The Less Traveled Road

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

Me, Roger, Denise

It was a great mid-October weekend spent with Roger Kuehn and his friend, Denise Shoemaker, in Indian Mound, Tennessee, out in the middle of nowhere on the eastern ridge of the Cumberland Plateau near Sparta, Tennessee.

I served as Roger's pastor from 1976-1980 and we recently reconnected. He and Denise invited Joyce and I to visit with them and stay in their "Get-Away" cottage close to their log cabin. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in 34 years, and we enjoyed sharing our stories with one another. Denise and Joyce enjoyed getting to know one another too. 



Cheyenne

They own an American Paint horse ranch with 17 horses. Joyce loves horses and was in horse heaven. She fell in love with their frisky, cute four month old Philly, Cheyenne, and wanted to take her back to Appling. 

In spite of the weekend rain, Roger and Denise

Syrup Making Mill

showed us the sights around the Cumberland Plateau mountains. Saturday, we went to Mennonite country in Muddy Pond, Tennessee. We enjoyed shopping in their quaint stores and got to see an old fashioned Sorghum Syrup making operation. Needless to say, we bought some of their sorghum syrup. My grandfather and I used to enjoy sorghum syrup over my grandmother's hot biscuits. You can't hardly find it any more in the grocery stores today. We took a scenic drive back to their place through the Calf Killer River Valley. Calf-Killer was a Cherokee Indian chief and the early pioneers named the river for him. 


Center Hill Lake

Sunday, we went with them to their church, Baxter United Methodist, and enjoyed a Tennessee mountain country service. After dinner at the Golden Corral in Cookesville, they took us on a sightseeing tour of the magnificent Center Hill Lake formed by the Caney Fork River of which the Calf Killer River is a tributary. That all flows into the Tennessee River. Roger took us up an old winding former wagon trail road. We had almost ascended to the top where a fallen tree blocked the road. Like 19th century travelers, we had to stop and move it out of the way before proceeding. 

We said our goodbyes Monday and headed back to Georgia. 

The trip to Tennessee via Interstates 20, 285, and 75 was awful. The Atlanta and Chattanooga traffic was absolutely awful. Nerve racking!  So, we plugged in our GPS to go home a different route through the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and North Georgia. It was the road less traveled. 

We drove through the rain and fog, but even that didn't dampen the gorgeous autumn drive through the winding, twisting mountain roads. We were on adventure and weren't disappointed.
 
After traveling about 60 miles, we came up on Wooden's Apple Orchard near Pikeville, Tennessee. We had to stop.  We loaded up on fresh picked apples and sweet potatoes to take home. They also had a restaurant serving down home Southern meals. I got the Salisbury steak, homemade fried okra, homemade green beans, and cornbread. All were just like my Mom used to make. Boy, was it good!



William Jennings Bryan

We continued out adventure and soon rode into Dayton, Tennessee. As we passed the courthouse, a historical marker caught my eye. THAT was the courthouse where the famous Scopes "monkey" Trial took place in 1925. Being the history nut that I am, we had to stop and look around. There in the courthouse lawn was a statue of one of my heroes, William Jennings Bryan who prosecuted the case for the State of Tennessee against John Scopes who was defended by the great agnostic lawyer, Clarence Darrow. Scopes broke the Tennessee law which forbad teaching evolution in the public schools. He was found guilty and fined $100. The trial gained international coverage.  Bryan had run for President three times. Once, he ran as the Populist Party candidate with Tom Watson from Thomson, Georgia.  Thomson is near Appling where we live. Bryan was an outstanding Christian statesman and an outspoken Christian. Unfortunately, the courthouse museum containing memorabilia from the trial was closed on the Columbus Day holiday. 

After our surprise find in Dayton, we continued our journey home which included a scenic drive along the Ocoee River. 

The road less traveled was filled with wonderful surprises and sure beat the maddening traffic in Chattanooga, Atlanta, and the congested interstates. 

Wooden's Orchard

And that's kind of the way it is on the Gospel Road too. It's the road less traveled. Jesus said, "Narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:14). The road to life is the road less traveled and is filled with surprises and adventure. Every turn leads higher and higher. Through the valleys, along the rivers, and stopping at the orchards to taste and see that the Lord is good is a pleasant journey away from the maddening world and culture so many follow. It is a journey along green pastures and waters flowing with the fountain of life. It is marked by the history of Calvary where our Savior suffered, bled, and died opening up for us the narrow road that leads to the abundant life now and life eternal. The Holy Spirit is our GPS leading us to our heavenly home. There's no other way for me. I'll take the road less traveled any day! Won't you?

Enjoy the "Glory Road" (Click the link) sung by the Gaither Homecoming Friends. Or, click the arrow on the embedded YouTube video.