Those Magic GPS Boxes

One of the latest innovations in agriculture is a spin-off from the military, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS). Many of you may have a Garmin or something similar in your car, or a GPS enabled iPad that will give you directions. Our tractors now sport a box that makes your Garmin look like a toy. Your Garmin or iPad is accurate to about 10 feet, plenty good while driving a car. Our GPS devices are accurate to less than 1 inch, called real time kinematic (RTK) accuracy. This is so we can plant, cultivate and spray without driving over the plants. A base station is needed to get RTK accuracy. To start with we rented the RTK signal from our dealer.

Our GPS devices will take over steering the tractor through the field, once you have set a pattern. If you want straight rows, no problem. Just set an A-B line from one end to the other and your entire field will be perfect. If you have a curve to follow and want the whole field to follow that durve, no problem. Just set a curved A-B line.

Steering is just the beginning. These devices can also be configured to do many other functions in your tractor or combine. These include, but are not limited to, driving the seed shaft on a planter, turning seed row clutches on and off, driving the fertilizer pumps, turning spray booms on and off, regulating how much fertilizer or spray is applied, changing the amount of seed, fertilizer or spray applied on the go - automatically,  measuring yield or altitude, installing drainage tile, etc. All of the above are being done on our farm now.

The first use of a GPS system on our farm was yield mapping with a combine mounted device. We got cool maps that showed us what yielded great and what didn't. We already knew where most of these areas were, but it sure looked cool. Next step was to put those maps to work.

We entered the field of GPS control four years ago when we bought our current planter. We opted not to purchase the standard planter monitor, but put the money toward a GPS device that would control the planter AND auto-steer the tractor. We chose the Trimble FMD brand of monitor. At the time they were way out in front on guidance hardware and had pretty good application controls. Unfortunately they were not the best at customer service.

The first year we were content with auto-steer and planter controls. Later in the summer we added an EZ-Boom to control a sprayer. The sprayer had an automatic shut-off feature so if we sprayed the edge of a field first it would shut the booms off as they got to the already applied area. No more double spraying and no skips. Things went pretty well; then after the initial setup, there were tear your hair out issues.

We disced down all our previous ridges in our fields so we could start from scratch. Over the years of ridge-planting our corn fields, many rows had gotten crooked and the guess rows (the space between one pass and the next) were not exact. Unfortunately the old ridges still had an influence and cause us some issues yet today, pulling the cultivators from side to side.

We traded tractors to get a second tractor with an FMD monitor in it. We were set. Who could want anything more? Well, me. We added a coulter fertilizer machine to apply fertilizer while the crop was growing, so that meant another EZ-Boom.

And then we purchased another tractor and added a guidance system to it. Unfortunately Trimble had moved on to a new platform, FMX, that wasn't totally compatible with the old system. This meant that tractor could follow the same A-B lines set up by the other monitors for cultivation, but could not run the planter and could only run a sprayer with extra cabling.

Then I started writing prescriptions for each field to vary the amount of seed and fertilizer applied. I used the cool yield maps as guidance. On the great yielding areas I increased the seed populations and fertilizer to boost the yields even higher. On the lower yielding areas I lowered the seed populations and fertilizer to cut costs. Many of those areas won't yield as much no matter what.

Then we added row clutches to the planter seed drives so we could control each row separately. This works great when you have end rows. Plant the end rows first and then the field. When the planter comes to the end rows, the rows just shut off, one by one. No double planting, and no skips.

In 2012 we purchased a tile plow (see Tile Plow 3/12/12). To control the tile plow we moved our GPS receiver from the roof of the tractor to the mast of the tile plow. We used a unique monitor for tiling, that was all it could do. It worked pretty well, but we had some issues with the base station being 8-10 miles away. So last fall I bought a used portable base station and things went great.

Meanwhile last summer we started having issues with our first FMD. Every so often, usually when we hit a bump, the screen would go black. After the first couple waves of panic, I used the Fonzy approach and tapped the monitor with my pliers. Luckily it came back on. It got more frequent and we knew we had to do something before the 2013 season.

While shopping around we discovered that Ag Leader had purchased the company who made our tile plow. They would allow us full retail price to trade in our tile-only monitor for an new Integra monitor that would do everything. I jumped.

Of course that meant we had to rewire the tractor, rewire the planter, learn a new system, etc. And to make it more fun we decided to switch tractors around so that the Integra went into the tractor with the FMX, and the FMX went into the tractor with the bad FMD. The installing tech loved me (insert sarcasm).

Oh, and we also decided to make our portable base station into a permanent base station.  With our own  base I did not need to pay our dealer for that signal. However, to get an Integra (from Ag Leader), and FMX and FMD (both from Trimble) to talk to the same base radio (older Trimble) was ... let's say, interesting. They had three different GPS receivers and radios on the roof and Ag Leader uses a different radio setup. I ended up using the radio receiver from the bad FMD tied into the new Integra and downgraded all of the systems to the same version and it works. I don't know how many hours the dealer's precision farming expert spent figuring out all the cables and hookups, but she is amazing. We are still working out kinks in the new system, but are well on the way.

Now I'm set, again... perhaps.  I'm excited about a new system that senses the crop to vary the fertilizer automatically without a prescription, and I'm sure there is something else new out there just waiting to catch my interest.

Spring field work, finally

The first week of April the weather finally warmed up and we started preparing for spring planting of corn and soybeans.

First step was shredding the corn stalks from last year's crop. For many years we did not need to perform this step and left the corn residue in the fields unchopped. With the onset of biotechnology adding genes to the corn to suppress corn borers and corn rootworm beetles, two insect species that can cause major damage to our corn, the corn stalks are tougher and decompose less over the winter than they used to.

We also restarted installing more drainage tile. We could have started sooner, but had issues with availability of monitors and help. Seemed like every time we had good weather, either I or my employee needed to be gone. Then we were in the middle of changing GPS guidance systems in one tractor and that same system runs the tile plow in another tractor. I will go over this story in another post.

After two days of plowing in tile, it was time to change direction. Flexible planning is necessary when farming. Our agronomist wanted us to start spraying on our preplant herbicide ASAP, so we dropped one activity and started another.

Timing is everything this time of year. We plan on starting planting corn on April 20, followed by soybeans on May 1 or so. We spray a herbicide on all our fields to kill any weeds that grew over winter or that will germinate this spring. One of the herbicides used in the mix has to be applied 10 days before planting corn and three weeks before planting soybeans. So do the math and we started spraying weeds.

Wednesday afternoon was spent getting the sprayer on the tractor and testing out all the equipment with water. I like to do a test with only water before I start putting on herbicides. Much less mess and much safer. Then I spent the remainder of the day in the Coop getting the truck filled with fertilizer, water and lots of herbicides.

Thursday was a great day for spraying, sunny and calm. I managed to get over 250 acres sprayed with a trip to trip to town in the middle. Friday was not so nice. I did get one load sprayed off early in the morning, but then the wind showed up. Spraying with high winds is a very bad idea. First you waste money because the herbicide is not going where you want it and second you have no control over where it goes. One time killing the wife's garden will cure anyone of spraying in high winds.

Saturday I finished spraying the soybean burndown as the winds came again. Late in the day I got one load of corn burndown applied as the winds died down again.

Meanwhile my employee was spreading dry fertilizer. Each of our fields is tested every year for several nutrients. We apply just what is needed for the crop to be grown that year. Some fertilizers are cheaper as dry, some as liquid. This year our dry fertilizer mix includes phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and zinc. We will apply nitrogen and more phosphorus and sulfur as liquid later in the year.

We are hoping the forecasters are right and that we will get rain the first part of next week. It is very dry in all of our fields and we will need some rain before we can plant anything and hope for it to germinate.

Next time I'll get you up to speed with our GPS monitors and how we use them.

Adam & Chantelle

This will be a little out of character for me, but I am going to review a wedding we attended last night. It was for my cousin's son. We were honored to be invited since I have a different connection with Adam than most. Until he was born I was the youngest male Batie descendant of Kit and Anna Batie. Us Batie boys have had a great propensity for having daughters, not sons. Adam still holds that title, although there is a young boy with the first name of Batie in the family.

I don't know if they used a wedding planner or not, but I 'm guessing they did. If they did not use a planner my respect for Chantelle and her mother moves up several notches as everything seemed to move very smoothly and promptly from our perspective. (Edit: I have since learned they did NOT use a planner, Chantelle did most of this herself. All I can say is Wow.)

I will only touch on the highlights from my perspective. The bride's gown was beautiful, but then aren't they all. Bridesmaid's dresses were classy gold dresses that could actually be worn again for a nice dinner. Nice touch was the groom seating his future mother-in-law. Mother of the bride had surveyed some friends and family about their thoughts on love and organized it into a nice reading.

The scripture they chose for their wedding message was projected on a screen for the duration of the wedding and was very classy and nice. The minister was great, very relaxed and had a good message for them and us.

After the unity candle was lit by the new couple, they shared the light with all of us attending. We were given the standard white church candles, such as you get at Christmas, when entering. We passed the light down the pews and when all were lit, we raised the candles high. It looked great. At the end we were to say a silent prayer for the couple as we extinguished the candles. Neat idea.

Now on to the reception. The Younnes Center in Kearney was tastefully decorated in silver, gold and black. There were all sorts of activities for us to do while the wedding party traveled around town in a church bus before arriving.

In one corner there were coloring books and crayons for the little ones. Next was a table of river rock that had been painted in silver, gold and black along with silver, gold and black markers. The idea was to write a message to the couple about marriage and put it into a vase for them.

Across the room was a candy bar with all the candy in, you guessed it, silver, gold and black. There were even little silver sacks for you to fill to take back to the table to munch on. In another corner was the beverage bar, which was well attended. On the backdrop behind the wedding party's raised platform were numerous pictures of Adam and Chantelle, all framed in silver, gold and black.

While we were gathering they had a man singing with his guitar for background music. I've been to several wedding where we wondered if the wedding party had gotten lost on the way to the reception. Not the case here. They entered after all had arrived, but not abnormally late.

The meal was wonderful, as I have come to expect from the Younnes Center. The guitar and singing continued while we ate. The DJ made sure we all knew what was happening all along the way from cake cutting to toasts. Again nothing was drug out or hurried, but seemed to flow right along.

Highlight of the reception was a wedding video. This was professionally done and was great. It started out with Adam singing with his guitar, interspersed with clips taking their wedding pictures earlier in the day. Then they spliced in interviews with Chantelle and Adam each talking about how they met, their friendship, first kiss, dating and finally the proposal. Then they inserted clips from the wedding itself. Best of all was the three part screen of the vows. This will be a great keepsake for them for years to come.

Best wishes to Adam and Chantelle. May your marriage be full of love and fun. And may you have lots of boys. :-)

Happy Ag Day

Happy Ag Day to all of you. While this holiday is not celebrated as widely as most other holidays, few  are as important. National Ag Day is celebrated on the first day of spring each year, somewhere around March 20, this year it was on March 19.

We celebrate Ag Day to recognize how important farms and farmers are to our nation. While only 2% of the U.S. population lives on a farm, all of us are fed, clothed and use agriculture products every day. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go a day without eating.

In Nebraska the economic impact of agriculture cannot be overlooked. One out of every three jobs in Nebraska is created by agriculture, some on farms, some in processing plants, some in transportation, etc.

The last couple of years have been very profitable for agriculture across the state and that impact shows up in our mainstreets and the state budget. Most Nebraska towns have not had the economic downturn most of the nation has had, mostly due to agriculture. Nebraska is also among few states without a state budget problem.

So as you bite into that juicy hamburger, or pull on those cotton jeans, thank the farmer who worked to raise the crops and animals for you to enjoy every day of the year.

Eating Our Way Across the South, Part 3; Durham to Nebraska

We left my brother's house just before an ice storm. The highway department had been out for 2 days spraying salt brine on the highways to keep the roads driveable longer. We had planned to pass through Charlotte and see the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but given the direction of the ice we headed straight south of Durham and went through Fayetteville.

We stopped at Darlington, S.C. and went through their small museum at the speedway. For those who are not NASCAR fans, don't admit that when traveling in this area. While we are not die-hard fans, we have watched and enjoyed our share of races. The museum was underneath one of the grandstands and held several notable cars. Most kids will recognize this car, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. Yes, the Hornet from the "Cars" movie did exist and did win several years on the circuit. They also had one of Richard Petty's cars from '67, along with several others. Lunch was a corned beef and swiss cheese sandwich on Ron's great bread eaten in the parking lot before heading on out.

 Our next stop was in Columbia, S.C., the state capitol. We toured the state museum, located in a former textile mill and the State Capitol. The museum was great and included local civil war history that we don't get up here. There was more than we had time to see, another time we may have to stop again. The State Capitol is beautiful. It was started before the Civil War, but was burned during the war. It was finally finished in 1907.




We stopped for the night in Augusta, Ga., home of the Masters golf tournament. We had supper at Cadwallader's Cafe. Wow. It ranked high on the TripAdvisor list and we know why. It doesn't look like much from the outside, like a strip mall. But the interior was a cozy restaurant perfect for an intimate dinner. I tried the black angus filet mignon, hoping for the best. I generally avoid beef when I am outside of Nebraska because our beef is so good, and most other beef is mediocre. This, however, was perfectly grilled and tasted great. Barb had the risotto with shrimp and scallops. Hers was also great. The owner seated us and checked up on us later. Great service.

In the morning we left for Atlanta. We had been told there is not much to see between Augusta and Atlanta. They were right. Lots of trees, and more trees. All the same kind of trees.

Our hosts in Atlanta were the best man at our wedding and his wife. It had been a few years since we had seen them and a long time since we had been to their home. They live in one of many suburbs of Atlanta. After our visit, I have no idea how anyone got around that town before GPS devices were invented.

John and Miriam liked to cook together and made us just watch while they cooked. We had a variety of meals there including hamburgers, pork loin and breakfast frittata. Sunday noon we ate at TaKorea, a fusion of Korean and Mexican food. Barb had the original bop - beef, spinach, mushrooms, mung beans, and marinated zucchini served over rice topped with a fried egg, Korean red pepper sauce, toasted sesame seeds and scallions. I had the Cubano minis - mini burgers topped with ham, fried egg, Korean pickles, American cheese and chipolte aioli. The flavors worked well together.

Sunday night we ate at Six Feet Under Pub and Fishhouse, named because it is located across the street from Oakland Cemetery. They specialize in seafood. Barb had the shrimp and scallops with basil wrapped in parchment paper and steamed, I had the crab crusted salmon. Once again the food was great.

We got to visit their daughter Angie who is a senior at Georgia Tech in Biomedical Engineering. She lives in a condo a few blocks from campus that used to be a hotel. Miriam's aunt told them when they were looking at it that years ago it used to house "ladies of ill repute." Now it is a wonderful condo complex.

We also visited a friend of Barb's from Meadow Grove, Neb., who is also a cousin of her cousin. Kurtis manages several properties in the area and also sells Amish constructed lawn furniture. It is remarkably comfortable. Too bad the freight from Atlanta is high or Barb would already have some his pieces. Kurtis also lives in a two-bedroom loft that is a renovated car shop.

We left Atlanta to head toward Memphis. Enroute we finally stopped at a Chik-fil-a. This is a southern fast food staple. They offer chicken, lots of chicken. They started serving chicken sandwiches in the 1960's in shopping malls and now have franchises all over with one now located as close as Omaha. I must say the staff was wonderful considering the lunch crowd. We were served quickly and with a smile.

For a break from driving we stopped in Tupelo, Miss., at the birthplace of Elis Presley. The very small two-room house his father built is still standing on the original site. They moved the neighborhood church that the Presley family attended onto the site as well. They have a nice small museum and have a short film about Elvis's early life for free.





Memphis meant barbecue, Memphis style. Barb had asked for recommendations from a friend who recently moved to Memphis for some great barbecue places. His first choice was closed the night we were there so we went to number two, Central Barbecue. Like all great barbecue places, Central is in a older, well loved building, but oh the smells and food. We ordered a rib platter for two. On the recommendation of the guy taking our order we got it half wet and half dry. For those who don't know, Memphis style is cooked with a dry rub. Sauce can be added at the table, but you really don't need to.

We then drove down to Beale Street. This street has great jazz joints, but Monday night in January is pretty dead. Then we went over to Main Street for an ice cream cone. Memphis has been doing a lot of work rehabilitating their downtown. Many buildings have been remodeled for condos on the upper floors and businesses on first floor. They have a trolley that runs up and down Main Street as well. Really a neat development.

Tuesday we drove back to Hartsburg, Mo., to stay our last night out at my sister's. We got a tour of nephew Ben's house and then were treated to a fish fry. Marvin and Ben fried up catfish, crappie and walleye. Side dishes included french fried potatoes, sweet potatoes fries, green been casserole and cole slaw. What a great meal!

Wednesday was the final day of our trip. We left Columbia and heard about a snow storm that closed I-80 between York and Aurora. So we changed our plans, again. First, we went to St. Joseph for dinner. We finally stopped at a Bob Evans Restaurant. We had planned on eating at one on our second day out, but road construction messed that up. Bob Evans is another southern staple, much like a Perkins here.

From St. Joseph we headed west on U.S. Highway 36. We ran into some blowing snow, but by Marysville the roads had cleared. We made it to Arapahoe for supper. I finally got Barb to The Cunningham Feed Store. I had eaten there a couple of times before, but it never worked out for us in our travels before.

Cunningham Feed Store is truly a gem in our area. The building did house the Cunningham Feed Store for over 50 years, selling animal feed. The building was rehabilitated by the owners board by board. The food is excellent and the bread is divine.

Finally we made it home. If you have been traveling with us you have traveled through 12 states and covered over 3,500 miles over 14 days. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, many days only driving for 4 hours. We could stop when we wanted and set our schedule. This was quite a stretch for Barb as she likes to have everything planned down to every stop, but even she admitted she had fun.

We managed to avoid fast food restaurants, except for Chik-fil-a, and enjoyed great locally owned restaurants. This is not to be a food snob, but rather a chance to show that there is great food everywhere, you just need to search it out. We eat our share of fast food, especially when we are the run to some meeting. But given the choice, I'll take a Mom and Pop shop anytime.

Happy trails to all of you and hope you can find time to be with a special someone.

Eating our way across the South, Part 2, Durham

We finally reached Durham, N.C., to visit my brother for the first time since he moved there 15 years ago. Durham has changed a lot in the past 35 years. It is a story of how to refocus after losing your two largest industries and become an innovative, thriving city. The multitude of changes were even spotlighted in a recent New York Times article, further driving interest in the area.

For years Durham has been about tobacco, tobacco and more tobacco. Throw in textile mills and blue-collar industry was what drove the city. The Duke family became tobacco tycoons with the formation of the American Tobacco Trust. After the anti-trust legislation passed in 1890 it was broken up into the American Tobacco Co., R.J. Reynolds, Liggett & Meyers and Lorillard.

The Duke family owned the American Tobacco Co. and also owned several textile mills and developed Duke Power to run the cotton mills. In the 1890s they saved the struggling Trinity College in Trinity, N.C., giving them enough money they changed the name of the school to Duke University and moved the campus to Durham.

The textile mills closed in the 1940's and 50's. Several of the mills sat empty for decades and some of the old mill houses became crack houses.

The tobacco plants closed in Durham in the 1980's, laying off thousands of workers. Some long range thinking has saved the area. A large research park was developed between Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh called the Research Triangle. IBM was the first tenant and the area now houses many high tech companies, including the company my brother works for, Syngenta.

In Durham the remaining textile mills have become long-term hotels or apartments and condos. The mill houses have been renovated and are now nice family homes.


The latest development is downtown at the former tobacco plants. They are now a mix of small businesses, condos and restaurants. The downtown area is cleaned up and is safe once again for strolling and shopping. The range of eating establishments is wide and the quality is great.

The first night we ate at Rue Cler, a Parisian bistro-style restaurant. We had their Prix Fixe menu, a three course meal that has many choices for each course. My choices were: Belgium Endive, Creamy Bacon Dressing, Garlic Croutons; Sautéed Asparagus, Sunny Side-up Farm Fresh Egg, Sauce Béarnaise; and finally Sliced Flank Steak, Collard Greens, Oignons Aigre- Doux, Veal Jus. Barb also had the endive salad but then went with: Roasted Pork Loin, Spatzel, Spinach, Oyster Mushroom Jus. All was great and we found room for dessert as well (Crème brûlée for me, Terrine au chocolat for her).

Wednesday morning we first toured downtown Durham. First stop was to buy some bread from one of Chris's neighbors. Ron started baking bread in his backyard brick oven. He now has his own store called, "The Loaf." After sampling the bread, baguettes and croissants all I can say is "WOW!" I especially recommend the almond croissants.

Then we got a tour of the Syngenta research facility where my brother works and then had true North Carolina barbecue, both types. We discovered North Carolina has two styles of barbecue, eastern and western. Western is a tomato-based sauce close to what most in the Midwest know as BBQ sauce. Eastern is a vinegar and spice sauce that is mostly clear. We tried both kinds, the eastern on some pulled pork, the western on some ribs. I prefer the western, but not by much.

Chris then took us on a tour of the Duke University campus. It is a very beautiful campus, with three sections, east campus where most freshman live and study, central which is mostly housing and finally the west campus. The west campus is where the Duke Chapel sits and is the campus building most often pictured. The east campus features Georgian style architecture while the west campus features a Gothic style. I almost felt like I was on Hogwarts. The three campuses sit on about 900 acres of land.

We also walked through the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, a magnificent 55-acre garden. Again our timing is wrong to see it in all its glory, but it was beautiful even in January.


That night we cooked in and had corned beef and winter vegetables. Made for a great sandwich on the road later.

Thursday we were on our own as Chris had to work, so we visited my Aunt Laura who lives in nearby New Hill, N.C. Finding her house proved remarkably easy, thanks to the little blue dot on our iPad. The roads in this area have a tendency to change names whenever they feel like it and straight through an intersection means it's generally less than a 30-degree turn. Many intersections have five or more streets coming in at all kinds of angles.

My cousin Sherry also came down to visit from High Point, N.C. and we were able to catch up. This side of my family gets together every two years somewhere in the country and we have always been very close. Laura is my mother's youngest sister and she moved to North Carolina after marrying a pilot who was training in Nebraska during World War II. Laura served us a vegetable beef soup, with zucchini bread and Moravian spice cookies, one of Barb's favorites, for dessert.


That night we walked from Chris's house to the Geer Street Garden. This is a bar/restaurant in a former gas station. The food is simple and down home and the atmosphere is relaxed. I had a bratwurst/sauerkraut sandwich and Barb had an oyster po-boy. Chris opted for butternut squash soup and a spinach salad topped with fried oysters and warm dressing. What a treat to have this kind of food within walking distance of home.

Friday morning we left Durham with an ice storm coming. We left early and went a different route than we had planned. More on this next time.

Eating our way across the South, Part 1 Going East

The past couple of weeks Barb and I have been on the road, literally. By the time we got home we logged over 3,550 miles on our Ford Edge and passed through 12 states. On the way we have been eating very well, there will be many trips to the YMCA after we return. We drove to Durham, N.C. to visit my brother, but we took our time visiting friends and family along the way. We have tried hard to not eat at any national chain restaurants, unless they featured southern specialties.

Our first day we made it as far as Hartsburg, Mo., to stay with my sister and her husband. That night we dined on venison and wild turkey. The next morning we headed to Nashville via I-70, 64, 57 & 24. We had planned to eat at a Bob Evans, a southern staple, at Mt Vernon, Ill. However, construction at that exit changed our plans and we headed on down the road. Thanks to the iPad we decided to get off interstate at Benton, Ill. We went past all the typical fast food establishments and went downtown. The Franklin County Courthouse sits in the town center at the intersection of three state highways and the streets around the courthouse have become a roundabout.

One of the small shops around the courthouse housed a coffee house called The Buzz. For those familiar with Lexington, it was a slightly larger version of Madeline's. They have 7 or 8 sandwich choices, 3 soups and 4 or 5 salads on the menu. You can mix or match any of them for a great light lunch and according to Barb the coffee was excellent.







From there we headed on into Nashville to meet one of Barb's college friends for supper. She had a couple of suggestions, one downtown and one out by the airport. We decided against the downtown restaurant since it was close to the Ryman Auditorium, which was hosting the Grand Old Opry that night. We also discovered that Justin Bieber was having a concert downtown as well. So we headed to Monell's at the Manor, a southern family style restaurant in an old southern mansion. The food, atmosphere and company was great. As guests arrive they are seated at large dining tables. Food is served family style and passed around the table to the other diners. We dined with four college students and a couple of visiting engineers. Food included three salads, 3 meat choices, 5 vegetables, plenty of biscuits and cornbread, topped off with banana pudding for dessert. All was great.

Saturday we drove on down to Chattanooga to see Barb's cousin. Dinner was at a small pizza house on the north side of the river which is being redeveloped. We also went sidewalk shopping and took a trip across the Tennessee River on an old bridge.

While at Konnie's we enjoyed a pork dinner with a roast vegetable plate, breakfast brunch and finally Sunday night was everybody for themselves. Somehow we expected a great pork meal from a former Nebraska Pork Queen.

Monday morning we moved on to Asheville, N.C., to tour the Biltmore House. Lunch was at the Biltmore Bistro on the grounds around the Biltmore House. The tour of the house was fantastic. For those who don't know, the Biltmore House is the largest house in America with 250 rooms built for George Vanderbilt in 1895. These include 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and a 70-foot tall ceiling in the dining room. During the 42-room tour we were reminded several times of the PBS show "Downton Abbey." While the gardens in the winter are fairly low-key at Biltmore House, locals and others who have visited assure us they are nothing short of fantastic during the spring and summer. But even in winter the Conservatory just below the main house is filled with plants and we did enjoy the orchids in bloom.

Supper that night was at a local Greek/Italian restaurant, the Apollo Flame Bistro. Again we enjoyed great food that is different than we can get at home. Barb had a gyro combo and I had the pasta combo. Yum.

Tuesday morning we shopped at Biltmore Village, a quaint shopping area designed by the same architects who designed the Biltmore House. The highlight was oil and vinegar tasting. For those of you scoffing, you really do need to try this sometime. We brought several bottles home including chocolate balsamic, which is out of this world when drizzled on vanilla bean ice cream. Lunch was at the Village Wayside Bar & Grille, which is in the old train station. We were told we had to try the onion rings, great choice.


Tuesday night we finally arrived in Durham, N.C. I'll talk about the Durham food scene in the next segment.