had their own vibe, their own culture.

But soon we had to leave the trail behind and continue on down into the Great Smoky Mountains.

Day 6: What I haven't mentioned so much yet is that I'm a bit sick. I have some kind of cold/sinus infection/cough that just keeps keeping on. Our original plan was to do lots of hiking in the mountains, but with my condition we were faced with the reality that this was going to be a more "American" style Smokies tour, meaning that we would be driving much more and only doing short trails.

Cades Cove, original log cabin

The interesting thing about US National Parks is that they are very driver friendly. There are wide roads, parking at all major points of interests, pull-offs for viewpoints. H and I debated the pros and cons of this style of park versus the European "park and hike yourself in" version for several hours, I'll spare you the details and just say that we came to the consensus that both have merit.

Cades Cove

SO, our driving tour consisted of an 11 mile loop around Cades Cove. This is a little meadowy valley surrounded by mountains that was settled in the 1820s. When the Smoky Mountain Park was established in the 1920s the settlers and their descendants were given a compensation packaged and moved out of the park, but their log cabins, white washed churches, cemeteries, mills all stayed as they were. The Cove is really beautiful and well preserved. It gives a good idea of the hardships the men, women and children who first tamed  this great continent must have faced. A stark reminder of this was the many small grave stones, denoting children who had passed away in each cemetery.

We also drove to the tallest point in the Smokies, Clingmans Dome. The idea was to be there for sunset but the Smoky Mountains aren't called that for nothing. We had a thick and dense cloud coverage at the top that was mystical, magical (and I'm not going to lie, a little creepy!). We were not disappointed at all, it was amazing to be inside the cloud and feel the power of the mountains. AND we had some spectacular views as we drove down the mountain with the clouds above and the sun setting just under them. **Sigh**

Smokies at sunset

Day 7: My sister lives in South Carolina, which we realized meant that we could conveniently meet halfway between our holiday point and her home. We did our meeting up in Asheville, NC. A cute university town with a historic downtown, hippies on every corner and art art art. We had burritos for lunch at a locally sourced, organic restaurant called the Lucky Otter and then headed into town to find Dobrá Tea. Yes, for you who know Czech culture, there is a real, authentic čajovna (tea house) up here in the Smokies. It is, in fact, a branch of the well-known Dobrá čajovna brand from Prague! You cannot imagine my husbands delight=).

A little piece of Czech in the Smokies

Our journey to the mountains is soon ending and we will be headed back north to spend a little time in Ohio, but you can be sure we'll be seeking out adventure there as well! (In the meantime, cross your fingers and hold you thumb for health for us both! Traveling with colds isn't ideal...)

On the road again...

It's autumn again and in the autumn I get an itching for the burnt reds, deep oranges and popping yellows of the leaves changing in North America. I think this is why H and I have nearly always visited the US together in the fall. 50% of our car conversations go something like "Oh my, look at that tree! It's beautiful." "Yea, and on that hill, do you see all that yellow. It's amazing."

So, we are back States side to see the family, travel a little and enjoy our 1st anniversary(!!). Here's a look at the adventure so far:

Day 1
We flew from Prague direct to JFK. No problems there. We landed and pulled up to the gate. Still no problems. Then the captain announced that there would be a delay in opening the cabin doors because there had been a security breach and the entire terminal had been evacuated. So began a 2 hour wait on the plane, a wait in a line of about 700 people at immigration clearance, and ultimately missing our connecting flight because of the most horrendously unorganized and incompetent customs desk I've ever seen. To spare you the details, imagine 1000 people with no line trying to squeeze into 2 desks to get a customs stamp.

So, we were forced to take the next available flight the next morning at La Guardia, which meant finding a hotel last minute. The airline would not compensate us in anyway for the delay, but my tears of exhaustion got us at least a free taxi to La Guardia. We asked the taxi driver to take us to a national hotel close to the airport, they had availability so we checked in, ordered some Chinese take-away and crashed. That was our big night in NYC.

Day 2
 La Guardia. It is actually quite a nice airport. This flight was uneventful. We got to Columbus, got our rental car and headed for Zanesville because we had a party to attend (and organize!). Friday night we had our Ohio Wedding reception with my family. All my aunts and uncles, lots of cousins and their babies and my ever patient Grandmother joined us is our celebration. We held it at my Grandma's house. My mom had done the legwork before hand to organize what cake we wanted, have food available and get decorations together. My cousin, who is a great photographer, took pictures (which I'll post when they are available). There was music, laughter, food, hugs and lots of love. It was the perfect party.

Day 3
Thanks to jet-lag, we were up super early so we ran some errands (there's nothing quite like Walmart at 5am) and then decided to go back to bed and try to sleep a bit longer.  We woke up around lunch time and headed to a second celebration: My Grandmother's Family Reunion.

This is a gathering of my Grandma's extended family that covers generations and generations of family members who all owe their existence, including me, to Alston and Alberta Newman. Alston and Alberta were my great-great grandparents and in their life together on a farm in the mountains of West Virginia they bore and raised a slew of children, seventeen all together. So, you can imagine that this was a BIG family reunion. I don't know that H had ever been to an event quite like it. We were hugged and kissed and questioned and fed. The reunion was held at a campground outside of Zanesville, where the rolling hills were a beautiful background to a celebration of family.

Day 4
We did not wake up super early, as exhaustion and jet-lag and my airplane-acquired-sinus-infection had all caught up with us. We did finally hit the road about 9.30 and headed west towards Dayton. We stopped in Dayton Air Force Museum, as anyone related to aviation must do and throughly enjoyed ourselves. I felt like I had my own personal guide because H knows the make, details and history of nearly every plane there. After a picnic of hummus, crackers and fruit (thanks to Mom, who packed us a picnic for the road!) we set the GPS for Lexington, KY and that is where I write to you from.

The drive down was lovely and we are looking forward to see what adventures Day 5 may hold!

Why I Run...

When the big 3-0 was looming (several years gone by now), I decided that I would make a promise to myself to run a 5 kilometer race every year until I turn 60. So far, so good. I have indeed run a race every year, and some years more than one.

In fact, I have just completed my fourth run of the 2012 season. I kicked off my running in the spring with the PIM (Prague International Marathon) 4.2k Family Fun Run. In the early summer I did the Tesco Run for Life charity race. And in the past week the culmination of my hard work this summer was to complete the Nike We Run Prague 10k last Saturday and the Adidas Woman's 5k today.

It was great. I enjoyed each run, learning something about me with every step. In the fun runs, the key is to relax and enjoy the funny characters along the way. The homeless man cheering on the sidelines, or the man with a giant puppet yelling out ventriloquist encouragement, or small children waiting on the sidelines to high-five passing runners. In the 10k, my goal was to finish, finish strong, and finish without having to walk...Mission was accomplished and I was impressed that my body that had been very ill with a stomach flu just days before was trained well and strong enough to bounce back.

But probably my favorite race will always be that Adidas 5k Night Run. It is the perfect length, the perfect time, the perfect crowd, the perfect location. Dusk in the winding ancient streets, throngs of crowds bellowing praise and encouragement. It is a rush every time I do it.

And that is why I run. It is a Rush. I love that we inhabit fallible bodies that we can push to our personal limits. That we can push these bodies to develop strength and endurance. That my brain can overrule my body. The saying "Mind over Matter" is so true in running. If I want it, I can reach it. That knowledge is a Rush.