Day 45

Dave and I had both been semi-dreading our night the day before as our neighbors moved in all around us as well as in the middle of us!  Every since I first started camping as a child, there is a rule of a invisible boundary around campsites.  Apparently these three or four families decided that was not a rule at all!  At one point the kids even parked their bikes in our parking spot for the car!

There were quite a few kids, older teenagers, and adults in these two site so Dave and I looked at each other thinking the night was going to be quite loud.  We joked about finishing all the beers in the cooler just to have a good nights sleep.  We did share a few beers but our night was surprisingly quiet and we all slept quite well.  

The morning was chilly and Dave started on pancakes early so we could get on the road pretty quick. 

The kids were up with the delicious smell and we were packed up and on the road by 8 which is probably a record having a cooked breakfast.  It's nice having that guy around to share the load!

We decided on the first hour or so of backroads then we would stop for a stock up and drive on the highway for the rest.  We had about a 6 hour drive ahead of us so we wanted a least some of it to be enjoyable.  After about 45 minutes all the kids faces were turning green in the back and we had to stop.  Dave and I felt like we'd been on a roller coaster too!  The drive was beautiful though and we especially loved all the old barns and look what we ran into around a corner!

Dave and I switched driving so I could have some fun and Ryan decided to use Dave as a target.  We were back in an area where we had cell service so he was go through all his emails from the past few days.  Every 30 seconds or so we would be pegged in the head by taped up balls of paper!  Whatever keeps them smiling!

We stopped for a quick stock up on food for our last few days in the woods as well as a quick ice cream.  The kids and I had hit Smokey Mountain National Park last year on our way north so I knew it would be beautiful to share with Dave.  One of the parts of the park we'd missed was Cades Cove so I decided to have us camp there.  I knew it was going to be a fun drive when we still had 45 minutes and only 10 miles left!  The temperature was dropping about a degree each couple minutes too!

We checked in, grabbed some firewood, then set up our site.  Have I mentioned how nice it is to have Dave helping?  We're on our 3rd day of camping and everything takes about half as long with him around!  While I did our dishes from snacks in the car, the kids played target practice with their rubber band guns and lego guys.  

We decided on a hike of the nature trail nearby after a little while.  Every nature trail we'd ever done so far had been a flat, wide, accessible, winding path through native plants and trees.  I had everyone stay in flip flops.  I should have known better in the Smokey Mountains!   

We learned a lot about the native trees in the area as the kids read the interpretive signs along the trail.  The afternoon was beautiful  and we were getting a little relief from all the heat in the woods.

This girl is so happy to have Dave back.  She wouldn't let go of my hand the entire trip and now I haven't seen her for days!  The only way she holds my hand is if she's already holding his!

Once we got back to the site and all the groceries put away, Dave started cooking dinner.  He even had an assistant chef!  

After dinner and dishes all the kids wanted to throw the football with Dave.  I took the opportunity to get everything ready for the night.  The girls enjoyed teaching Dave about poison ivy as we've run into so many different varieties these past few years of trips.  

Our next night program was one Brayden was really looking forward to - a night hike!  We got dressed and headed over to the shelter to meet the park ranger and get on our way.  

Our park ranger was fun and he told stories at a few stops of the history of the park.  The kids really enjoyed learning about the Cherokee so we'll be sure to focus a little more time on that this year. While we were hiking there were rangers on the trail doing studies on bats we were seeing flying above us.  I was hoping they were going to take a minute to talk to us, but I guess not everything can be a learning opportunity!

We walked on a cut through road of the Cades Cove Loop back toward the park in the middle of one of the horse pastures.  There was a half moon so the sky wasn't all the dark, but it was absolutely darker than what we see at home.  The big dipper was hanging low in the sky and it looked so close as if you could grab it.  The kids were more impressed with the ranger's laser pointer as they've seen so many dark skies on this trip.  

The ranger ended the trip with a wonderful quote from President Lyndon Johnson played on a small tape recorder, "We must not only protect the country side and save it from destruction, we must restore what has been destroyed and salvage the beauty and charm of our cities … Once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted."  The ranger then thanked us for his job which I thought was awesome and we thanked him for a wonderful hike. 

We were all asleep within minutes of zipping the tent closed.  We had a big, full day the next day as we would be trying to eek out every last minute of our last day.  

Day 3

We were up early and on the road for a long day and drive to our next spot.  The kids help more and more each year so our packing time seems to decrease.  Except for when I add in extra variables.  I bought each of the kids a personal backpacking inflatable sleep pad being the nice concerned mother I am and in hopes they could each handle packing and unpacking their sleep areas.  What I didn't realize is the sheer amount of instruction time it would cost me! Hopefully that will exponentially decrease with each stop.

We'd grabbed a Redbox movie the day before, so with a 4 hour drive ahead of us to our first stop, it was the perfect time for breakfast and a movie!  Brayden opted for the single seat and some alone time.  Perhaps this teenage thing is really upon me.

After a long four hours straight in the car and looping through Georgia and almost to Chattanooga, we arrived at our first stop.  Oh, how I've missed you Trader Joe's!  The kids were grabbing things off the shelves like they were long lost best friends they hadn't seen in years.  I could see Dave shaking his head wondering just how much this was going to cost him!  We walked out of there without too much damage though and headed to our next stop - the Adventure Discovery Science Museum! The kids had been looking foward to this stop all day as they have turned into such science museum snobs able to rate a museum in under 2 hours.

This one did not disappoint them!  At first they were drawn to the 2-story video game and play structure area but then they ended up learning all about genes, hereditary traits, brain disorders, and gender bias.  Wow!  I certainly couldn't have covered all that material in 30 minutes!  This one really intrigued Laney as she realized she categorized babies how they were dressed.  They were actually the same baby!

And here is proof Brayden really is strong as he is lifting a car.  He's been snowballing us all this time saying things were too heavy!

They build a catenary arch!

And then promptly knocked it all down.

Next up was a quick show about severe weather.  On the way the girls learned how to spin plates!  I was a little nervous about this show as we were a traveling in a tent very close to weather right now, but they actually learned quite a bit about lightning and tornado safety.  Plus the experiments were cool!

An F2 tornado simulation - shot a pencil through a piece of wood!  The kids gasped when he told them they have found drinking straws embedded in trees.

Our last section of the museum was all about body functions.  This was certainly going to be gross. The kids learned about blood flow, respiratory function, the digestive system, and even performed an operation.  I'm not sure I would trust the doctor who is more concerned with buttoning her coat!

Next was the "Body Battle" game where we (good guys Laney & mom) battled against the pathogens (bad guys Bray & Ryan) to keep our temperature below 100 degrees.  I'm sure you can guess who won!

Out last stop we spotted as we walked in and Ryan had asked only about 83 times when we were going to do it - the Space Walk.  It was supposed to simulate a walk on the moon.

Brayden was my & Ryan's photographer and he did a great job with Ryan.  Let's just say those harnesses are not even remotely flattering for adults. That and I was blurry in most of the photos too.

But he redeemed himself with this one of Laney!

Laney thought her friend Zoey would love this part of the museum!

Refreshed and bouncing, the kids hopped back in the car for the quick ride to our next stop - Mammoth Cave National Park.  We only had a little more than an hour drive so we would be there with plenty of time to visit the visitor's center and plan our stay there.  Or so I thought.  This was my view for 45 minutes.  A complete stop on the interstate.  Like engines off people out of their cars stop.  In 90 degrees.  With a few thousand of my closest friends.  Wait, was this bad thing #3? Well, at least we had snacks!  And at least it's not raining!

As we arrived the sun was getting low, so we opted for dinner and bedtime.  My planning brain would have to wait until tomorrow.  The kids made a few friends and raced around on their scooters until it was time to eat.  We thought we'd have time for a walk around the campground, but by the time we'd finished all our nightly stuff, it was pretty dark so it was off to bed after a couple chapters of the book.

Quote of the Day: Ryan to Brayden - "Go in there and you can be a fart!"