32- Pigeon Forge, TN (March 8-14)
March 8
It’s crazy how going on a cruise and then driving can take it out of you like you just ran a half marathon, but I am tired today (and still a little dizzy every once in a while from sea legs). So we take it pretty easy in the morning. We did go swimming and got caught up on laundry.
A little after lunch we go for a walk in Pigeon Forge, mostly along the river walk but also along the main drag. Go-karts, gift shops and candy stores galore here in Pigeon Forge. It truly is a tourist mecca.
Our main destination was the island which was a really neat place. They had animatronic dinosaurs, a fountain show, lots of neat shops, rides and more. It was a really cool place to stroll around. The girls all had the teenage apathy flowing hard today, so they were a little less than impressed, but Bex and I enjoyed it.
We came back and had chicken noodles for dinner before chilling the rest of the night.
The first day back to homeschool routine was tough for the girls, especially with the daylight savings. They were super cranky.
After we made it through homeschool and had lunch, we took off for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We wanted to start at the visitors center, but all four parking lots were full and people were circling around to find spots, so we just drove to the hike. Unfortunately, the hike parking lot was full. As were the sides to pull off for a mile away from the trailhead. So we parked a little less than a mile away from the trail to Alumni Cave.
We’ve been on some busy hikes (especially in Sedona), but this one might take the cake. The hike itself was okay, but it was hard to enjoy with so many people. I was surprised it was this crowded on a Monday in early March. It was also our first hike with any type of elevation in a while, so that threw the girls for a loop.
After the hike, we went back to the visitors center and checked it out. It was okay, but they charge money for jr ranger programs (first time I’d encountered them costing anything) and the lady was definitely snappy with me when I asked if they accepted the America the Beautiful pass for a parking pass (she went into a spiel that entrance is free, but you have to pay to park). It was not my favorite experience, but Bex and I laughed about the snarky lady in the car on the way home.
Katie and I went swimming when we got back, but the other girls claimed to be tired, so I let them off the hook.
March 10
We had the typical homeschool day: CNN, mindfulness, wordle, khan, ssr, english, brainquest.
Drove out to Great Smoky for a hike to Hen Wallow Falls. It was so different from yesterday’s hike in the amount of people. This trail was empty and it was so nice. The waterfall itself was just okay, but the solitude was nice. Also, we met three different groups with Nebraska connections on this hike.
Stopped at a bookshop on the way to white water rafting. Katie got a chapter book on wings of fire.
When we got to rafting, there was a delay because the power plant was not releasing the water from the dam until 4:00 now. We waited in the car and chilled for about an hour before we got going.
Headed out on the Upper Pigeon River with our guide Oaks. He was a super cool dude from Des Moines. The girls did well with rafting and seemed to enjoy the experience. Bex was nervous at first, but once she was in the raft, she felt more secure. It was fun going down the river, hitting some rapids, then looking at the scenery and shooting the breeze with Oaks. We even saw a bald eagle fly right over us.
After rafting, we looked at the pictures they’d taken. I was hoping they’d be as good as the rafting pictures my family had got when we went on a vacation to Yellowstone, but was disappointed when it was only 13 shots, all from the same spot. I had stupidly prepaid to get this to save $10 and after seeing them, I should not have bought them, but wcyd?
We got back home and had a late dinner before heading to bed.
Today was my interview with RHS for the head counseling position. I hadn’t interviewed in a decade, so I was definitely nervous. I'm not quite sure how it went, but que sera, sera.
After the interview, we went to Great Smoky Mountain National Park again. It was still hard to park, but not as bad as the cave, we were probably only ¼ mile away from the trailhead on the side of the road.
Went into to town to do some grocery shopping.
The trail was called Meig’s Creek and it had a swimming hole called the sinks at the beginning where people would jump off rocks into the creek.
The hike itself was really nice. It was a little up and down and the girls are still getting used to the elevation in hikes, but we got to see lots of wildflowers, butterflies and even some salamanders at the waterfall.
Came home and chilled.
March 12
Knoxville daytrip. It was a wet and cold day, but luckily most of our activities were inside.
We started at Oak Ridge and the American Museum of Science and Energy. I did not know of the importance of Oak Ridge in so many scientific advancements. Annie, Grace and Katie did well with the scavenger hunt, playing a little claw game where they disposed of radioactive waste and they learned how to power neighborhoods with various types of power.
After the museum got crowded with a field trip, we headed to the UT Gardens. Most of the time university gardens are just okay, but these ones were pretty nice. Lots of color in the trees and there were plenty of birds out singing.
We stayed on the UT campus and went to the McClung History museum. Grace faced off with Annie in a chess game in the creative area while Katie colored (Annie won). They had some neat exhibits on caregivers, the role our clothes play in culture, history, utility, ect, and a real nice exhibit on the Cherokee and their mound building.
The last museum we visited was the Muse children’s museum. This museum is on the smaller side and caters towards the younger. Annie and Grace are a little old for these types of museums anymore, so we only stayed for about a ½ hour.
The last stop was the Knoxville Botanical Gardens. They do have nice gardens, but the bamboo forest in the arboretum is the highlight.
Annie and I played a short course that was a 9 holer while Katie and Grace finished up homeschool in the van with Bex.
Came back and chilled.
March 13
The weather today was going to be cold, so I decided to give the girls a break and not go anywhere. It was a chill day in multiple ways.
After homeschool, I decided to go on a hike solo, but the hike I went to had a full parking lot and every spot within a mile of it. So I diverted and found an abandoned horse trail. There were trees down that I had to crawl through and the trail had become more like a slow moving creek, but it was secluded and it was nice just to be alone in nature after so many crowded hikes.
We packed up our stuff and got ready to leave Oakmont.
March 14
Travel day. A great travel day too.
After about 1½ hours, we stopped at our first stop: Ozone Falls. This hike is about ¼ mile to an amazing waterfall that’s 110 feet of plunging water. The hike is easy, beautiful and not crowded at all.
We loaded back into the van after our first pit stop and drove down to Burgess State Park. This park is crowded and we have to pay for parking unfortunately, but it’s worth it. The falls here are amazing and there are several huge falls that are in the area. It’s a pretty crowded park though, so it was a lot of “excuse me” on the trail.
Our next stop was Murfreesboro where we had lunch at an amazing Fazoli's before going to the Discover Center at Murfree Spring. While our girls are getting too old for children’s museum, they seemed to have fun at this one. As long as there’s some arts and crafts area, a little bit of space to run and some animals on display it’s usually a win for us. There was a boardwalk around a spring outside the museum where we saw a couple of muskrats, some turtles and a water snake of some sort.
Since it was a beautiful day, we tried to go to the local park, but it was so crowded we decided just to drive on to Columbia. It was here I threw at the #4 course in Tennessee, Woodland Park, while the girls thrifted and grocery shopped. I threw well, but did lose a disc. Katie got a swimsuit and Bex got some t-shirts while thrifting.
The sun was setting on the last part of our drive and it made it beautiful. Driving the highways throughout Tennessee made this travel day really relaxing and nice. We arrive at Natchez Trace and I watch UFC while the girls all chill out and we munch on our leftovers from lunch.
Comments
Post a Comment