|
|
|
 |
|
The
Farm at Nostalgiaville... |
|
|
|
THE
FARM
In the beginning God
created the heavens, Then God looked down on the
Farm... From the 8 year old to the 4 year old |
 |
|
Chapter 1 It Only Happens in the Movies... |
| It all began in September, 1998. Paul had left on August 28 to meet a friend, Joel Knapp, in Ludington, Michigan, to indulge in his passion to explore new territories, and to take pictures for his "Images" site on internet called Nostalgiaville. |
|
|
Paul arrived back at home base on Wednesday September 9 with an RV load of antiques to sell in the gift shop of The Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising, a joint venture between Paul and his son Tom. |
| While
he was gone, the Museum had hired a new employee to work in the Museum
gift shop. Her name was Cheri Turns. Cheri was being trained
to manage the gift shop on the weekends for customers touring the Museum
and making purchases from its gift shop.
Paul's first encounter with Cheri was on Thursday following his arrival back home on Wednesday. He caught up with her washing soda bottles for the gift shop, introduced himself and welcomed her to the new position at the Museum. One often hears of the age old adage of "love at first sight", and a variation of the adage... like maybe... "intense interest at first sight"... certainly applies between the first meeting between Paul and Cheri. The casual welcome turned into an afternoon's long conversation dealing with many subjects and in depth explorations of mutual interests. A diversion is necessary at this part of the saga to define the background of the two individuals at this first meeting so as to better understand the magic that followed. Paul was rebounding from a divorce that while representing a friendly parting of the ways with his former spouse, still left him in a state of profound loneliness. His work with the Museum, his publishing company called Pages of Time, and his passion for travel had provided a wall against the loneliness, but the need for someone to share the great experiences of life with him was always in the background. Cheri had experienced a multitude of recent setbacks in the intriguing game called life. Earlier marriages had been devastating experiences, effecting her self confidence, and ruining her health. Agoraphobia had trapped and confined her to a single room in her parents house for several months, and she developed an acute case of fibromyalgia that caused constant and debilitating pain. As if this were not enough burden to bare, her husband had recently died of heart failure leaving her with overwhelming financial and legal problems. So, the Thursday "welcome to work meeting" was continued by a Friday afternoon "walk and more talk" meetings followed by a late afternoon dinner. During the walk-and-talk session, Paul asked Cheri what her dreams for the future were... and was shocked at her revelation that she could think only of surviving and had no energy for dreams about the future. It was further revealed by Cheri that as close as she could come to a dream was to live until Spring so she could plant flowers. For Paul, not to dream was truly not to live. To him, life was a series of grand adventures... and dreams were nothing short of the essence of life itself. It was totally unreal to him that another human being could find any happiness in life without dreams... especially a human being that was beginning to interest and intrigue him like Cheri was. During more walk-and-talk after dinner Paul pressed the dream "thing" again. "Cheri", he said, "If you could travel to any exotic destination anywhere in the United States, where would it be?' An "I don't really know" response from Cheri fell on deaf ears, and Paul persisted with his question, "Where would it be." Before the evening ended, Paul finally persevered with his travel question and Cheri admitted that in her younger and more energetic years she had thought about travel to Niagara Falls located near Buffalo, New York. Paul and Cheri parted that night agreeing to continue the walk-and-talk on the next day which was a Saturday. Two people with inquiring minds can learn a lot about each other in a short period of time if they really apply themselves to the task. Paul and Cheri, both being accomplished "analyzers" of human psychology, had really applied themselves to the task. Paul had slept on the thought all through the night... and on Saturday... popped the question... "Cheri, are you ready for a great travel adventure?" We had talked earlier with some other workers at the Museum about going crystal hunting at the mines near Hot Springs, Arkansas, so Cheri thought this was probably the destination for the great adventure. "Let's go to Niagara Falls", Paul continued, "It will be our great adventure... and we'll leave Monday". Cheri was practically in a state of shock... here was a man she had known for a total of three days asking her to hop in an RV with him and travel some five hundred miles to a place she had never visited before. The only response she could think of was, "Let me think about it". |
|
|
That night, she talked to Joy, a co-worker at the Museum who had suggested her for the weekend manager job, about the startling proposition. Joy agreed to talk to Paul the next day and try to help Cheri decide about the trip. |
| Sunday afternoon Cheri said yes, and Monday morning with a plastic bag full of clothes and other assorted goodies boarded an RV with Paul, a man she barely knew... and they headed out together on their great adventure.. and Paul and Cheri's guardian angels gave each other a "high five", smiled and said... "We did good". |
|
|
|
When Paul and Cheri returned from Niagara Falls on September 25, they were true companions... and were truly in love with each other. |
|
Chapter 2 On the Road Again... and Again... and Again |
| The
return by Paul and Cheri from Niagara Falls began a series of travels
that took the couple to all but a hand full of all the states in the
United States, but before we follow their many travels, another
diversion is in order to examine the psychological characteristics of
these two truly unique characters.
It is obvious from their spontaneous travel adventure to Niagara Falls that these two were not to be considered "normal" people. During their trip, Paul shared an audio tape by Wayne Dyer with Cheri in which was certain people were described as "scurvy elephants". Scurvy elephants didn't try to conform to societies version of normal and didn't really care what other people thought of their defiance... so Paul and Cheri dedicated the rest of their lives to being scurvy elephants. During the first adventure they developed playful names for each other. Cheri started calling Paul her "Sir Knight in shining armor", but Paul modified the expression to a Knight in tarnished armor, because shining armor was to... well... "normal". Paul, on the other hand, coined the name "M'Lady" for Cheri to match the Knight theme she had attached to him. And last and most important, Paul and Cheri decided to throw off the shackles of adulthood. Paul chose to be and act like an eight year old boy. Eight year olds haven't had their creativity stifled by the adult world yet, and can still act spontaneously... called crazy in the adult world, without overwhelming consternation by his peers. The four year old existence chosen by Cheri takes her away from all expectations of anything of importance by the adult world, and allows her complete freedom to do things just because they please her. The most important fact about four year olds is that they are "cute" and are always pampered unmercifully by adults and... especially by eight year olds. They both pledged with each other to live the rest of their lives together as kids without adult supervision. So in was that an eight year old "Sir Knight in Tarnished Armor", and a four year "M'Lady" found themselves back home, alone together, and thoroughly enchanted with each others company... true companions having known each other for only two weeks. During the next two and a half years, Paul and Cheri spent much of their time together on the road in the old faithful RV with a little red Geo Tracker trailing along behind. To follow is a travelogue of their many adventures. |
|
September 27 to October 1, 1998 |
|
|
The
couple enjoyed the solitude of the parks and looked forward to staying
at those with RV campgrounds.
This often photographed bridge got photographed again by Paul. Cheri later did a painting of the bridge. |
|
October 3 to October 6, 1998 |
|
|
| Kids
like to play in the dirt... and it soon became a passion for the four
and eight year old to dig in b-i-g dirt piles in Arkansas.
Even before Cheri and Paul took their epic Niagara Falls trip together, there had been talk at the museum about going crystal hunting. Cheri's friend, Joy, was the ring leader of the quest for the elusive quartz crystal, thought by some to have great powers of healing, and by others as just being one of natures more wondrous creations. So it was, shortly after the kids return from Niagara Falls, that Paul, Cheri, and Joy piled into the RV for a trip to the crystal mines near Hot Springs, Arkansas to celebrate Paul's sixty second birthday on the fifth of October. |
|
October 8 to October 15, 1998 |
|
|
|
Paul was raised in Chattanooga and took delight in showing off the charming town to Cheri. They stayed at the Yogi Bear Campground, and were kept up late in the night by a dog show at the campground, and a nearby race track. Paul was carried back in time by visits to Signal Mountain and other old "stomping grounds" he had frequented in his earlier life. |
|
October 17 to October 23, 1998 |
|
|
No... they were not bored with the trip or with each other... just a little playful photography and computer enhancement. A point of note, pictures were taken during the trips with a digital camera. Computer equipment aboard the RV was used to process the pictures, readying them for the "Images" reports submitted to the Nostalgiaville site on the Internet. This was one of several trips by the couple to the mountains of North Carolina. |
|
|
On our way to North Carolina, Paul took many pictures and worked on an Images report for Old Stone Fort State Park near Manchester, Tennessee |
|
|
November 5 to November 8, 1998 |
|
FALL CREEK FALLS STATE PARK |
 |
|
Fall
Creek Falls State Park in Middle Tennessee is one of the most scenic in
the state with numerous majestic waterfalls.
Paul took pictures and added to those already in the Images section of their internet web site called Nostalgiaville (gono.com) |
|
|
|
November 14 to November 18, 1998 |
|
|
True to their form, the Four Year Old (Cheri) and the Eight Year Old (Paul), take numerous opportunities during their travels to "horse around" at the "Yogi Bear" campsite near the Cave. They have often been called exocentric by their peers... not normal some would say... and they are sure proud of the not-being-normal tag. |
|
|
November 20 to November 28, 1998 |
 |
And here they are... back at the crystal mines again. Paul and Cheri both are consummate analyzers... there should be a reason for everything one does, they think. Their crystal gathering passion was due to a driving force they term the "thrill of the hunt". The object of the force was the "find" more than a "desire to possess". They do believe, however, that quartz crystals are one of natures true artistic masterpieces. |
|
December 24, 1998 to January 24, 1999 |
| This trip to Florida was Paul's first meeting with Cheri's parents, Tim and Ann Tyler, at their home in Palm Bay, Florida. It was a delightful and enjoyable adventure. |
 |
 |
 |
Paul even coaxed Tim to do a short bicycle trip around the neighborhood |
|
|
|
The next stop was a visit to Cheri's sister Candy and her husband Eddie in Miami, Florida. The visit was certainly a highlight of the trip. The four year old was a terror on their jet ski, and we all celebrated the ending of 1998 and the beginning of 1999 on New Years Eve. |
|
| After
leaving Candy and Eddie we drove across Alligator Alley Highway to the
west coast of Florida We stayed at several scenic state parks
along our northward path. A storm had washed up some very
interesting shells and other intriguing goodies along the beach at
Lovers Key State Park. Cheri made friends with Ricky the Raccoon
outside of the RV at one of the parks.
At one of the stops Paul took advantage of the Withlacoochee State Bicycle Trail with a long pleasant bicycle adventure. After returning from the ride, he coaxed the four year old on a bicycle while he took to the roller blades for a six mile work out. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| On the way back home we stopped by Ronnie and Carolyn's Jones home located on the banks of the Sewanee River. |
 |
 |
 |
|
February 25, 1999 to April 13, 1999 |
|
SOUTH WEST |
| With eager anticipation we embarked on a trip to explore the great South Western United States. Many exciting and fun filled miles lay in wait. |
| Texas- Lake Bob Sandlin State Park- 2/26/99. We left home early morning and drove all night and into the next day. Our first overnight stop produced a big dose of tranquil beauty. Lake Bob Sandlin State Park overwhelmed us with big Texas trees and wild flowers. The trails were exciting and Paul laid in a few running and bicycle miles on several sections of them. We left home early morning and drove all night and into the next day. Our first overnight stop produced a big dose of tranquil beauty. Lake Bob Sandlin State Park overwhelmed us with big Texas trees and wild flowers. The trails were exciting and Paul laid in a few running and bicycle miles on several sections of them. |
| Texas- Abilene- 2/28/99. The Ho-Hum RV park was located on the western side of Abilene and Paul carried the bicycle into town the next morning and took pictures of the unique Texas city for the Images section of Nostalgiaville. The Ho-Hum RV park was located on the western side of Abilene and Paul carried the bicycle into town the next morning and took pictures of the unique Texas city for the Images section of Nostalgiaville. |
| Texas- Monahans Sandhills State Park- 3/01/99. The four year old had seen enough sand when she lived in Florida to last her a lifetime. The Monahans sand hills, therefore, were not her favorite place to stay, but the exploring eight year old found many things of interest and was not deterred by a stiff wind and blowing sand. The four year old had seen enough sand when she lived in Florida to last her a lifetime. The Monahans sand hills, therefore, were not her favorite place to stay, but the exploring eight year old found many things of interest and was not deterred by a stiff wind and blowing sand. |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| New Mexico- Carlsbad- 3/02/99. Carlsbad Caverns was certainly one of the most spectacular sights of the whole trip |
| Texas- El Paso- 3/05/99. Next to the sand hills, El Paso was the four year olds least favorite place. We drove the Tracker to down town El Paso, took a wrong turn, and ended up across the border in Mexico. After visiting some of the straw markets and border shops, we were really glad to cross back into the good old USA. Next to the sand hills, El Paso was the four year olds least favorite place. We drove the Tracker to down town El Paso, took a wrong turn, and ended up across the border in Mexico. After visiting some of the straw markets and border shops, we were really glad to cross back into the good old USA. |
|
|
 |
 |
| New
Mexico- Rockhound State Park-
3/07/99 New Mexico- City of Rocks State Park- 3/08/99 New Mexico- Pinos Altos- Continental Divide RV Park- 3/09/99 New Mexico- Gila National Monument- 3/10/99 New Mexico- Cabella Lake State Park- 3/11/99 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| New
Mexico- Deming-
3/13/99 New Mexico- Lordsburg- 3/14/99 Arizona- Safford- Roper Lake State Park- 3/15/99 Arizona- Globe- 3/16/99 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Arizona-
Sedona- 3/18/99 Arizona- Jerome- 3/20/99 Arizona- Cottonwood- Dead Horse Ranch State Park- 3/21/99 Arizona- Flagstaff- 3/20/99 |
 |
 |
| Arizona- Grand Canyon- 3/23/99 |
|
 |
 |
 |
| Nevada-
Valley of Fire State Park-
3/28/99 Nevada- Tonapah- 3/30/99 California- Death Valley- 3/30/99 California- Trona Pinnacles National Monument- 4/01/99 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| California-
Ridgecrest- 4/01/99 California- Needles- 4/02/99 |
 |
 |
 |
| Arizona-
Kingman- 4/02/99 Arizona- Flagstaff- 4/05/99 Arizona- Petrified Forest National Park- 4/02/99 Texas- Quartz Mountain State Park- 4/02/99 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| We arrive in Millersville around 7:30 PM. We notice the tulips coming up the drive and the newly painted running path. We arrive home... precisely 5,575 miles away from home. It's a nice homecoming. |
|
April 25 to April 26, 1999 |
|
|
A beautiful camp site overlooking Kentucky Lake attracted the RV to stay a couple of days. A few rather small fish were caught, a family of Canadian geese paraded by, and the four year old thought she had seen a sea serpent when a barge passed by far out into the lake. |
|
May 17 TO May 25, 1999 |
|
|
 |
 |
| The mountains and streams with their awesome waterfalls were constant attractions the traveling pair and North Carolina had an abundance of both. |
|
July 17 to July 22, 1999 |
 |
 |
Paul and John Seals invested in a Hollywood movie called Terror Tract starring John Ritter. Cheri and Paul flew to Los Angeles to watch the filming of the movie. The four year old was overwhelmed with Los Angeles, but fell in love with the plush hotel next to Universal Studios Theme Park. |
|
August 3 to August 21, 1999 |
| In August the pair hit the road again... destination Michigan and Wisconsin. An all night drive was rewarded by a stunning sun rise south of Indianapolis, Indiana. The four year old was awed by the size and energy from Chicago, the windy city, as we passed through toward Wisconsin |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
The House on the Rock in Wisconsin, the scenic state parks the pair camped at, and the many rocks collected, were all stored in the fond memories bank of their minds. |
 |
 |
|
September 11 to September 13, 1999 |
|
|
During a trip in September, Cheri and Paul made a short hop to Memphis, Tennessee and camped at the Chickasaw State Park. The stay on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River was delightful and resulted in many pictures and a few choice rocks for the ever growing collection. |
|
October, 1999 |
|
|
Another quick get-away carried the pair to Cumberland Mountain State Park for an almost-Fall look at nature from the confines of a canoe on the park lake. |
|
|
October 3, 1999 |
|
|
Early October seemed like a good time to again visit the crystal mines in Arkansas where the four year old tangled with a bear trying to claim one of the crystals she had just found. On the way, a stop at the Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee produced some magic sights in early morning. |
|
|
October 15 to October 21, 1999 |
|
NORTH CAROLINA AND CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
October 31, 1999 |
|
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE |
 |
 |
 |
|
November 11 to November 16, 1999 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
December 12 to December 19, 1999 |
|
ORLANDO, FLORIDA- DISNEY WORLD |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
December 19 to December 27, 1999 |
|
ST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
December 27 to December 30, 1999 |
|
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA |
 |
 |
|
July 15 to September 10, 2000 |
|
NORTH WEST |
| Cheri
& Paul embarked on a 6000+ mile trip from Nashville, Tennessee to
the west coast and back. The states they toured were Tennessee,
Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana,
Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and
Kansas.
They passed through many cities, towns, and cross roads during their trek across the country. Over the past year the couple had become infatuated with rock collecting and beautiful and unique rocks abounded practically everywhere they stopped or spent the night. Eager anticipation followed every stop as they charged into the bush, the desert, or the creek in search of that elusive gem most people think of as just another rock. They climbed mountains, braved the cold, and chased waves along the Pacific coast to grab one of natures most common creations. Old mine tailings (or dumps) along our roads more than once raised the blood pressure in anticipation of the colorful, the unusual, the dazzling... the prize !! The old RV groaned and grunted as it struggled across the Continental Divide with over a thousand pounds of our hard won bounty, and like a true champ, our rolling home made it back to home base. It gives great pleasure to peer at the finds and to remember the outstanding surroundings from whence they came. |
|
Onawa,
Iowa |
|
|
|
|
|
|
West
Glacier, Montana |
 |
 |
|
Gold
Beach, Oregon |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Eureka,
Nevada |
|
|
Chapter 3 The Farm at Nostalgiaville |
| Cheri has some friends named Carolyn and Ronnie Jones that owned a 40+ acre farm in Springfield, Tennessee. They had recently moved to Florida and bought a house on the Suwannee River. They still owned the Springfield farm, and their son Keith was living in a cabin that the Jones had built on the farm. |
|
|
|
|
| In
her younger days, Cheri had made frequent visits from her home in Miami,
Florida to the Farm. On one occasion she had even bought a house
near the farm and lived in it for several months.
By the time Paul and Cheri met, the Jones had decided that supporting two homes was more financial burden than they wanted to continue, so they put the Farm up for sale. Cheri wanted to share some of her fond memories at the Farm with Paul, and in the late summer of 1999, she asked Paul to drive up to see the "magic" place. They arrived to the first challenge... how to get the van down a deeply rutted drive without losing its whole bottom structure. That feat finally accomplished, the charming old log cabin came into view. No one was at home, so we walked around the cabin and even peered inside. "The creek" shouted Cheri excitedly, "You have got to see the creek". Paul had always been fascinated with water... lakes, rivers, and certainly free flowing creeks. But how to get there was the question. Weeds taller that their heads lay between them and Carr Creek. There was an old barn that was about to fall down by the creek, and a path of sorts led through the weeds to the Barn. Following the path... of sorts, and hoping that Mr. Snake was not lurking in the weeds awaiting human prey, they gingerly worked their way to a beautiful rock strewn creek. It wasn't Mr. Snake that bit Paul, but he was truly bitten by the magic and the beauty of the setting he was viewing. In the weeks to follow, Paul and Cheri had occasion to revisit the farm, and one day in September Paul proposed... "OK, we've done enough looking... let's buy the farm from the Jones" stated Paul without hesitation. "But... I just wanted you to see it" said Cheri with a shocked expression, "I never even dreamed of actually owning the Farm" A price was agreed upon the last part of September, and Paul and Cheri became proud owners of "The Farm at Nostalgiaville". We must pause for another diversion in our story at this point, and explain the tie between the Farm and Nostalgiaville. Paul had been working for several years establishing a web site on the Internet devoted to promoting the Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising, selling collectables, and chronicling his far ranging travels. The web site was called Nostalgiaville, the name trademarked, and a picture of an old western town chosen as its logo. It was, therefore, a natural mating of the Farm whose whole presence represented nostalgia with the web site of Nostalgiaville. |
|
Chapter 4 Let the Construction Begin |
| Manifesting
according to "New Age" jargon, is a persons ability to focus
ones mind on something they want or need and having it appear. The
problem with manifesting is that if a person focuses his mind strongly
enough on something he does not want or does not need, it will also
appear.
Paul and Cheri realized early on in their relationship that both had strong, finely tuned abilities to manifest. Paul had used the technique for years and had built a successful business with many amenities that result from success, but Cheri had not realized the power of manifesting until she met Paul. Thus, another diversion, is introduced, because the Farm became Cheri's due to her love and devotion to the magic it possessed for her. Many of the monumental happenings from this point concerning the Farm occurred because of Paul and Cheri's ability to visualize, focus, and make things happen. Paul's first vision was to build a studio for Cheri's painting and crafts in the old Barn and to build a new structure next to it along side the creek, but after cleaning up the brush and weeds around the site, the "mother" of all visions popped into Paul's mind. The Barn would be converted into a living area, a connecting deck with a hot tub and a swinging bridge to a giant sycamore tree on the creek bank, would connect to a two story tree house with a deck on top and a "crows nest" attached directly to the trees above it. Beyond this bizarre structure beside the creek would be created a "Village" like the one on the Nostalgiaville logo. The above vision was in place before the first nail was hammered to start construction. |
|
|
| Become a Member | Add us to Your Favorites | E-Mail Us |
