Nashville

Time to visit a Costco, so off to Tennessee we went. I have a monthly prescription, and while I had stocked up ahead of the trip, it was time again to get it filled. So fortunately for us, Costco was able to transfer my prescription to Nashville and get it filled within about a half hour. Whew!

Since we travelled nearly two hours to get to Nashville, we hung out there the whole day. After Costco and the local Publix, we went and hit up Fort Negley. Largest stone fortress built during the Civil War (for the Union). I need to do some more reading on Tennessee during the Civil War, because it sounded to me as if they were trying to play both sides.

After the fort, we toodled down the road to Adventure Science Center. What a blast that was! Very hands-on, dynamic learning.

Moon Walk

The first thing we did was the space walk. It was close to 3:30 when we got to the museum, and that's when they close the "rides," so we hustled to make it just in time to be in line! The kids had so much fun with their short time trying to walk on the moon. Even though our time at the museum was short, I'm so glad we got to check it out.

We finished up our day in Nashville at Peg Leg Porker a barbeque joint. While it's not my type of barbeque, we enjoyed the atmosphere and had a nice evening. All in all, we liked our day trip into Nashville.

On the Move, Again

After drying out from our drowned rat days in NOVA, we headed out to Mammoth Cave National Park. Our first night in the park was a bit more crowded than we were anticipating for a Sunday evening in October. Columbus Day holiday. Oh, and Kentucky schools get a fall break. But a lot of folks cleared out Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday, we were running pretty free and clear, with just a few other campers. By this weekend, though, we're back to a full campground. Thank goodness most of our fellow campers are headed back to their non-camping lives tomorrow.

Domes and Dripstones Tour

We spent a lot of time trying to figure out which tour to take. There's a wide range of tours offered, so we read up on all of them and then checked with a ranger. NPS' website says to get a ticket the day before, and most of the tours sell out. Even with that warning, we ran into people who came in the visitor's center in the afternoon looking for a tour for that day. Upsetting for them, to say the least, especially since it was their only day in the park. At any rate, we decided upon the Domes and Dripstones Tour. Turns out, I can't go with a crowd. This is a HUGE tour, with about 118 people allowed to go along with the rangers, bringing the total to 120. I had to bust through the crowd and exit the cave and chill out with Ranger John for a few minutes. After gathering myself, we went back in, and as long as I hung back and didn't rush into the cramped spaces, I was cool. But, my oh my, those cramped spots are CRAMPED. Such a good tour, and I'm glad I forced myself back into the cave. It did take us about 10 minutes to get down the windy and cramped stairs entrance. Ranger John told me the guys who discovered the cave came down on ropes and it took them 10 days to get to the big room. I don't think my destiny is to be a caver.

Mammoth Passages

We were fortunate enough to work in a second tour, Mammoth Passages. The entrance to this one is much larger, never having a cramped and winding entrance. Thank goodness. After two days of climbing and walking a couple miles, I was feeling my heretofore lack of exercise. It was good for me. I need to get my butt in gear and exercise more. After the tour, we continued down the trail to the River Styx stream. NB and I then went to Echo River stream and then to the campsite. He and I ended up hiking about three miles that afternoon. We were HOT when we returned to camp.

Cool Roots

NB and I got to see some truly cool roots. We also got to see a small entrance into the cave. Did NOT go through the creek into the cave. But we did talk to a gentleman who moved to the area 24 years ago to explore the cave, and he sounded like he has used the creek to enter the cave.

Hocking Hills

Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio has been on K's list of places to go since we started planning the whole journey.  We looked into camping there, but it's one of the pricier state parks, and it's only an hour and a half or so from Bill's parents' house, so we took a day and headed out.  

First, the water is LOW.  As in, the waterfalls almost aren't even there.  Which actually gave us a very cool way of looking at things, as the water was so sporadic in places that it ended up looking like rain.  Very cool.  This is one of G's pictures.  He loves to steal my camera and take pictures.  He's got a good eye for interesting shots.  He's saving up for a camera, but the one like mine is about $300, so I think he'll need to ask for Christmas money to be able to get it.      

Devil's Bathtub.  Rumored to go all the way down to Hades itself.  This is a treacherous little spot.  The sides are sheer and slippery, which means that once you've found your way in, you're unlikely to find your way out.  Bill read that many people have drowned in this spot.              

When G isn't taking my camera, he's offering to be in the shots for me.  These cool bridges were all over the place.  I was totally digging this park because of their really cool bridges throughout.          

This bridge was my favorite.  All the sections are independent.  So there are gaps.  And there are no rails to hold onto.  NB's on the edge, just as he lives his life.  Freaked a lot of people out, but he knows what he's doing.  All in all, we had a delightful time at the park.  Bill's mom joined us, which was so much fun for us.  We don't normally explore parks with other people, so that was a true treat for us.

Halloween Time

Halloween is one of my favoritest holidays.  Ever.  But we're not in our own home, so we're having to mix things up a bit this year.  We're not sure what kind of trick or treating activities will be available to us while we're on the road, but that's a priority for the kids. But in the meantime, we've been able to have some of the season's fun, courtesy Bill's parents.  

All five of 'em fit on this cool swing under the slide at the Butcher Family Farms pumpkin patch.  G is a bit old for the fun of the pumpkin patch, so it was tricky getting him there and to participate.  But he did pick out a pumpkin to carve, and that was the big reason for getting him there.        

NS hiding amongst the big pumpkins.  These monsters were seriously huge.  The kids all wanted one of their own, but their price is in line with their size, so they stayed at the farm.  But, boy oh boy do I want to plant some of these bad boys some day.  After our pumpkins were all chosen, we headed back to decorate the in-laws' front porch.        

It took us a couple days to get the pumpkins off the porch and get started on carving, but once we started, it went lickety split quick.              

Yanking the guts out is NOT our favorite job.  I don't help with this part, my hands turn bright red and itch for a long time, so if it's not my pumpkin, I don't do it.  This part took the longest for the kids.  I always take forever to figure out my face, but they all got that done in a hurry.              

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater.  G made his pumpkin's mouth so large that it could consume his uncle's mini pumpkin.  Yum yum!              

K got a goose necked gourd, and instead of carving it, she went ahead and decorated it.  She added eyes, neck bolts, and wings, thus creating....Frankengoose!!!!  With our little Luci light behind it, this guy was one scary gourd!  (Links are simply for finding things, I get no compensation.)              

Cool pumpkin decoration.  Definitely one of the good times we've had in Parkersburg, WV.

Updated Math...Done With It All

After Mary gave me the heads up as to where the solutions were (thanks!), though I swear I looked for them time and again, G and I had the discussion as to how to continue math.  I had already put him on Teaching Textbooks, which he loves.  But is it too simple for him?  Do I need to push him to do things that are hard for him?  Everything seems to come so easily to him, it's really annoying.  This led to a grander discussion about high school planning, what courses should be included, what the plans are for his life.  I'm stressing.  I can do this, I just wish I sometimes took the easier path.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Our trip to the DC area had been planned out for months.  Months.  One of NB and K's teachers had told us about a book festival on September 24th, downtown.  She told us this in April.  APRIL!  So we planned.  We reserved.  We told people.  We did not check the weather.  We arrived in Reston, VA, on September 23rd.  Bright, sunny, hotter than I wanted (still 90 degrees after the sun went down).  Tired and cranky, and hearing that Obama would be out and about in DC on the 24th, we decided to bail on the book festival.  We've been told that was a good decision.  The weekend was gorgeous.  We had dinner with friends on Saturday, visited my brother on Sunday.  Gorgeous weather.  Monday we had dinner with those same friends, and it was raining when we left their house.  Tuesday was beautiful again, but the area was put under flash flood watch.  Tuesday night rained hard, off and on.  My sleeping bag got wet at the bottom, but everyone else seemed fine.  Wednesday rained hard all day long, and the night was no different.  This time, the entire tent got wet inside.  Bill's and my bed took the hardest hit.  We're using a foam memory pad, and it got soaked.  With standing water in the tent, our reservation up, and no reservation at Shenandoah, which was our next stop, and no end in sight to the rain, we had to change plans.  So back to Bill's parents we went to regroup and dry out.  

Bill packing up all the wet stuff.  After getting all the pads and sleeping bags out of the tent, we then had to soak up the standing water so that we could get it all in the trailer.  Bill even dumped water out of the tent.  Blech.              

The rain continued on our trip to WV.  It was a bad couple of days, days that made us long for a house and possibly a fireplace.  But we got to the other side of that, got our sleeping bags to a dryer, cleaned out the car, did laundry, and now we are in better spirits.

Great Falls

Having grown up in the NOVA area, I love Great Falls.  I don't love visiting it on the weekends, because I remember lines stretching out through the entire road leading up to the entrance booth.  Not how I want to spend my time.  So instead of hitting it on a bright and beautiful weekend day, we went on an overcast and slightly chilly weekday.  Still an awesome place to visit.  Wouldn't do it in the rain, but I think that's the only weather that would keep me away from this park.  I like to rock hop, and rain just makes it too slippery to do that.  

It's funny--there's a sign telling you about the three overlooks, letting you know that the third overlook is the best view, but it was the least crowded when we were there.  But the real gem is beyond the overlooks, when the path winds its way through the rocks.  There you can scramble on the rocks, test your climbing abilities, and potentially wreck your knees.  So much fun!            

It's no equipment for us, this really is just rock hopping and scrambling.  There are opportunities to test your climbing skills and judgments, and that can be quite thrilling.  In a very tame way.  The kids are close to the water, but not super close.  The literature when I was much younger and going to this park said that, on average, 13 lives a year were lost to drowning in the Potomac.  Now it just says many lives.  At any rate, the currents are very strong, and I have had experience falling in much further away from the falls, so we talked A LOT about not getting into the water at all.  So NB put his fingers in.  Oish.        

We had a reluctant hiker.  Even though, in my mind, this was not a hike.  It was a chance to jump from rock to rock.  And yes, it had a short walk from the visitor's center to the rocks.  SHORT WALK.  I did not require anything super difficult.  But it was imposed on him, it was not his choice.  By the end he was saying it was a good time.  I had overworked my achilles by that point, so our next hike in the park was super short.  Oh well.            

We see tons of geese all the time, I have no idea why the kids thought this little guy was so special.  But they borrowed my camera and took a picture, and now you get to share in their joy.