Day 1
●●● The DriveTotal miles: 453
Hours Driving: 7 hours
State Count: 2 - Texas and Arkansas
Early Friday morning, we packed up the car with three weeks worth of camping gear and began our journey toward Virginia. The car was full, with hardly an inch to spare... but we managed to fit everything we needed!
I had spent months planning this trip, picking out each and every stop... now I would find out how well I did!
However, before we even left Austin, we made our first stop! There was a first-to-find geocache along Mopac, and we decided to stop and get it before we were on our way.
As it turned out, we were not the first, but the second... but it still was a really fun way to start our trip!
And the first of many geocaches along the way!
The drive went fairly smoothly, though we did get our one and only police pullover of the entire trip before we left Texas (failure to slow down 20 mph when passing a roadside assistance vehicle). Fortunately, I was given only a warning and not a ticket!We passed from Texas into Arkansas in the early afternoon, making far better time than I expected.
We made our first "Welcome to ..." rest stop and geocache find! Bringing the total state count to: TWO!
●●● Crater of Diamonds State Park
Due to scheduling, we were travelling during K's birthday. As compensation for not having the typical birthday party, he got to choose where he wanted to spend his birthday.
He decided he wanted to dig for diamonds in the only public diamond mining field in the world! So, our first stop on the road trip was to visit Crater of Diamonds State park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas!! We arrived in Murfreesboro, AK around 4pm and quickly found the state park.
Of all the parks we visited, Crater of Diamonds was probably the most expensive (but hey - you could find a diamond!!) There was an entrance fee, and then a rental fee for all of the mining gear. But, if you purchased an entrance pass at 6pm, you can use the pass for the evening and also for the following day.
So, after arriving around 4pm, we took some time to set up camp for the night and then headed to the main entrance at 6pm.
We purchased our entrance pass, rented our gear, and headed out to find diamonds.... or not.
To visualize Crater of Diamonds, imagine a huge dirt field, acres wide...
Then add some hundred degree heat and very little shade!
It turns out, hitting the place at 6pm in the evening was a good way to do it!
We walked around the rows, looking for anything glittering; we dug and washed and rinsed.
We searched the two hours before closing on Friday night and then for a few hours again on Saturday morning.
The park provides some helpful guidance on how to find diamonds. And then after you finish, you can bring anything you think might be valuable to the desk. They help to identify all of your finds.
While we never did find any diamonds, we did find a lot of quartz, some glass, and some other random stones! Although we were unsuccessful in our quest for carots, we did have a fun time looking :o)For our first night camping, this evening was our hottest of the whole trip. It was one of those sweltering nights where you just laid in your sweat, and waited for the hours to pass. But, the hours did pass, and in the wee hours in the morning it cooled off enough for us to catch some zzzzs.
Day 2
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 325
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 3 - Texas, Arkansas and Missouri
One of Dave's big requests for the trip was to see St Louis. It was only 175 miles out of our way... and on a 3,800 mile round trip, that's pocket change ;o)
In looking on the map, it seemed like Big Spring Campground was sort of on the way from Murfreesboro to St Louis, so we added it to our list!
So, after our unsuccessful search for diamonds, we packed up the car, and headed to the Ozarks. We drove through all the back roads of Arkansas until we hit the back roads of Missouri. :o)
●●● Big Spring Campground, Van Buren Mo
Big Spring is a gorgeous campground with lush green grass, heavy trees, abundant wildlife and the Current River flowing through it.
It was a few miles out of our way (heading to St Louis), but it seemed like a good place to stop for the night. Neither Dave or I had ever been to the Ozarks before.
We arrived around 6pm on a warm day. After setting up our tents, we were hot and tired. So we all headed down for an incredibly relaxing and cooling dip in the Current River.
We stayed over an hour, which delayed dinner a bit... But it was well worth it to feel cool and comfortable.
And after an hour, we could still hardly drag the kids back for dinner.
We had a quick dinner of campfire fajitas, followed by a cake we had brought along for K's birthday!
Tonight's sleep, after cooling off in the river and with cooler outside temperatures, was far more pleasant than the previous night!
And so ended Day 2 of our Grand adventure!
Total miles: 325
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 3 - Texas, Arkansas and Missouri
One of Dave's big requests for the trip was to see St Louis. It was only 175 miles out of our way... and on a 3,800 mile round trip, that's pocket change ;o)
In looking on the map, it seemed like Big Spring Campground was sort of on the way from Murfreesboro to St Louis, so we added it to our list!
So, after our unsuccessful search for diamonds, we packed up the car, and headed to the Ozarks. We drove through all the back roads of Arkansas until we hit the back roads of Missouri. :o)
I have to say, having never been to Missouri before, it is a beautiful state!
Big Spring is a gorgeous campground with lush green grass, heavy trees, abundant wildlife and the Current River flowing through it. It was a few miles out of our way (heading to St Louis), but it seemed like a good place to stop for the night. Neither Dave or I had ever been to the Ozarks before.
We arrived around 6pm on a warm day. After setting up our tents, we were hot and tired. So we all headed down for an incredibly relaxing and cooling dip in the Current River.
We stayed over an hour, which delayed dinner a bit... But it was well worth it to feel cool and comfortable.
And after an hour, we could still hardly drag the kids back for dinner.
We had a quick dinner of campfire fajitas, followed by a cake we had brought along for K's birthday!
Tonight's sleep, after cooling off in the river and with cooler outside temperatures, was far more pleasant than the previous night!
And so ended Day 2 of our Grand adventure!
●●● Big Spring Campground, Mo
The next morning after packing up camp, we headed down for a quick geocache at "The Big Spring". We almost didn't even stop to see it... Wow, we were totally amazed!
It was beautiful!
It turns out, Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the United States (depending on rain fall), and with a flow of 470 cubic feet per second, it could fill the Cardinal's baseball stadium in hours!
Although we never did find the geocache we went looking for, we spent a good hour enjoying the location and Dave got some awesome photographs!
After exploring some little caves around the spring, we walked a little further down the river to a quaint bridge.
From here, you can just barely see the start of the spring at the far end!
Day 3
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 157
Hours Driving: 3 hours
State Count: 3 - Texas, Arkansas and Missouri
Around mid-morning, we climbed back in the car for the short 3 hour drive from the Ozarks to St Louis. This was one of our hotel stops on the trip, and we we all looking forward to a hot shower, soft bed and curtains to shut out the morning light!
●●● Saint Louis, Missouri
We arrived in St Louis mid-day and got very excited at our first glimpse through the windshield at the arch. The thing about this town is that the arch is everywhere. Not only do you see it from just about every location, but it is a common motif on every building, sign, design etc. We got very used to the sight over the next two days, but it was still always amazing!
We checked into our hotel, got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to check out this awesome structure!
We purchased our ticket to ride up to the arch, and then took some time to explore the Arch museum - which was truly awesome!
It really gave you the feel of this city being the window to the west. We also checked out the Building of the Arch movie.
Around 6pm, we got back in line, this time to wait to get on to our little cart up the arch.
We climbed through the small steel doorways, climbed into the tiny carts, and ascended up the arch, one stair step at a time! It was a pretty amazing experience!
Okay, honestly, this is the most amazing museum I have ever been in!!
Our morning, soon turned into: closing the place down! Yes, it was really that fun!
The "No Maps" sign at the ticket counter pretty much explains it all! This museum is a place for kids of all ages to explore. To climb, jump, crawl but most of all, to discover!
It was built in what had been a very large shoe factory, and many of the crawl-through tunnels were chutes originally designed to send shoes from top floors down to the basement for shipping!
Because of the stormy skies and promise of rain, we started off at the top of the museum - which is visible from blocks away!
Everything you can see can be climbed on, or over, or under... you get the point!
After hours of play, we finally descended into the interior of the building... and descended is the right word, as we went down a ten story slide!
The inside was just as amazing as the roof!
We all spent the day climbing, playing, laughing, crawling (the museum store knee pads were a worthwhile purchase!) Even having spent all day there, I'm still not sure that we got to see everything! As D said, "Well, I guess we'll just have to go back" :o)
●●● Busch Stadium
The next morning after packing up camp, we headed down for a quick geocache at "The Big Spring". We almost didn't even stop to see it... Wow, we were totally amazed!
It was beautiful!
It turns out, Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the United States (depending on rain fall), and with a flow of 470 cubic feet per second, it could fill the Cardinal's baseball stadium in hours!
After exploring some little caves around the spring, we walked a little further down the river to a quaint bridge.
From here, you can just barely see the start of the spring at the far end!
Day 3
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 157
Hours Driving: 3 hours
State Count: 3 - Texas, Arkansas and Missouri
Around mid-morning, we climbed back in the car for the short 3 hour drive from the Ozarks to St Louis. This was one of our hotel stops on the trip, and we we all looking forward to a hot shower, soft bed and curtains to shut out the morning light!
●●● Saint Louis, Missouri
We arrived in St Louis mid-day and got very excited at our first glimpse through the windshield at the arch. The thing about this town is that the arch is everywhere. Not only do you see it from just about every location, but it is a common motif on every building, sign, design etc. We got very used to the sight over the next two days, but it was still always amazing!
We checked into our hotel, got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to check out this awesome structure!
We had been forewarned that the lines to purchase tickets to go up the arch are fairly long. Fortunately, since we arrived in the early evening, the lines were not as long as we expected.
We purchased our ticket to ride up to the arch, and then took some time to explore the Arch museum - which was truly awesome! It really gave you the feel of this city being the window to the west. We also checked out the Building of the Arch movie.
Anyone visiting the arch would be well served by checking this movie out - it really underlined the amazing engineering marvel of building the structure!
Around 6pm, we got back in line, this time to wait to get on to our little cart up the arch. We climbed through the small steel doorways, climbed into the tiny carts, and ascended up the arch, one stair step at a time! It was a pretty amazing experience!
At the top, there is a small sort of arched hallway, with even smaller windows...
... with an amazing view of the city!!
The boys loved the view, and the feel of being in a slightly swaying building!
All in arch, the arch is truly a masterfully engineered piece of art!
We planned one down day during our trip out to Virginia for a couple of reasons. Having never been in St Louis, there were some places I really wanted to visit. We also thought a day off the road might be good for all of us.
But most importantly, Dave really wanted to see the Cardinal's play in Busch stadium... and they were only playing on the evening of the 5th, so we sort of scheduled our trip between his work schedule, and the Cardinal's game :o)
Day 4
●●● City Museum
Anyone who learned we were going to St Louis would inevitably tell us: You HAVE to visit the City Museum. So, we planned to spend our morning there.
Okay, honestly, this is the most amazing museum I have ever been in!!
Our morning, soon turned into: closing the place down! Yes, it was really that fun!
The "No Maps" sign at the ticket counter pretty much explains it all! This museum is a place for kids of all ages to explore. To climb, jump, crawl but most of all, to discover!It was built in what had been a very large shoe factory, and many of the crawl-through tunnels were chutes originally designed to send shoes from top floors down to the basement for shipping!
Because of the stormy skies and promise of rain, we started off at the top of the museum - which is visible from blocks away!
Everything you can see can be climbed on, or over, or under... you get the point!
After hours of play, we finally descended into the interior of the building... and descended is the right word, as we went down a ten story slide!
The inside was just as amazing as the roof!
Below was the amazing Puking Pig - I mean seriously, shouldn't all museums have a puking pig??
●●● Busch Stadium
Dave really wanted to take the kids to see their first professional baseball game. Austin is a wonderful town, but it doesn't have a professional team! So, we planned our trip around the Cardinal game...
Unfortunately, I didn't plan well enough by pre-buying tickets! When we looked the day before, the only seats available... at any price... were the outfield bleachers.
And, as it turns out, these seats were **awesome**. Close enough to feel a part of the game, close to snack bars and bathrooms, roomy... Perfect! We sat in a pile of long-time Cardinal fans who were happy to share their love of the game with us!
After a full day of climbing in the museum and watching the game, we all happily climbed into our soft bed to end an incredible Day 4!
Day 5
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 387
Hours Driving: 6 hours
State Count: 6 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
After a nice hot breakfast in the hotel, we piled back into the car and headed back on the road toward Virginia!
Immediately upon leaving St Louis, we entered into our 4th state - Illinois. Unfortunately, there was no "Welcome to Illinois" reststop, and the road sign passed by too quickly for a photo! So we don't really have any proof of our visit to this state. Boo :o(
A few hours later, we made a quick stop in Indiana, making State # 5:
And then after another drive, we arrived in Kentucky - the home of Colonel Sanders! We made a lunch stop in Louisville and visited the Kentucky Welcome Center:
●●● Natural Bridge State Resort
A little after 6pm, we arrived at Natural Bridge State Resort and Campground.
We headed over to the pool, but it was just closing... and it seemed too late to hike to the Natural Bridge. So we set up camp, and had an early evening instead.
Our tent site was right beside a clear little stream, which provided endless amusement for the boys!
Along the way, we had seen some pretty cool bugs. But the bug that we saw in the restroom of this Kentucky State Park was truly the most bizarre. Doing a google query, it seems like maybe it is a Northern Mole Cricket.
Although the campground was very nice, and the location beautiful... this was probably our hardest evening - as there was a very large group a few sites down who kept us awake with the music blaring until late in the night. We did finally ask them to quiet down around midnight - and quickly fell asleep in preparation for Day 5 - our final day on the road out to Virginia!
Total miles: 387
Hours Driving: 6 hours
State Count: 6 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
After a nice hot breakfast in the hotel, we piled back into the car and headed back on the road toward Virginia!
Immediately upon leaving St Louis, we entered into our 4th state - Illinois. Unfortunately, there was no "Welcome to Illinois" reststop, and the road sign passed by too quickly for a photo! So we don't really have any proof of our visit to this state. Boo :o(
A few hours later, we made a quick stop in Indiana, making State # 5:
And then after another drive, we arrived in Kentucky - the home of Colonel Sanders! We made a lunch stop in Louisville and visited the Kentucky Welcome Center:
●●● Natural Bridge State Resort
A little after 6pm, we arrived at Natural Bridge State Resort and Campground.
We headed over to the pool, but it was just closing... and it seemed too late to hike to the Natural Bridge. So we set up camp, and had an early evening instead.
Our tent site was right beside a clear little stream, which provided endless amusement for the boys!
Along the way, we had seen some pretty cool bugs. But the bug that we saw in the restroom of this Kentucky State Park was truly the most bizarre. Doing a google query, it seems like maybe it is a Northern Mole Cricket.
Although the campground was very nice, and the location beautiful... this was probably our hardest evening - as there was a very large group a few sites down who kept us awake with the music blaring until late in the night. We did finally ask them to quiet down around midnight - and quickly fell asleep in preparation for Day 5 - our final day on the road out to Virginia!
●●● Natural Bridge State Resort
We had a long day of driving ahead of us, but we took a few hours in the morning to check out "one of Kentucky's finest natural sites"
A short but steep hike led us to the bottom of the natural stone bridge.
Day 6
We had a long day of driving ahead of us, but we took a few hours in the morning to check out "one of Kentucky's finest natural sites"
A short but steep hike led us to the bottom of the natural stone bridge.
A squeeze through the rocks
and we were at the top!
A short hike around the top led us to a good view of the bridge. It was an extremely foggy morning, and even at this hour, you could still see wisps of clouds in the trees! It was beautiful!
In all directions!!
There are two methods of getting to the top. The mile long hike that we took, or a sky lift! Unfortunately, the sky lift didn't open until 10am, and we needed to be on the road by 10:30am, so we opted for the hike.
However, when the boys saw the sky lift... they **really** wanted to ride it. And when we were passing by it, ready to hike down, we realized it had just started running.
So Dave very kindly took one for the team. The boys and I took the sky lift down while he hiked the mile to the bottom, retrieved the car, and then met us at the bottom of the skylift.
But, on his hike down, he found an incredibly cool cave, filled with fog, and a low cold breeze blowing from a crevice in the rock. And we just had to see that! So, after he picked us up, he drove us back to the short hike to the cave, and we got to enjoy that as well!
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 520
Hours Driving: 9 hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
This was definitely our longest trip on the way out. We planned a few sight seeing stops along the way to break up the trip.
●●● Nada Tunnel
This tunnel was very close to Natural Bridge State Resort and seemed like a good way to start off our trip.
To quote Wikipedia, Nada tunnel is a historic, 900 foot tunnel that used to be a railway tunnel.
It is extremely tight - 12 feet wide and 13 feet tall and looks like it was hand hewn with pick axe!
The tunnel was really neat to see, but a side benefit of seeing it is that it took us along some incredibly back country roads that we would have never seen otherwise.
Although Google only said the trip was 15 minutes out of our way, it seemed like it took waaay longer than that... probably because we drove much slower than the posted speed limit on those curvy back roads!
●●● A quick trip to Ohio
Once we got back on the interstate and took a look at our route, we realized that we were going to be minutes from Ohio. Having never found a geocache in Ohio, and neither of the boys having ever been, we figured it would be worth our while to drive through Huntington, cross the river and cross off another state!
●●● Lunch at Hill Billy Hotdogs
While in Huntington, it was time for lunch. Long ago, when I was scrolling through all of the possible side road trips, I found this place called Hill Billy Hotdogs. It seemed highly improbable that we would be driving through Huntington right at the time for lunch, but low and behold ... here we were.
A quick stop for some hotdogs, and an amusing look at the variety of paraphernalia hanging from the walls certain broke up the tediousness of our drive!
The most amusing of all was the fact that, in West Virginia, you are allowed to eat roadkill. A sign at Hill Billy's confirmed this with "Hit it on the run? We'll put it on a bun!"
●●● Back on the road in West Virginia
After a much longer stop in Huntington the expected due to the Ohio geocache, Hill Billy's and a DNF geocache in Huntington, we got back on the highway... but got off at the next stop for a quick photo at the West Virginia welcome center!
●●● And finally... Virginia!!!
The road from West Virginia was beautiful and green, and long and twisted. We finally arrived in Virginia around mid-day. We had to, of course, get a quick Welcome Center shot!
●●● Humpback Bridge
Again, in my Google planning from home, I had found through roadtripper.com a cool stop along the drive at "Humbpack Bridge". Not sure if it was worth the five minute diversion off the road (we were ready to be home in our hotel), we decided we'd go ahead and check it out.
And it was SUPER COOL!
This is one of the few remaining covered bridges in the United States. It was hand built in 1842 and used until 1929.
According to Wikipedia: The supports incorporate a unique curved multiple kingpost-truss system that is not found in any other surviving wooden bridge in the U.S. The bridge is an original and completely unique design not duplicated anywhere else.
It was rediscovered and restored in the 1950s and restored.
When we visited, the bridge was in the middle of a reworking and had caution tape across the front, but that didn't prevent the boys from using it to cross to the other side for a geocache!
This location is also one of the LOVEwork Virginia locations.
Total miles: 520
Hours Driving: 9 hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
This was definitely our longest trip on the way out. We planned a few sight seeing stops along the way to break up the trip.
●●● Nada Tunnel
This tunnel was very close to Natural Bridge State Resort and seemed like a good way to start off our trip.
It is extremely tight - 12 feet wide and 13 feet tall and looks like it was hand hewn with pick axe!
The tunnel was really neat to see, but a side benefit of seeing it is that it took us along some incredibly back country roads that we would have never seen otherwise.
Although Google only said the trip was 15 minutes out of our way, it seemed like it took waaay longer than that... probably because we drove much slower than the posted speed limit on those curvy back roads!
●●● A quick trip to Ohio
Once we got back on the interstate and took a look at our route, we realized that we were going to be minutes from Ohio. Having never found a geocache in Ohio, and neither of the boys having ever been, we figured it would be worth our while to drive through Huntington, cross the river and cross off another state!
●●● Lunch at Hill Billy Hotdogs
While in Huntington, it was time for lunch. Long ago, when I was scrolling through all of the possible side road trips, I found this place called Hill Billy Hotdogs. It seemed highly improbable that we would be driving through Huntington right at the time for lunch, but low and behold ... here we were.
A quick stop for some hotdogs, and an amusing look at the variety of paraphernalia hanging from the walls certain broke up the tediousness of our drive!
The most amusing of all was the fact that, in West Virginia, you are allowed to eat roadkill. A sign at Hill Billy's confirmed this with "Hit it on the run? We'll put it on a bun!"
After a much longer stop in Huntington the expected due to the Ohio geocache, Hill Billy's and a DNF geocache in Huntington, we got back on the highway... but got off at the next stop for a quick photo at the West Virginia welcome center!
The road from West Virginia was beautiful and green, and long and twisted. We finally arrived in Virginia around mid-day. We had to, of course, get a quick Welcome Center shot!
Again, in my Google planning from home, I had found through roadtripper.com a cool stop along the drive at "Humbpack Bridge". Not sure if it was worth the five minute diversion off the road (we were ready to be home in our hotel), we decided we'd go ahead and check it out.
And it was SUPER COOL!
This is one of the few remaining covered bridges in the United States. It was hand built in 1842 and used until 1929. According to Wikipedia: The supports incorporate a unique curved multiple kingpost-truss system that is not found in any other surviving wooden bridge in the U.S. The bridge is an original and completely unique design not duplicated anywhere else.
It was rediscovered and restored in the 1950s and restored. When we visited, the bridge was in the middle of a reworking and had caution tape across the front, but that didn't prevent the boys from using it to cross to the other side for a geocache!
This location is also one of the LOVEwork Virginia locations.
Get it? :o)
Day 7
●●● Hotel again
After spending our first week on the road, it was nice to be out of a tent and in a hotel room again.
Our previous morning in Kentucky had been a very wet one, so once we were all settled in the morning, we completely unpacked the car and put up all the camping gear to dry.
Then we pulled out all of our clothing and washed it in the hotel laundromat.
In short, we completely wrecked the hotel room!
But by mid morning, we had a basket full of clean clothes and dry camping gear, so we packed the car back up and were ready to start for our next week of adventures!
●●● Manassas Battlefield
After we had gotten completely packed up and joined Dave for a mid-day lunch(he was working in Manassas for the next two days), we had some time to kill. So we crossed the street and went to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
In our three weeks, we visited a lot of National parks and overall were very impressed with the rangers...
However I'd have to say, the ranger at Manassas was probably the best; extremely well informed and interesting, he made the time period come alive for us!
Our previous morning in Kentucky had been a very wet one, so once we were all settled in the morning, we completely unpacked the car and put up all the camping gear to dry.
Then we pulled out all of our clothing and washed it in the hotel laundromat.
In short, we completely wrecked the hotel room!
But by mid morning, we had a basket full of clean clothes and dry camping gear, so we packed the car back up and were ready to start for our next week of adventures!
●●● Manassas Battlefield
After we had gotten completely packed up and joined Dave for a mid-day lunch(he was working in Manassas for the next two days), we had some time to kill. So we crossed the street and went to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
In our three weeks, we visited a lot of National parks and overall were very impressed with the rangers... However I'd have to say, the ranger at Manassas was probably the best; extremely well informed and interesting, he made the time period come alive for us!
While there, we watched the short video about the two battles, and then took an hour long tour of the park. We then visited a nearby farmhouse in the park that was build in the same era (looking for... you guessed it... a geocache!)
Day 8
●●● Westmoreland State Park
The whole reason for our amazing road trip to Virginia was to partake in a family reunion. My three siblings and their families, plus my mother and father all flew or drove to Westmoreland State Park in Virginia.
(Note: for privacy sake, I have only included pictures of my family, but there really were 21 of us!)
I picked the park because it was close to where Dave worked. That way, I figured he could join us on the weekends.
Other than that, I knew little of the park; my mom had loved it when she was a child but that was quite a few decades ago!
It turned out that I guess the park had changed very little; it was still a truly wonderful park with something to do for just about everyone.
Which was good, because we had all ages along. The youngest being my 3 year old nephew from Montana, and the oldest being my parents!
Westmoreland Park is located on the Potomac, and in some ways, it feels more like a beach than a river.
It is wide enough that you can just barely see across the river on a clear day;
it is partially salty,
and experiences tides and waves.
During the Most of my family camped, though my sister was in a pop-up trailer. We were the only ones in tents :o)
The boys went crabbing and fishing off the pier and caught numerous fish (none large enough to keep), but sadly no crabs.
The boys swam in the beach-like Potomac. The beach sign clearly indicates there are strong currents, and warns that everyone should swim at their own risk.
The first few days we were there, the weather was warm and beautiful and the water was calm. After seeing many others swimming in the water, we allowed the older kids to also.
However, the last few days, the temperature cooled and the wind picked up -- and so did the waves. At that point, no one really wanted to swim any way!
When the kids were done swimming at the beach, they could head over to the pool, which was very nice. It had a nice tube slide for the kids, and two diving boards - which got plenty of use!
Located a short mile hike within the park was Fossil Beach. The park provided screened boxes (and instructive classes, if you desired). After a few hours of digging, about half of our group found a fossilized tooth. Kyle identified his as a shark tooth and Dylan found a fossilized crocodile tooth! Very fun!!
●●● Historic Tour - Mammoth Cave National Park
Our first tour in the morning was the historic tour. This tour starts at the historic entrance close to the visitor's center. We received a good overview of the varied history of the tour, from prehistoric Indian usage, to being a mine for saltpeter, to tours by the important African American Samuel Bishop and finally its creation of a National Park.
A fascinating story of the explorations of Samuel Bishop.
There was a deep trench called the bottomless pit. So called, because anything dropped below was not heard to hit bottom.
Well, after exploring a side passage, Samuel Bishop came upon the bottom of the bottomless pit. And now, a huge staircase leads us to from the one passage to the other.It is amazing to consider the bravery of this man, who explored the unexplored, on hands and knees, with only a lantern to light the way!
●●● New Entrance Tour - Mammoth Cave National Park
After a short break from the first tour, we then went on the second main tour of Mammoth Cave - called New Entrance.
We were told that this entrance was found by a neighbor of the famous Mammoth Cave property. He spent years of his life trying to find an alternate entrance, and finally found this one.
It was not until he had explored for some time that he realized that this cave actually connected to the same one on the "famous" but privately held Mammoth Cave.
The New Entrance part of the cave is more like the caves I am familiar with. It was made by dripping water, so there are lots of flowing features.
The most famous feature of this tour is the Niagara Falls. As our tour guide explained, many of the travelers who came to visit this site in the 1800s would travel here by train from New York, so many of the features were names after Northeasten locations!
Return Home Day 3
The whole reason for our amazing road trip to Virginia was to partake in a family reunion. My three siblings and their families, plus my mother and father all flew or drove to Westmoreland State Park in Virginia.
(Note: for privacy sake, I have only included pictures of my family, but there really were 21 of us!)
Other than that, I knew little of the park; my mom had loved it when she was a child but that was quite a few decades ago!
It turned out that I guess the park had changed very little; it was still a truly wonderful park with something to do for just about everyone.
Which was good, because we had all ages along. The youngest being my 3 year old nephew from Montana, and the oldest being my parents!
It is wide enough that you can just barely see across the river on a clear day;
it is partially salty,
and experiences tides and waves.
During the Most of my family camped, though my sister was in a pop-up trailer. We were the only ones in tents :o)
The boys went crabbing and fishing off the pier and caught numerous fish (none large enough to keep), but sadly no crabs.
The boys swam in the beach-like Potomac. The beach sign clearly indicates there are strong currents, and warns that everyone should swim at their own risk.
The first few days we were there, the weather was warm and beautiful and the water was calm. After seeing many others swimming in the water, we allowed the older kids to also.
However, the last few days, the temperature cooled and the wind picked up -- and so did the waves. At that point, no one really wanted to swim any way!
When the kids were done swimming at the beach, they could head over to the pool, which was very nice. It had a nice tube slide for the kids, and two diving boards - which got plenty of use!
Located a short mile hike within the park was Fossil Beach. The park provided screened boxes (and instructive classes, if you desired). After a few hours of digging, about half of our group found a fossilized tooth. Kyle identified his as a shark tooth and Dylan found a fossilized crocodile tooth! Very fun!!
We were only at the park for 6 days and never were the kids bored. There were lots of trails to explore, numerous geocaches hidden in the park, the beach, pool and more. And if that wasn't enough, a couple of times a day, the park had a variety of ranger led activities. We were so busy we only participated in one of them, but it was really fun!
Return Home Day 1
●●● The Drive
Total miles: 380
Hours Driving: 5 and a half hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
After a wonderful trip to Westmoreland, we left the park on Thursday morning. We made much better time returning to DC, as there was a lot less traffic. We even arrived in time to join Dave for lunch!
We then repeated our recovery day from the prior week... washing laundry, repacking the car and picking up groceries.
We had originally intended to spend this evening at Shenandoah National Park, but Dave suggested we might appreciate a night in the hotel room to recover.
Early Friday morning, with a car once again packed full of gear, we started our journey home!
●●● Shenandoah National Park - Skyline Drive
After a short drive, we arrived about mid-way on the Skyline Drive. We immediately had to pull off to check out the scenery.
I'm sure the Shenandoahs are gorgeous in the fall, but I have to say, summer is absolutely beautiful as well. Flowers grew abundantly along the roadside, with the gorgeous treed mountains in the background!
We spent the next hour slowly driving along this beautiful route, stopping often for pictures. One of the stops was filled with milkweed flowers and butterflies. I think we counted over 9 varieties of butterfly, and there must have been hundreds total.
●●● Shenandoah National Park - Dark Hollow Trail
A little before lunch we arrived at Big Meadows Visitor Center and Campground. This was the campground we had originally intended to spend the night.
Across the street was the start of Dark Hollows Trail. Dark Hallows trail is a short one mile hike.
While we might have enjoyed a longer hike, given the miles we had to travel that day, we opted for the direct route to the falls!
The trail meanders downward beside a tinkling little brook.
And then crossed the ledge into a stunning water fall!
After our hike, we grabbed a quick picnic lunch at the camp headquarters.
The Appalachian trail runs right through the Shenandoah Mountains, and crosses the Big Spring Campground/
While eating lunch, we did meet one hiker. He had started all the way down south in May, had been hiking for months, and was planning on finishing up in Harper's Ferry. Pretty cool!
●●● New River Gorge Bridge
I had planned a path along the New River Gorge Bridge, which was only a half hour out of our way. We were driving some tiny, windy back roads of West Virginia to get there.
Unfortunately, due to lack of cell service, we thought we were going the wrong way and had gone miles out of our way. It was only when we finally got back into cell service range that we realized it really wasn't.
We, unfortunately, did not make it to the bridge in time to visit the Visitor Center, but we did get a chance to walk down and get a good view.
New River Gorge Bridge used to be the world's longest steel single span arch, but is now the fourth largest. It stands 876 feet above the water and is the third highest bridge in the United States.
We had originally planned on spending the night near the bridge, and taking a "Bridge Walk" on the 2 foot wide steel catwalk that is below the bridge. But due to timing, and wanting to get some more miles under our belt, we changed plans and continued driving on!
●●● Robert Newlon Airpark and Campground
After we changed plans about spending the night in Fayetteville, we drove another two hours down the road. We started looking for a campground, and Dave found this place that sounded interesting. The place is built on a mini airfield, complete with skydivers on Saturday morning.
We waited around on Saturday morning, but had to hit the road before the skydivers took off!
Return Home Day 2 ●●● The Drive
Total miles: 286
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
After waiting ineffectively to see the skydivers at Robert Newlon Airpark, we headed on our way south west toward Mammoth Cave and home.
This is where another big change in our plans came up. There was a hike in Mammoth Cave that I really wanted to participate in - a tour though the cave in the evening with only lanterns and flashlights. So I had planned two nights at Mammoth, figuring if we didn't get in early enough on the first night to make the tour, we could go the second night. What I didn't realize was that reservations for the tour booked up the previous week :o(
So, with that in mind, we decided to spend only one night in Mammoth Cave. This would give us time to go to a new destination along the way: New Orleans!
Since we called ahead and found that all of the tours for the day were already booked, it also gave us a little more time on the road.
We took some back country roads and saw again parts of the country we have never seen before.
We passed a small home time funeral; it must have been someone very important, because traffic was stopped for the long procession of tractors, trailers, and wagons that passed by.
And driving through Amish country, we did pass a few horse driven carts.
And since we were driving through Kentucky, with some extra time on our hands, what better way to spend it then touring a whiskey distillery!
●●● Maker's Mark Distillery, Loretto KY
For a last minute plan, this side trip turned out to be a very enjoyable stop along our way.
We arrived at the distillery shortly after lunch.
The tour started in a small house set up to replicate the time in history when Maker's was first making their mark! The boys had a good time exploring!
Then they called for the actual tour of the distillery. The total tour was around 45 minutes long and it took you through the entire distillery.
Unfortunately, one month every year, they shut down the whole distillery for cleaning and maintenance. So, normally we would have seen the distillery in full operation, but because it was August, the distillery was not currently in use.
But they did take us all the way through - from where they brought in the grain to where the bottled it up. It was fascinating!
The whole distillery had the fantastic smell of bourbon... but as you can see below, Kyle WAS NOT a fan :o) He held his nose through most of the tour!
The tour completed with a taste tasting of the Maker's Mark Whiskey -- for the adults only!
However, the kids did get to try a bourbon chocolate which they loved!
The tasting included three different products. The clear one was the unprocessed whiskey - better known as moonshine ;o) It is not available for sale except in the giftshop at the distillery. It was pretty rough!
The second was the standard Maker's Mark, and the last was the high end version (Makers Mark 46). I have to admit, I rally wasn't a fan of any of the whiskeys, but Dave enjoyed the last two!
The end of the tour finished up in the gift shop (of course).
We purchased a bottle of the Makers Mark 46 to keep.
As a privilege for purchasing it in the gift shop (and at in inflated price), we were then allowed to dip the bottle in the red wax ourselves.
It turns out the Maker's mark has patented the "drips" of the red wax. Who knew?
Overall, this was an unexpected, but totally fun side trip!!
●●● Mammoth Cave
We arrived in Mammoth Cave at 6pm, just when the Visitor's Center was closing... but wait, we forgot about the time change to Central. Whoo Hoo! While we didn't plan to go on any tours that night, we did get a chance to take a tour through the museum on site.
The museum was pretty neat, it was set up like a cave hewn out of fake rock - and it gave us all sorts of information we didn't know - like this was the largest cave in the whole world -- and not by a little bit. Kyle earned another Junior Ranger badge!
After setting up camp in the campground, we were going to check out a ranger talk. But the truth was, we were so tired, we just called it an early night and slept (or tried to at least - this was another night where revelers in a nearby camp were up until 2am :o( )
Total miles: 380
Hours Driving: 5 and a half hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
After a wonderful trip to Westmoreland, we left the park on Thursday morning. We made much better time returning to DC, as there was a lot less traffic. We even arrived in time to join Dave for lunch!
We then repeated our recovery day from the prior week... washing laundry, repacking the car and picking up groceries.
We had originally intended to spend this evening at Shenandoah National Park, but Dave suggested we might appreciate a night in the hotel room to recover.
Early Friday morning, with a car once again packed full of gear, we started our journey home!
●●● Shenandoah National Park - Skyline Drive
After a short drive, we arrived about mid-way on the Skyline Drive. We immediately had to pull off to check out the scenery.
I'm sure the Shenandoahs are gorgeous in the fall, but I have to say, summer is absolutely beautiful as well. Flowers grew abundantly along the roadside, with the gorgeous treed mountains in the background!
We spent the next hour slowly driving along this beautiful route, stopping often for pictures. One of the stops was filled with milkweed flowers and butterflies. I think we counted over 9 varieties of butterfly, and there must have been hundreds total.
●●● Shenandoah National Park - Dark Hollow Trail
Across the street was the start of Dark Hollows Trail. Dark Hallows trail is a short one mile hike.
While we might have enjoyed a longer hike, given the miles we had to travel that day, we opted for the direct route to the falls!
The trail meanders downward beside a tinkling little brook.
And then crossed the ledge into a stunning water fall!
After our hike, we grabbed a quick picnic lunch at the camp headquarters.
The Appalachian trail runs right through the Shenandoah Mountains, and crosses the Big Spring Campground/
While eating lunch, we did meet one hiker. He had started all the way down south in May, had been hiking for months, and was planning on finishing up in Harper's Ferry. Pretty cool!
●●● New River Gorge Bridge
I had planned a path along the New River Gorge Bridge, which was only a half hour out of our way. We were driving some tiny, windy back roads of West Virginia to get there.
Unfortunately, due to lack of cell service, we thought we were going the wrong way and had gone miles out of our way. It was only when we finally got back into cell service range that we realized it really wasn't.
We, unfortunately, did not make it to the bridge in time to visit the Visitor Center, but we did get a chance to walk down and get a good view.
New River Gorge Bridge used to be the world's longest steel single span arch, but is now the fourth largest. It stands 876 feet above the water and is the third highest bridge in the United States.
We had originally planned on spending the night near the bridge, and taking a "Bridge Walk" on the 2 foot wide steel catwalk that is below the bridge. But due to timing, and wanting to get some more miles under our belt, we changed plans and continued driving on!
●●● Robert Newlon Airpark and Campground
After we changed plans about spending the night in Fayetteville, we drove another two hours down the road. We started looking for a campground, and Dave found this place that sounded interesting. The place is built on a mini airfield, complete with skydivers on Saturday morning.
We waited around on Saturday morning, but had to hit the road before the skydivers took off!
Return Home Day 2 ●●● The Drive
Total miles: 286
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
After waiting ineffectively to see the skydivers at Robert Newlon Airpark, we headed on our way south west toward Mammoth Cave and home.
This is where another big change in our plans came up. There was a hike in Mammoth Cave that I really wanted to participate in - a tour though the cave in the evening with only lanterns and flashlights. So I had planned two nights at Mammoth, figuring if we didn't get in early enough on the first night to make the tour, we could go the second night. What I didn't realize was that reservations for the tour booked up the previous week :o(
So, with that in mind, we decided to spend only one night in Mammoth Cave. This would give us time to go to a new destination along the way: New Orleans!
Since we called ahead and found that all of the tours for the day were already booked, it also gave us a little more time on the road.
We passed a small home time funeral; it must have been someone very important, because traffic was stopped for the long procession of tractors, trailers, and wagons that passed by.
And driving through Amish country, we did pass a few horse driven carts.
And since we were driving through Kentucky, with some extra time on our hands, what better way to spend it then touring a whiskey distillery!
●●● Maker's Mark Distillery, Loretto KY
For a last minute plan, this side trip turned out to be a very enjoyable stop along our way.
We arrived at the distillery shortly after lunch.
The tour started in a small house set up to replicate the time in history when Maker's was first making their mark! The boys had a good time exploring!
Then they called for the actual tour of the distillery. The total tour was around 45 minutes long and it took you through the entire distillery.
Unfortunately, one month every year, they shut down the whole distillery for cleaning and maintenance. So, normally we would have seen the distillery in full operation, but because it was August, the distillery was not currently in use.
But they did take us all the way through - from where they brought in the grain to where the bottled it up. It was fascinating!
The whole distillery had the fantastic smell of bourbon... but as you can see below, Kyle WAS NOT a fan :o) He held his nose through most of the tour!
But he did find a friend along the way.
However, the kids did get to try a bourbon chocolate which they loved!
The tasting included three different products. The clear one was the unprocessed whiskey - better known as moonshine ;o) It is not available for sale except in the giftshop at the distillery. It was pretty rough!The second was the standard Maker's Mark, and the last was the high end version (Makers Mark 46). I have to admit, I rally wasn't a fan of any of the whiskeys, but Dave enjoyed the last two!
The end of the tour finished up in the gift shop (of course). We purchased a bottle of the Makers Mark 46 to keep.
As a privilege for purchasing it in the gift shop (and at in inflated price), we were then allowed to dip the bottle in the red wax ourselves.
It turns out the Maker's mark has patented the "drips" of the red wax. Who knew?
Overall, this was an unexpected, but totally fun side trip!!
●●● Mammoth Cave
The museum was pretty neat, it was set up like a cave hewn out of fake rock - and it gave us all sorts of information we didn't know - like this was the largest cave in the whole world -- and not by a little bit. Kyle earned another Junior Ranger badge!
After setting up camp in the campground, we were going to check out a ranger talk. But the truth was, we were so tired, we just called it an early night and slept (or tried to at least - this was another night where revelers in a nearby camp were up until 2am :o( )
Our first tour in the morning was the historic tour. This tour starts at the historic entrance close to the visitor's center. We received a good overview of the varied history of the tour, from prehistoric Indian usage, to being a mine for saltpeter, to tours by the important African American Samuel Bishop and finally its creation of a National Park.
In 1798, the land was purchased and used to mine saltpeter. Because of the atmosphere in the cave and the lack of water, everything left behind two hundred years ago remains virtually unchanged. The items below are not a re-creation, but the actual supplies left behind!
A famous African American named Samuel Bishop was one of the first explorers to penetrate deep into the cave. He earned his freedom through the tips he earned from tour goers. You can still see many of the names that were left behind from two hundred years ago. As the ranger told us, names written two hundred years ago are now considered historic interest. Names written two minutes ago -- a federal offense ;o)
A fascinating story of the explorations of Samuel Bishop. There was a deep trench called the bottomless pit. So called, because anything dropped below was not heard to hit bottom.
Well, after exploring a side passage, Samuel Bishop came upon the bottom of the bottomless pit. And now, a huge staircase leads us to from the one passage to the other.It is amazing to consider the bravery of this man, who explored the unexplored, on hands and knees, with only a lantern to light the way!
●●● New Entrance Tour - Mammoth Cave National Park
We were told that this entrance was found by a neighbor of the famous Mammoth Cave property. He spent years of his life trying to find an alternate entrance, and finally found this one.
It was not until he had explored for some time that he realized that this cave actually connected to the same one on the "famous" but privately held Mammoth Cave.
The New Entrance part of the cave is more like the caves I am familiar with. It was made by dripping water, so there are lots of flowing features.
The most famous feature of this tour is the Niagara Falls. As our tour guide explained, many of the travelers who came to visit this site in the 1800s would travel here by train from New York, so many of the features were names after Northeasten locations!
It was very cold in the cave. Most of the time, I wore my hoodie with the hood up!
In fact, I wore this hoodie many times over the three week vacation, very glad to have it with me, even though it seemed ridiculous when packing in the 100 degree heat!
Return Home Day 3
●●● The Drive - and state number 10!
Total miles: 310
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 10 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee
After spending the morning and early afternoon touring Mammoth Cave State Park, we hit the road, headed toward Memphis Tennessee.
We soon hit the Tennessee state line and Visitor Center. Unfortunately, the Visitor Center did not have a Welcome to Tennessee sign?!?! So we had to do with these ... dancing silhouettes... ?
Not really sure what they were, but they did provide a brief diversion in our ride :o)
●●● Bucksnort, Tennessee
In one of those crazy, happy coincidences, I got to visit Bucksnort, Tennessee for the second time in my life!
When I was twenty, a friend and I made the road trip from my home town in Pennsylvania back to college at UT. We were driving through and noticed the name of the town... and had to stop. In a facebook comment when I posted my friend, she reminded me that the town at that time had a restaurant with a sign inside
"If you want it fast, go to McDonald's"
... made out of macaroni??
Go figure.
Well, anyway, those memories were in the distant past.
Dave had found what seemed to be a really neat earth cache along the way, so we stopped to pick it up, and it was, you guessed it, in Bucksnort Tennessee!
Too fun!
In this case, it seems that in 1833, Bucksnort was the home of a massive ironworks that employed hundred of people. The remainder of the furnace still stands!
●●● T.O Fuller State Park
Again, this part of the road trip was sort of winging it. When we changed our plans to include New Orleans, we realized that we would have the chance to go through some new states, including Mississippi. Then we realized that, coincidentally, my mother-in-law was visiting friends in Mississippi. Friends that were very important in Dave's youth... and it was only an hour out of our way.
So we completely re-tooled our trip, and planned to go through Mississippi the next day. That meant that we would end the evening in Memphis. Not so bad. Dave found a state park that was right on the way, and I found a barbecue joint also in Memphis.
Well, by the time we finished our barbecue and were heading on toward the state park, it had gotten somewhat late and dark. And the area of town was clearly not the best in town. Lots of bars on the windows and slightly scary people on the corners.
And quick look at the GPS indicated we were less than 5 miles away?? What kind of state park was this?
When we were about a mile away, the road turned into an industrial park. Better than bars on the window (I mean seriously - how do you lock a tent??), but still not ideal for camping. We were pretty nervous at this point... okay, if this place doesn't look safe, where is the next closest place we can stay, hotel, motel, anything??
When we were about a half mile away, the roadside immediately turned pastoral. And then we turned into an absolutely beautiful state park.
Run by a cranky old man, who barely even said hello to us when he collected our fee. ("How should I know?" was his response to "What's the weather going to be like tonight?")
And I learned a new camping lesson, parks run by cranky old men are **wonderful**. After having listened to revelers until 2am the following evening, we were pretty tired. And at 9pm, NO ONE dare make a peep in this camp. Nothing but crickets. It was AWESOME!
We quickly fell asleep, ready for our next day!
Total miles: 310
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 10 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, TennesseeAfter spending the morning and early afternoon touring Mammoth Cave State Park, we hit the road, headed toward Memphis Tennessee.
We soon hit the Tennessee state line and Visitor Center. Unfortunately, the Visitor Center did not have a Welcome to Tennessee sign?!?! So we had to do with these ... dancing silhouettes... ?
Not really sure what they were, but they did provide a brief diversion in our ride :o)
●●● Bucksnort, Tennessee
When I was twenty, a friend and I made the road trip from my home town in Pennsylvania back to college at UT. We were driving through and noticed the name of the town... and had to stop. In a facebook comment when I posted my friend, she reminded me that the town at that time had a restaurant with a sign inside
"If you want it fast, go to McDonald's"
... made out of macaroni??
Go figure.
Dave had found what seemed to be a really neat earth cache along the way, so we stopped to pick it up, and it was, you guessed it, in Bucksnort Tennessee!
Too fun!
In this case, it seems that in 1833, Bucksnort was the home of a massive ironworks that employed hundred of people. The remainder of the furnace still stands!
●●● T.O Fuller State Park
Again, this part of the road trip was sort of winging it. When we changed our plans to include New Orleans, we realized that we would have the chance to go through some new states, including Mississippi. Then we realized that, coincidentally, my mother-in-law was visiting friends in Mississippi. Friends that were very important in Dave's youth... and it was only an hour out of our way.
So we completely re-tooled our trip, and planned to go through Mississippi the next day. That meant that we would end the evening in Memphis. Not so bad. Dave found a state park that was right on the way, and I found a barbecue joint also in Memphis.
Well, by the time we finished our barbecue and were heading on toward the state park, it had gotten somewhat late and dark. And the area of town was clearly not the best in town. Lots of bars on the windows and slightly scary people on the corners.
And quick look at the GPS indicated we were less than 5 miles away?? What kind of state park was this?
When we were about a mile away, the road turned into an industrial park. Better than bars on the window (I mean seriously - how do you lock a tent??), but still not ideal for camping. We were pretty nervous at this point... okay, if this place doesn't look safe, where is the next closest place we can stay, hotel, motel, anything??
When we were about a half mile away, the roadside immediately turned pastoral. And then we turned into an absolutely beautiful state park.
Run by a cranky old man, who barely even said hello to us when he collected our fee. ("How should I know?" was his response to "What's the weather going to be like tonight?")
And I learned a new camping lesson, parks run by cranky old men are **wonderful**. After having listened to revelers until 2am the following evening, we were pretty tired. And at 9pm, NO ONE dare make a peep in this camp. Nothing but crickets. It was AWESOME!
We quickly fell asleep, ready for our next day!
Return Home Day 4
●●● The Drive - and state numbers 11 and 12!
Total miles: 446
Hours Driving: 7 hours
State Count: 12 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana
We left Memphis at day break, and headed toward Clinton, Mississippi; the home of the friends of Dave's mother.
We arrived in Clinton just in time for a really nice lunch. We spent an hour visiting, and then went on our way!
We made a quick stop at the Louisiana border for a quick visitor sign shot, and then continued on our way!
●●● Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour
Another last minute stop along the way that turned into amazing memories!
While driving, we debated the merits of stopping at a swamp tour. Kind of touristy, but hey, we were tourists! And none of us had ever been on one before.
We made some quick calls and one operation still had space for four on their last daytime trip on the swamp! Okay, sign us up!
The boat trip took us along some of typical Louisiana swamp.
We got to see an authentic Cajun village accessible only by boat.
Both boys even got the chance to feed the alligator marshmallows from a stick. Touristy or not, that was just plain cool!
After our super fun swamp tour, we then headed into New Orleans where Dave had rented us a room at the JW Marriott.
We all cleaned up and then headed to the Old Coffeepot for an awesome Cajun dinner. We then took a quick walk down Bourbon street (before it got too late and too sketchy for young boy eyes!), and then crashed in our hotel room!
Hard to believe we did all that in one day!
Total miles: 446
Hours Driving: 7 hours
State Count: 12 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana
We left Memphis at day break, and headed toward Clinton, Mississippi; the home of the friends of Dave's mother.We arrived in Clinton just in time for a really nice lunch. We spent an hour visiting, and then went on our way!
We made a quick stop at the Louisiana border for a quick visitor sign shot, and then continued on our way!
Another last minute stop along the way that turned into amazing memories!
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While driving, we debated the merits of stopping at a swamp tour. Kind of touristy, but hey, we were tourists! And none of us had ever been on one before.
We made some quick calls and one operation still had space for four on their last daytime trip on the swamp! Okay, sign us up!
The boat trip took us along some of typical Louisiana swamp.
We got to see an authentic Cajun village accessible only by boat.
And some amazingly beautiful scenery.
We found some really cool bugs - including these huge grasshoppers
But coolest of all, of course, were the alligators!
But coolest of all, of course, were the alligators!
Both boys even got the chance to feed the alligator marshmallows from a stick. Touristy or not, that was just plain cool!
●●● New Orleans, LA
We all cleaned up and then headed to the Old Coffeepot for an awesome Cajun dinner. We then took a quick walk down Bourbon street (before it got too late and too sketchy for young boy eyes!), and then crashed in our hotel room!
Hard to believe we did all that in one day!
Return Home Day 5
●●● Cafe Du Monde, New Orleans
We ate a nice breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to Cafe du Monde to pick up some beignets. No trip to New Orleans is complete without beignets.
●●● The Drive home!
Total miles: 518
Hours Driving: 8 hours
State Count: 12 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana
With the car full of the smell of fried dough and powdered sugar, we headed for the long trek home... our longest drive of the whole trip. And boy were we ready to be home.
We had to stop at the Texas border to welcome us home!
And a quick stop for lunch at a restaurant in Orange Texas that Dave thought he remembered and then realized it wasn't the one he remembered. It was still good though!
And then home.
Truly, the most amazing of road trips. When I ask the boys which was their favorite stop, they can't even limit it to 5:
City Museum
no, the Alligators
Oh - and Westmoreland State Park
-- What about the Caves?
Oh those too, and Shenandoah!
--And how about the baseball game and Big Springs?
Those are our favorites too!
--Did you forget diamonds?
That was so long ago, I completely forgot. That was my favorite too :o)
It is amazing everything we managed to do on this trip!! it was honestly the trip of a lifetime!!
We ate a nice breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to Cafe du Monde to pick up some beignets. No trip to New Orleans is complete without beignets.
●●● The Drive home!
Total miles: 518
Hours Driving: 8 hours
State Count: 12 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana
With the car full of the smell of fried dough and powdered sugar, we headed for the long trek home... our longest drive of the whole trip. And boy were we ready to be home.
We had to stop at the Texas border to welcome us home!
And a quick stop for lunch at a restaurant in Orange Texas that Dave thought he remembered and then realized it wasn't the one he remembered. It was still good though!
And then home.
Truly, the most amazing of road trips. When I ask the boys which was their favorite stop, they can't even limit it to 5:
City Museum
no, the Alligators
Oh - and Westmoreland State Park
-- What about the Caves?
Oh those too, and Shenandoah!
--And how about the baseball game and Big Springs?
Those are our favorites too!
--Did you forget diamonds?
That was so long ago, I completely forgot. That was my favorite too :o)
It is amazing everything we managed to do on this trip!! it was honestly the trip of a lifetime!!
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