ARKANSAS
We stopped at the Welcome Center in almost every state we visited. In Arkansas, we found a brochure for a flea market called Carrie's. It sounded cool so we went to Little Rock to find it. It wasn't cool. 
But...I did pick up this creepy doll form that makes Alex squirm. It is currently being used as a hat rack.
TENNESSEE
Nuff said! On our first day, we drove straight through to Nashville. The TN coupon book directed us to a Days Inn. Aside from the stains on the sheets and the hair in the bathtub, the smoke detector decided to tell us it needed a battery change at 2:30am. Here's a sleepy Alex trying to take the battery out.
I finally decided to call the front desk. Usually there are buttons that say "Front Desk" on the phone, right? Well, not here!
KENTUCKY
The next day we headed up the Kentucky to go to Mammoth Cave National Park. We got sidetracked at this cool little place called Lost River Cave. It was beautiful and we had a cave boat tour. Cool!
Lost River Cave was used as a night club during Prohibition and it's still functional. There was a bar and a bandstand. Pretty sweet! Legend has it that Jesse James also hid out here after one of his most famous heists.
After Lost River Cave, we went to Mammoth Cave National Park. This is one of the longest caves in the US.
We did a (really cheap) 3 hour/3 mile tour carrying lanterns. Our guide showed us Indian artifacts from thousands of years ago and grafitti from a couple hundred years. It was really neat. We wanted to do a crawling or kayaking tour but there wasn't enuogh time.
After Mammoth Cave, we decided to drive straight to Knoxville to spend the night. I decided that we should take a scenic route (while Alex slept). It was the most beautiful drive I have ever done. These pictures can't even capture it but it was breathtaking and I'm not even a person who really likes scenery.
TENNESSEE AGAIN!After Knoxville, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN AKA The Gateway to the Smokies. We got our campsite and then took a short hike.
We swing on vines.
Alex drank water out of a waterfall (but no worries, he has a water bottle that filters water).
We saw coyotes, deer, salamanders, and frogs....and sharks.
(Just kidding) Gatlinburg has an unbelievable aquarium (go figure!). It was one of our fun things to do in the city.
We went to this goofy "House of Illusions". The Genie in a Bottle trick was the only mildly cool thing there but we still had fun.
They had one of those machines where you can try out different haircuts. Here's the new Alex!
Our second day there, we did an 8 mile round trip hike up to Ramsey's Cascades. Let's just say it was pretty miserable. It was essentially 4 miles uphill with endless switchbacks. You kept thinking you would get there and then you would round the corner and see more trail. The scenery was pretty and some people ahead of us saw a bear, so that was cool.
Once we finally got there, we had enough time to sit down and eat one handful of trailmix before it started raining. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we did not have panchos so the way down was wet and slippery. When we finally made it, I determined that we needed to take showers. The National Park didn't have them, so we had to drive around to RV Parks until we found one that would let us pay $3 to bathe. Definitely worth the $3 though.
When we got back, Alex started the fire. He made some delicious steaks.
I slept.
We swing on vines.
Alex drank water out of a waterfall (but no worries, he has a water bottle that filters water).
We saw coyotes, deer, salamanders, and frogs....and sharks.
(Just kidding) Gatlinburg has an unbelievable aquarium (go figure!). It was one of our fun things to do in the city.
We went to this goofy "House of Illusions". The Genie in a Bottle trick was the only mildly cool thing there but we still had fun.
They had one of those machines where you can try out different haircuts. Here's the new Alex!
Our second day there, we did an 8 mile round trip hike up to Ramsey's Cascades. Let's just say it was pretty miserable. It was essentially 4 miles uphill with endless switchbacks. You kept thinking you would get there and then you would round the corner and see more trail. The scenery was pretty and some people ahead of us saw a bear, so that was cool.
Once we finally got there, we had enough time to sit down and eat one handful of trailmix before it started raining. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we did not have panchos so the way down was wet and slippery. When we finally made it, I determined that we needed to take showers. The National Park didn't have them, so we had to drive around to RV Parks until we found one that would let us pay $3 to bathe. Definitely worth the $3 though.
When we got back, Alex started the fire. He made some delicious steaks.
I slept.
LOUISIANA
Because we were flying by the seat of our pants, we made changes to our plans. After spending a night in Alabama with Alex's Great aunt and uncle, we decided to head to New Orleans. I had never been there and Alex's family said it was really fun. We stayed IN the French Quarter on a Saturday night, so let's just say it's not our scene. We spent way too much money on dinner; I got beer spilled on me; and the jazz club we wanted to go to had a $10 cover in cash, which we didn't have. We retired early and watched some TV.
Here's Alex performing for me. :)
This was a fabulous jazz band that was in a bar off Bourbon Street. We would have gone in to listen but we weren't sure of proper bar etiquette, so we just stood outside.
Because we were flying by the seat of our pants, we made changes to our plans. After spending a night in Alabama with Alex's Great aunt and uncle, we decided to head to New Orleans. I had never been there and Alex's family said it was really fun. We stayed IN the French Quarter on a Saturday night, so let's just say it's not our scene. We spent way too much money on dinner; I got beer spilled on me; and the jazz club we wanted to go to had a $10 cover in cash, which we didn't have. We retired early and watched some TV.
Here's Alex performing for me. :)
This was a fabulous jazz band that was in a bar off Bourbon Street. We would have gone in to listen but we weren't sure of proper bar etiquette, so we just stood outside.
I was expecting to see alot of devastation from Katrina but we really didn't see that much (and we even got lost and drove around in neighborhoods). After New Orleans, we drove straight through to Houston and stayed with my grandparents. We were very glad to be back in Texas.
This was a really good trip for us. It was just the break Alex needed from work and we had alot of fun together. See! I told you I would get them up!
No comments:
Post a Comment