Shortly after out trip to Maine, it was time to load back up and road trip again!
Our friends planned an elaborate road trip for the Ecplise event and we decided to jump in!
We recently bought a camping trailer. Since our truck isn't quite snuff to pull it this far, we rented a huge diesel Ram truck for the trip. The front seat had a bucket seat so it safely seats 6 people. However, most of the time I sat in the back with 3 boys and Easton sat in the front (=way more peace!). The 9 hour drive to Tennessee was no problem.
The first night we arrived pretty late, but stayed at the Great Smokies / Cherokee KOA.
Definitely a place I'd like to re-visit. Lot's of fun history in the area and a cute town nearby.
Definitely a place I'd like to re-visit. Lot's of fun history in the area and a cute town nearby.
I love that this area is bordered by a meandering river that has tons of white water rafting expeditions...another thing for next time!
The next morning we drove to Cloudland Canyon State Park. The big claim to fame here is Rock City. A beautiful rock look out on the side of the mountain. They have made it into an overpriced scenic experience. We did enjoy ourselves, but I started to wince a little when we started seeing decorative trolls throughout the paths!
The gang out of the car and ready to explore.
The gang waiting for the parents to buy tickets.
Rock City here I come!
We loved the bird show.
Cool window panes that let you see through different light.
I thought this would make a cool art project.
The lookout before the lookout. I have to admit, this free standing platform was not my favorite.
Now on our way to Ruby Falls. A sister experience to Rock City.
Ruby Falls is an underground waterfall. And I mean WAY underground.
We decided to head inside for our 1+ hour wait. We played with everything possible in the gift shop then decided to organize the 1,000's of rocks by color.
Rachel starting her thieving career young.
Waiting for the elevator to take us down under.
Now on to our final destination and viewing of the Eclipse. The Chilowee campground.
This is in the path of totality for the eclipse (assuming there was no cloud cover).
We loved this campground. It was pretty small, had a fun little pool, and an amazing river that was so refreshing. At low water (it was regulated by a dam) you could walk 100 yards across. There were big rocks all along the bottom the kids built their own dams and pools with.
The eclipse turned out amazing. I'm a follower now! I loved it. We wore our special glasses and were in awe at the experience. We saw all the classic signs...shadow snakes, the sounds of crickets and cicadas tricked into thinking it was night time, and totality for over 2 minutes.
On our way home we decided to stop at one more tourist attraction. Katie took the older boys with her for an extra day of fun on their way home, so we just had the twins.
The Lost Sea adventure was just that... a deep underground lake (even with fish!). We explored the caverns and writing on the walls from historical battalions seeking refuge here.
And yes, it's very cold underground.
Declan and David walking to get on our boat.
On our way home we made a painful mistake of taking a detour from an accident.
We ended up going through a mountain and into West Virginia. It was the longest detour ever. It was dark, storming, and we were pulling our huge trailer. Fortunately, the twins were able to fall asleep so David and I were the only ones that really suffered.
And yes, we even found traffic on our detour. Ugh.
But we did survive.
