Wildlife | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Here are just a couple select images of wildlife from my trip last fall to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Little River | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

While traveling through Great Smoky Mountains National Park last fall, came across this little waterfall that lead into the Little River. Shot this with a rented Canon ID Mark IV and 24mm Tilt-shift lens.

Assumption Abbey Fruitcakes

For our December issue of Rural Missouri, I did a story on the fruitcakes Assumption Abbey makes. Each year, the Trappist monks at the remote monastery outside of Ava make more than 35,000 fruitcakes a year for the holiday season.

Read more in the online edition at: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ruralmissouri/201212/#/8.

 

The famous Assumption Abbey fruitcakes.

 

Joseph Reisch puts fruitcakes into the oven at the monastery's bakery.

 

Brothers apply corn starch as a glaze.

 

Red and green cherries are added to the fruitcakes.

 

Pecans are added as well.

 

Finished fruitcakes are set to age for several months before shipped.

 

Father Cyprian adds glaze to fruitcakes at the bakery. The Trappist monk has lived at the monastery for several decades.

 

Each fruitcake is injected with rum.

 

Joseph mixes fruit that has been marinating in brandy wine for 10 days.

 

Father Cyprian wraps up a fruitcake to be aged.

 

 

The exterior of the monastery.

 

The church at the monastery.  

 

The graves of fallen brothers on the monastery grounds.

 

The monastery owns more than 6,000 acres in the Ozark Mountains.

 

Fruitcakes are prepared for shipping.

 

During the holiday rush, more than a thousand fruitcakes are shipped daily.

 

Some of the landscape at the monastery.

Laurel Falls | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

While visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park in November, our first hike was to Laurel Falls. This very scenic, cascading waterfall is a very popular hike for visitors to the picturesque national park.

We visited here late fall during the middle of the week, so the crowds were not as large as normal, which made it more enjoyable.

Gastineau Log Homes | New Bloomfield, MO

For our November issue of Rural Missouri Magazine I featured Gastineau Log Homes, which is based in New Bloomfield, Missouri.

Lynn Gastineau started the manufacturing company 35 years ago and today the company is known worldwide for their high-quality oak log homes. To date, nearly 5,000 homes have been sold to folks in all 50 states and several countries in Asia and Europe.

When a homeowner buys from Gastineau, they are shipped basically the outer shell of the house, which includes several Missouri-made products including oaks harvested from the Show-Me State, windows, shingles, doors and any other materials used for construction.

Read more about Gastineau Log Homes in our digital edition at: www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ruralmissouri/201211/#/20.

 

Lynn Gastineau started Gastineau Log Homes 35 years with help from her father, who owned a saw mill in New Bloomfield, MO. 

 

Cut oak logs arrive at Gastineau and must be dried before cut for the home. Gastineau's one-of-a-kind air-forced solar kiln dries the logs in a cost-effectively and is more green.

Gastineau gets all their oak logs from Missouri loggers.

 

At Gastineau's manufacturing facility, Jason Buschman cuts a dovetail into the end of a log as Mike Tatlock helps.

 

After grooves are cut into each log, each piece is cut into specific lengths and marked to allow the home builder know where each log goes. 

 

The density of the oak logs make it a tough day for sawmill blades. Each day, blades must be sharpened to ensure perfect cuts. With pine logs, a mill can go a week before blades need to be sharpened.

 

Logs are loaded onto a trailer to be shipped to a homeowner.

 

 

New to Gastineau's business are the "log cabins to go." Inside the New Bloomfield shop, Mike Martin climbs a ladder to sand the roof of a cabin bound for Maine.

 

Mike Martin applies a sealant on oak logs inside a log cabin to go. Each cabin is customized for the homeowner and can be installed with sinks, electrical appliances, fireplaces and lofts. Once on site, the cabin just needs to be hooked up to water, electric and heat.

 

This Gastineau log home near Fulton was built in 2003.

 

A stone fireplace and beamed cathedral ceilings highlight the interior of this Gastineau log home. The company offers several floor plans and is open to any custom plans.

 

A hallmark of a Gastineau home is the precise engineering that has gone into every home. Over the years the company has perfected the construction process and the look a perfectly dovetailed log home.