The Adventures of Jules and Dave

4 1/2 Street Inn, Highlands, North Carolina

2010-06-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

We returned to Highlands, North Carolina to check on the new site for David's paintings - at The Smokehouse Restaurant in Highlands. (Find the restaurant on Facebook, and be sure to eat there if possible - it's an excellent bbq restaurant.)

We lucked into finding the 4 1/2 Street Inn and our new friends Rick and Helene Siegel. Their home was so beautiful and inspiring that David whipped out three plein air pieces from their yard (see David's art blog). If you are ever in Highlands, be sure to stay with them. The room rates include evening hors d'oeuvres and wine, full gourmet breakfast, a quiet and lovely room, and a relaxing atmosphere. (David would also want me to include the part about free cookies...) You also have complimentary use of their bicycles, which was a great way to work off the coconut cake we had at lunch (at Wild Thymes) while biking up to Sunset Rock... Whew. The house is 100 years old, having been built around 1910, and operated in the early 20th century as the Fairview Inn. Rick and Helene have lived in and managed the bed and breakfast for about 14 years. See pictures below of their home, our room and bathr

oom, and their beautiful flowers. www.4andahalfstinn.com

We ventured out from Highlands into the Ellicut

(?) Forrest... to be honest, we have no idea where we were, it was slightly disconcerting because it was so remote... Lots of time on gravel roads without cell service... But we saw some beautiful waterfalls and mountain views. We also saw some locals, who stared at us without a socially appropriate response (wave, smile, nothing...) so we decided to make our way back to the warmth of the Inn. However, if you ever live in the middle of nowhere and give someone directions to your house that include "turn left at the fork in the road", you should consider finding a giant fork to attach to a tree, such as these characters did (see below). Very funny.

We can't wait to get back to Highlands. What a great time.

Around Scaly Mountain, North Carolina

2010-03-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ruka's Table and The Log Cabin

2010-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

The Log Cabin restaurant - one location of David's newest artwork. There are four locations in this restaurant group - LC, Ruka's Table, Flip Side, and another one that has slipped my memory... oops. Great people, amazing food. We ate at Flip Side after our Glenn Falls hike. Don't miss the onion rings and the rueben sandwich. I think I'm going to have to go back right now, because my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Notice the reflection of the pumpkin in the window. :)

Glenn Falls in Highlands, North Carolina

2010-03-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

The Inn at Half Mile Farm

2010-03-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

The Inn at Half Mile Farm

Our new friend Wendy at the Inn. We cannot wait to get back there soon. The amount of relaxation we accomplished in one night was unbelievable. The food, OMG. So much, so good. Wine and hors d'oeuvres complimentary. Jetted tub. In-room fireplace. I loved it so much, I want to work there. I cried a little when we left. I think David did too...

"If only mustaches tasted like bacon."

Highlands, North Carolina

2010-03-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

David and I traveled to North Carolina to deliver his artwork to Highlands. It wouldn't be a trip in the pumpkin if something didn't go wrong... Above, the pumpkin is pictured in it's "ditch spot" on the side of the highway in Commerce, Georgia. We later grew to dislike Commerce immensely... more on that to follow... Our gas gauge doesn't work and unfortunately we pushed it too far.

I stayed with the car while David walked with the gas can - what a gentleman. :) While sitting on the side of the road, a guy pulled over next to me. Feeling concerned, I yelled to him "Thank you, but my fiance is already walking with the gas can - we have it under control... Thank you!" The guy nodded and got back into his car. I was glad to have kept him 30 feet away from me, since "you just never know in this day and age." It couldn't have been five minutes later that this guy returned - with David and the full gas can in the car with him. He gave a "God bless you" and was on his way. Okay, so I was wrong about judging the guy as "sketchy".. but we've all watched the news.

In our Pumpkin travels we always meet really cool folks who have their own stories of Westphalia ownership. It almost always starts out with "Are you guys the ones in that VW?". While strolling through Ace Hardware in Highlands, taking advantage of a brown bag sale, we met our new friend Peter. Peter drove a Westphalia in the early 70s (if memory serves accurate) while working as a youth minister. His Westie had cartoon characters painted on the side. He continued traveling in it with his family, and we loved a story he recounted about taking a photo of his small children on a camping trip, diaper-clad, in front of his cartoon-covered Westie. It's always so awesome to watch people get that far-away look as the recall their great memories from their Westphalia days.

Here we have Peter with an Ace coworker, who has a vintage VW bug. They both came out to inspect the Westie and share a smile. Awesome people!

And then on the ride back... the accelerator broke... in Commerce, Georgia. In total McGuyver fashion, I pulled out a clear plastic ponytail holder to pull back my hair, but realized that we could use it to fasten the two pieces that were broken. It held all the way home.. with the exception of one slip outside of Conyers on the interstate. But we reattached the ponytail holder and were on our way!

Pumpkin Trip #2

2010-01-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

Before we could get out of the driveway on Pumpkin trip #2 we sputtered and kerplunked and couldn't get her started again. After spending 30 minutes looking at all possible "major" problems, we realized she was just out of gas. :) (This is a common mistake when one doesn't have a working gas gauge.) So we filled her with go-go juice and away we went.

This trip was a New Year's Eve trip to our friends' cabin in beautiful Blue Ridge, Georgia. Donna and Jeff Stuart were kind to invite us and some other friends up for a few nights of celebration. In fact, they are such good friends that they allowed us to park The Great Pumpkin outside their house and run an extension cord to their electricity outlet! We enjoyed visiting with our friends TJ and Angie Dolan, Johnny Merrick, Kelly Randall, as well as Donna, Jeff and their son Jay. Playing Wii, playing board games, visiting, eating and drinking, and watching the ball drop - what a great way to bring in 2010.

David took Donna and Jeff's son, Jay, for a spin in the pumpkin on New Year's Day before we headed back home. Hopefully 2010 will bring many more trips in our Westphalia!

And then we got engaged...

2009-12-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

By Julie

(See our little Christmas tree on top of the Pumpkin?)

We decided to start a new Christmas tradition. We will now "make a day" of going to get our Christmas tree, starting with a big breakfast on Christmas china before going to the tree farm to cut down our tree. We had already decided this before David proposed at our breakfast table that morning. :) So now when we celebrate getting our tree and settling in to the Christmas season, we will also be able to celebrate the anniversary of our engagement.

Murphy's 11.28.09

2009-12-02T10:16:00.001-08:00

Murphy's

Eatz.... the Cheers of Chattanooga. What a great place, Murph himself was inquiring about the Bus and very nice, his father even got up from his breakfast next to glowing sex and checked us out. Glowing Sex was in the corner (that is a Christmas Story reference, see the right hand side of the picture of the restaurant). Breakfast was great, service was great and by far the BEST bacon I have ever had, and I have eaten a lot of bacon.

2009-11-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

Friday 11.25.09

2009-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

by Dave

After a huge breakfast with the Knott Clan, Jules and I hit the road... first stop (after stopped a million times to take pictures of signs, tractors, and cars) in Clarksville and Murfreesboro was the Bell Buckle Cafe in Bell Buckle, TN. Home of the Bell Witch, Bell Caves and the Webb School.

The food was awesome, I had meatloaf, fried okra and cheesy potatoes. Then a cup of coffee and another fill up and off to Wartrace and the final destination... Raccoon Mountain and Lot 25.

Before we could get there, I was profiled and pulled over by one of Decherd, TN's finest. A lad of 22 at best who claimed not to be able find my registration on the computer.... this after he slowed down to get behind me and run my tag. If I had actually been amused, I would have asked for a picture. But I was cold, tired, violated and ready to get back on the road!

2009-11-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

Clarksville, TN

by Julie

I (Julie) drove past this sign for years and never noticed it. Then, one year when dragging David with the entire Knott family to see The Grinch ice sculptures at Opryland Hotel, we decided to stop for donuts right next door to this hotel. :) I still did not see it, however, David about fell out of the car, noticing it immediately. It was this sign that started his fascination with Googie architecture, and this sign showed up in one of his paintings. Therefore, I claim it was due to my inspiration...

David has decided it should be his personal life mission to have this sign put on the national register of historic places... I agree.

I love this photo, because it shows the shadows cast by the neon bulbs.

2009-11-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Chattanooga and surrounding area

by Julie

Nickajack Lake outside Chattanooga

Below Lookout Mountain, TN

Taken beside the mobile home park sign shown above...

Nickajack Sunset

Wednesday 11.25.09 Reference Pictures

2009-11-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

by Dave

One of the reasons we got the Great Pumpkin was so that we could travel around and I could lug all of my painting and computer gear around and be free to travel the backroads. I have begun a series of paintings based on Googie Architecture signs, which are signs that popped up along main thoroughfares across the US in the 50's and 60's. Think neon, Route 66, the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign and the Jetsons. This journey, I am stocking up on reference photos to get through the winter with as we go to Paris, TN for Thanksgiving with Jules' family.

I actually had no idea what Googie Architecture was until I ran into a guy at a show that I was doing about a year ago. I had one of my sign paintings on my hand-out and told me to look it up. My initial interest in sign art has come from many places. As a boy, I grew up in a printing business and around people who hand painted signs, I even dabbled in it a bit in college and after. That lead to the discovery of Von Dutch, the man, the myth, the legend. Not the ridiculous company that has stolen has name, and used it for mass marketing hats and t-shirts. I also have an affinity for all things old, things that are gone to ruin, that should be preserved... old cabins, tractors, houses, etc. I grew up in a house built in 1835, until I was 34, I never owned a car that wasn't older than I was and I love rust.

I am sure this topic will continue to pop up as we travel up and down Hwy 41 and around the southeast discovering these little gems before they go away forever. Sometimes, you just have to slow down to appreciate these things before they are gone. You can also check my blog and website to see my sign paintings as well as the old cars, truck and tractors.

Todays blog installment is a cross-section of photos I took today, I revisited my favorite sign and the inspiration for my first Googie Art Sign piece, the Vacation Motor Hotel.

Tuesday, 11.24.09

2009-11-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

I gave the Kodak Zi8 a try our first night at the campground to give a bit on insight to the camper, but it didn't turn out very well, but I really haven't shot much video or even uploaded any video to my other blogs. So far, the Zi8 shots great video, but the camera feature is more like a really nice cell phone camera, but it does the job!

Wednesday 11.25.09

2009-11-26T06:41:00.001-08:00

by Dave

This is the look I get from Jules whenever I put a camera in her face, whether I am driving a car or not. I love that look. She needs to understand she is much more photogenic than I am!

2009-11-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

Location: Bremen, Georgia. I'm concerned that his Blackberry is stuck to his hand...

Location: Rome, Georgia. One of many stops for reference photos.

2009-11-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

The Great Pumpkin

Sometimes things just happen they way they are supposed to...

(by julie)

A couple years ago while taking a pottery lesson from a crazy Billy Lee in the Newnan Seed Shop, I heard a tale that involved "an orange volkswagen". The actually story went like this... "Oh, I know a guy that throws pottery who lives south of Moreland... a little further... just keep on driving... past Luthersville... You'll see his orange Volkswagen van on the side of the road... he lives there, but just go on in... just tell him you know me." I didn't think much of it at the time, except that it was a crazy story and I would never go looking for this guy.

About the same time, David took some artwork to a gallery in Union Point, Georgia. The couple that own the gallery are a really cool and unique couple. Anne Jenkins is from South Africa and her husband in American, but grew up moving all over Europe with his parents. This self-proclaimed gypsy couple spent their first six years together living on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. Later they owned a Volkswagen Westfalia and attempted to drive from the top of North America to the bottom of South America. Unfortunately a proposed ferry ride in Costa Rica involved them leaving their van and $2000 with a guy they didn't trust, so they turned around and headed back north. When they got tired in Alaska they sold their Westie for cash in a Walmart parking lot. And a few years later they were tag team drivers for Schneider as cross-country truckers while they scoped out a new town to call home. We were inspired by their sense of adventure and freedom.

About a year later we happened to meet this guy at the Cotton Pickin Fair, and when he mentioned that he was a potter and lived in Greenville (which is south of Luthersville), I immediately said "By chance do you have an orange Volkswagen?" Yes he did. Allen Gee has since become a dear friend of ours, not to mention our favorite potter. Once when I was visiting his studio and watching him throw on his wheel, I saw the van in his back yard. I asked to see it up close, and immediately knew David would love it. I couldn't wait to tell him all about it.

I was right. He did love it. Within a few months we were able to make it our own! Oh... and when we told our gypsy friends about their inspiration and our newly purchased '75 VW Westphalia that we affectionately called "The Great Pumplin", Anne exclaimed "That's perfect! 'Pumpkin' was our cb handle when we were driving for Schneider - the big orange truck!" What synchronicity.

We've done some small things to get it ready for our first trip, mainly new tires, a tune-up, and a new canvas top. We're road ready...