Fall 2016 Road Trip – Exploring on our way home

We left Florida with plans to go to Winchester, TN and have dinner with a friend but learned she wouldn't be home. No problem, we changed plans and headed north with plans to stop by Carolyn's cousin's just north of Nashville.

We arrived in Goodletsville late afternoon, had a good visit and "driveway boondocked" so mission accomplished. We left early the next morning and made a quick decision to nix the idea of taking the interstate toward Louisville. Instead, we drove eastbound on the two lane road. Generally, we drove NE to Hwy 52 with turned out to be a great drive with mountain views and lead us to the South Fork National River and Recreation Area which turned out to be very similar to a national park with a great campground and several interesting hikes and scenic areas. Check out the photos below.

Our route took us through some beautiful drives.

Mountain views.

Wow, we didn't expect to find a place like this. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is a great find. There are miles and miles of hiking trails, unique falls and natural arches. It's similar to the Great Smokey Mountains NP but way less crowded. The Ranger told us many of their visitors come there to escape the big crowds of GSM yet get virtually the same adventure. We took some hikes and drove to some other sites...it's a big area!

The campground is great. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of our campsite but I was able to capture this image of the super moon. 

Super moon

The next morning, we drove to the Yahoo Falls area. It's pronounced YEA HOO, not Yahoo like the web site. Artifacts, reveal this area was inhabited 9,000 years ago. Rivers eroded the sandstone to form natural arches and caves which provided shelter. 

The trail-head was clearly marked...Yahoo Falls - .25 miles. The arch was 1.5 miles so we headed off  on the well used trail.

Trail head.

It was a great day for a hike in the woods.

Which way to go? We decide to go to the arch.

Time to take the jacket off and catch you breath.

Rock hugging tree.

Sometimes you just have to stop, look up and take in all in!

There was another couple at the arch.

How long does it take to make an arch like this.

So, back to the fork in the road. Should we go to the falls?
Sure but remember we will have to climb back up these stairs.

The trail is dry and in good shape.

9,000 years ago, Native Americans lived in this cave.
Several tribes populated the area and lived in caves along the rivers.

Whew! It's a long climb back to the trail but worth it.

We have one more stop before we resume out trip home. Most of the waterfalls were only a trickle due to the drought but we were assures the Cumberland Falls would be flowing. Sure enough but we couldn't help but imagine the flow if the summer rainfalls had been normal.

Cumberland Falls

The road home.
This area in northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky was a great find. We'll be back!

Fall 2016 Road Trip – Blue Angels Homecoming

Those who know me know how difficult this post will be. For those who don't...well, I'm a person who cannot help but look up every time I hear an airplane. I've been that way since a little boy so the chance to see the Blue Angels along with other cool airplanes is one of my highlights of 2016.

As I mentioned in the last post, we visited Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We like national parks and national forests so our next stop will be the Conecuh National Forest which is near the Alabama/Florida border. Opps, I forgot to take a photo of our campsite but it was a nice level site and there were clean restrooms and showers nearby. I'll give it 5 stars!

We traveled the rest of the way to Panama and joined friends to go to the air-show, the 70th anniversary of the Blue Angels. Even though we had reserved seats, we arrived early to avoid traffic. Oh boy, our seats were perfect near the center point of the runway and next to the flight line...this was going to be a good day!

Blue Angels maintenance shop.

There were a number of aircraft on display. Here are a couple that are notable. Daron's battalion rode the CH-53 when inserted into Helmand Province in 2009. We were able to walk through...it's not that big inside.

Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion

The inside can transport 24 Marines with combat gear.

F-22 Raptor - The most advanced fighter in the fleet.

We moved to our seats near the flight line foe a day full of aerial acts and a couple sensational surprises on the ground. Several of the acts had morning performances with repeats in the early afternoon. As I mentioned earlier, there was a problem selecting which photos to post.

Formation of Stearman

Team Aeroshell

Team Redline

T-6 Texan low pass

Mig-15 in full after burner

F-16

Tail Hook down

Aeroshell

Oh ya...a jet powered truck showed up too!

And next ladies and gentlemen, we present the stars of the show...the amazing Navy Blue Angels! One in the air, the Blue Angels do most of their maneuvers is two groups – a group of four and a smaller group of two. 

Taxi past the crowd – we had front row seats.

Throttle up!

Still going up.

Diamond four formation.

Two up – two down.

You go that way...I'll go this way.

One of the few formations with all six Blue Angels

Meanwhile, Blue Angels 5 and 6 are busy doing their own thing.

All the STUFF hanging out.

Wonder if these guys blink when they pass?

Setting up for the finale. Thanks Kathy for getting us great seats.

The last maneuver of the day. “The Missing Man” formation was flown in honor of Capt. Kuss, who was killed when his Blue Angel jet crashed in June, just a day before the Great Tennessee Airshow in Smyrna, Tennessee.

What a great day! Thanks to our friends Kathy, Les, Vicki and Pogo who joined us at the show. It's always fun to share fun experiences with friends. It's just too bad that photos can't make noise nor make you shake as the jest roar by but we'll be back for another show...somewhere.

Fall 2016 Road Trip – Smoky Mountains NP, Cades Cove

Fall 2016 - It's early November 2016 and we decided to take a road trip. We knew our farthest point, Panama City, FL where we would watch the Blue Angels homecoming show, the last show of the year. On the way, we were hoping to see some late fall colors so we would meander toward the Smokey Mountain National Park to see what we could see.

As normal, our exact route is up in that air. We prefer the stay off the interstates and discovering small town America. On this trip, we have a few days to get the Panama City so we decided to jump on I-75 and hightail it to Knoxville then travel state and county roads over to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

While still north of Knoxville and on I-75, we passed a number of forest fires that are dotting the area. The summer and fall of 2016 had been unusually dry. The drought provided a perfect situation for fires. Since we were driving on I-75, we couldn't get photos but some of the fires were amazingly close to the highway. Only a week or so after we were in this area, major fires destroyed many 10,000 acres of forest. There was loss of life and many towns were impacted including Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

From Knoxville, we drove east to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Even though we missed the peak fall color season, there was lingering leaves that provided us nice views.

Cades Cove
About a hundred years ago, a valley was settled in the western Smoky Mountain range. The area became home to around 100 settlers and named Cades Cove and is the most visited area within the national park. The is an eleven mile drive that passes near a number of the original farmsteads and churches.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Road to Cades Cove – still some nice color

John Oliver cabin - 1st cabin built in Cades Cove (1823)

John Oliver cabin

Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church

Interior of Baptist Church

Barn

The settlers were great builders with hand hewn logs.

They made the wooden hinges.

Grist mill

The eleven mile road road circles the valley below and features many of the early homes and churches. We have not been here in the summer but it looks like there are crops grown like they were 100 years ago. While driving, it's possible to see wildlife such as deer, wild turkeys and more.

Fields with great views of the mountains.

Cases Cove takes us back in time. The homes, barns and buildings are open so visitors can go inside and browse around. There are also a few pieces of machinery to view.  We spent a few hours at Cades Cove on this chilly day but on a nice day, visitors could wander an entire day through the area.

Near the entrance of Cades Cove, there is a general store and an RV campground. We have this area on our list to check out another time.