The afternoon we arrived, we joined the Roberts family at a county-wide pep rally at the town square featuring the 4 high schools of the county. We enjoyed the festivities and the small town atmosphere. 
We took advantage of the beautiful scenery at the house to take some photos of the family during our visit. They are a great-looking bunch!
Near The Beeches is Springfield's city park, J. Travis Price Park. The kids had a great time there feeding the ducks and turtles in the pond, sliding on a slide that goes down a hill, riding the zip line and playing on all the other great park equipment.
My son always manages to find wildlife to show to everyone, and this time it was a giant caterpillar. An older gentleman told him that it was commonly called a tobacco worm, and we discovered after some research that the species is Hyalophora cecropia. I've never seen such a large worm!
We learned that this particular region of Tennessee has long been known for its tobacco crops. We also learned that the barns with a ridge vent on the top are tobacco barns, and the tobacco is hung upside down for the leaves to dry, sometimes with charcoal fires to help maintain the correct heat and humidity as the tobacco leaves cure. We passed several great examples of this in action, and had to stop for a few photos.
We couldn't be more appreciative of the gracious hospitality of Dianne and Kerry Roberts. What a great visit!
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