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Ok seriously, it is less than 2 months before I will be even older and yet I still have not completed my birthday posts from last year. Yeah I am totally delinquent. Smh. So since I am aware of this I am hoping to include all the details in this post, maybe.

When last I talked about the trip, I was in Kentucky heading to Louisville. Now I have nothing bad to say about Louisville. Maybe because it was raining and I really didn’t know where to go or what to do, so I don’t have any positive things to say either. I didn’t make any stops. I just rode around. The one thing that I did notice was how many distilleries were in and around Louisville. I mean it is a thing. I looked up the tours and they were not cheap. And I am cheap. Lol. Maybe next time I will take a tour.

Now crossing over into Tennessee. I always like riding through Tennessee. It is so beautiful with the mountains and the trees. Still no actual plans, but I did want to stop in Gatlinburg, so I did 😀. Now onto another misadventure. I grabbed a hotel on the outskirts because it was cheaper. As I walked up to check in, I noticed the step up. It was a little high. You would think that since I made note of it and was fully aware that it would not be a challenge. Yeah…no. Foot did not fully clear the step and down I went. Wallet, phone and me sprawled out on the ground. The pen even came out of my Galaxy Note. Lol. Worst part, the lobby windows were all glass and full of people. Hahaha. Yes they did seem concerned and offered to help. I was okay though. Just a small amount of embarrassed. The best part, the check in person tried to talk to me after all that. My mom said he probably thought I was drunk and willing. Lol. Got to love her.

 

Since I was in Gatlinburg, I had to see the Smoky Mountains. Nothing compares at this point to me. I am going to share a few pictures. They are wack compared to seeing the Smoky Mountains in person.

By the time I left the mountains, Gatlinburg was on and popping. I do not like crowds or crowded areas. I just rode around and checked out the sights. I seen the sky lift. I really wanted to do it because I knew the view from the top would be magnificent. But I didn’t really want to do it by myself. I told my mom this information. She of course, didn’t agree. Talked all types of junk. I didn’t listen. I left that day without riding the lift.

Fast forward through the hotel stay from the night before which was a truly horrible experience to the next morning. Fuck it, I am riding the sky lift. What if I never come back? Then it would be something I wished I had experienced but didn’t. Yep, better in person, but my camera phone did this experience a little justice. Now don’t judge me, but I was really scared of dropping my phone. I seen a bear holding someone’s phone in one of the pictures in the reviews. Right! I didn’t take pictures on the way up. I did however record a couple of videos. I know that doesn’t make sense. Lol. On the way down I recorded my descent. Check it out.

 

Really hope these videos play right. First time uploading videos and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

After Gatlinburg, I realized I was running low on funds. Still had to go back to my regular life and pay bills and shit. Lol. So I wrapped the birthday trip up and headed back to O-H-I-O. I stopped back in Cincinnati and had dinner with my friend again. Then headed on home. I had a great experience and some laughs at my own expense. I viewed God’s miraculous creations with my own eyes and took some beautiful pictures. I seen all the fall colors that makes my heart glad. It was an experience of a lifetime. I did exactly what I wanted to do. I know that it may seem like a lonely trip, but I was never lonely. I like being by myself. I would do it all over again. Planned out a little better, but I wouldn’t change the places I visited. I really want to embark on another solo journey this year as well. Still up in the air.

Thanks for being patience with me ladies and gentlemen. I don’t know how people do it. Work full time jobs, take care of families and still are able to do the things they love or start their own businesses. The only thing I do is work. I would be in trouble if I had a family. Kids starving and shit 😂😂😂. Just kidding. Anyways, be well and whole.

As I sit in my car letting the sun shine on my already melaninated(is this a word lol) face I realize that I might be strange. Then I think of how great it feels and if someone else did this they would see where I am coming from. Lol. I have watched the sunrise for the last 3 weekends in a row. Each time is different but still miraculous to me. It is an experience that I wish I could have every morning. I wish that the trees did not block my view and I could really see it break the horizon. The colors are undeniably beautiful. The peace and calm of the morning interrupted by an occasional car passing and the birds communicating with each other. Every now and then a person will jog by getting their early morning run in. But mostly it is just me and the bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Ugh. I tolerate them for the expressed purpose of the sunrise. And they don’t bite like the sunset bugs.

I just wanted to share with you a few pictures of my weekend ritual. The collage pictures will be from the same day, but at different phases. I just take a bunch of pictures and I am suppose to go back and weed out the bad ones. Not so much, to me they are all good. Lol. Hope that you enjoy them.

Ok I have to prepare you for this one. This day I went to a different location hoping to see the sunrise a little different. It was the same sunrise because the trees were still blocking my view. The spot in Monroe, Michigan was really where I wanted to take pictures, but I was there too early and I felt weird. It was still pitch black and there was no one else out there. It just didn’t sit right. So I got a little surprise at Rotary Park in Trenton, Michigan.

Now for the surprise.

Yep, that’s a rat. Suffice it to say, I moved as fast as these little legs could to get back to the car. Ugh…I can still remember the feeling when it got close enough for me to be sure of what it was. Lol.

I actually love the sun setting more than the sun rising. The colors are like fall to me and fall is my favorite season. The colors are so rich and beautifully blended. Now I don’t really have many pictures of sunsets. I haven’t found the perfect spot yet. One day soon I will. Here is a couple of pictures I was able to get at different locations or the same location, different day.

This pic is probably my favorite because it includes my niece. She loved looking at the sunset too.

What is your favorite time of day? Have you ever purposely watched the sunrise or the sunset? Do you have a great location that you would like to share? Please drop a comment in the box below. Or as always feel free to email me at elsims27@yahoo.com. Until next post, be well and whole.

So I am off work for a few days. It is in fact a holiday weekend and I took a couple extra days. Needed to relax and decrease my stress level. Plan was to find a couple of different places to watch the sunrise, throw away some things I don’t use, need or want and read and write a little. Oh and wash clothes 😩. I love the spot I go to but I am sure there is a better sunrise location. Probably in Michigan somewhere. I was all about it. Then this happened. Second day into my 5 days off.

I guess someone thought I had something that belong to them in my car. Obviously, I didn’t because it is my fucking car. And the things that are in it belong to me and my family. But I guess. The worst part is I am out of money to replace a window and there wasn’t really much in my car. They stole my nephew’s bookbag with his school books in it, 2 pairs of sunglasses, dirty clothes and an empty wallet. Somebody stole my dirty drawers lol. Dumb asses. Now I am going to use you as I talk about this situation from this point on. Please know that I am not referring to any of my readers. I know that this crime was not committed by anyone reading this. I am just lazy and don’t feel like making my speech generic for this whole post.

I am fighting to thrive. I am fighting to pull myself through this rough patch that I am in right now. I don’t have much. Definitely not enough for someone to take. But why would you want to take something anyway? Just as I can pull myself together every day and go punch a clock for what I need and some wants, so can most people. We all have control of the life we choose to live. Not saying that it’s always going to go our way, but each person should do their best to be who they want to be and have what they want to have. No one else should factor into the situation. If the only way that you are going to have a particular item is by taking it, it is not for you right now in your life. Not saying that it is something you will never have. Just not right now.

What God has for you is for you. What I mean by that is no amount of taking from another will get a person what God has for them. I don’t understand stealing. I don’t want anything that someone else has. It isn’t meant for me. I have a whole list of wants and needs that are specific to my life. I want a Tesla, I wouldn’t take someone else’s. I know that is an extreme example, but for real though. Hell, their Tesla may not have the amenities that I want in mine. Lol. Ok, seriously though. People assumes so much about you. That you got it going on and you can spare a little. When usually that is not true. Most people are fighting to survive and thrive in this world. They are working hard to stay on their feet and to get to the next level. How dare someone take what they have? How dare someone cause them to slide back from the place that they fought so hard to come from? Smh. As they say, “The struggle is real”. This right here is the most important. If God gave it to me I am going to get it back. Because it was meant for me. Since it was not meant for them, God is going to take it from them. It is as simple as that.

So here I am on a Tuesday still riding around with a garbage bag on my window. Actually 3 of them.

None of the businesses I contacted were open on Monday, well because it was a fucking holiday! One such business owner felt the need to check his messages and took time out of his day to give me a call on Monday. Which worked because the window had to be ordered. I have an appointment today. I am happy that I don’t have to wait another day to get it fixed. I am unhappy that what I thought was going to be some relaxing, peaceful water filled few days off turned out to add additional stress on top of what I was already trying to unload. I am okay, but I feel a little discouraged. I believe I will feel a helluva lot better when my window is fixed.

For everyone who is going through right now, I get it. Though I don’t talk about all of my struggles on this blog, I have them in abundance. This blog is meant to allow people into my life, my thoughts and various, sometimes crazy opinions. I am always hoping to connect, inspire and encourage. I don’t want a serious of posts that come off as a pity party because that is not who I am. I believe that life happens to all of us. We have the option to decide how it affects us. I want to always come out on the other side of a situation with the same upbeat attitude. I want to enjoy this life as much as possible. I want to be well and whole. And what I hope and pray for everyone is for them to be well and whole also. Love y’all 😘.