Took forever to get here - 800 miles from CT, but today was a 10 hour day due to I-81 completely closed down due to blasting. Did they ever hear of night work??? Bumper to bumber traffic for miles. After a long day, cocktails were in order, and dinner by Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee.
On our first full day here, we went to Dollywood.
The wooden roller coaster was super - very fast but very noisy too. Took a tube ride and we all got drenched! But it was so hot, we welcomed the soaking.
We saw a show featuring birds which were injured and rehabilitated, then trained to perform. Beautiful creatures!
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| Tuck, the African Pied Crow, took a donation out of Cori's hand and put it in the box |
The coal fired train ride was a welcome treat for our tired feet, but the engineer was a little too eager with the whistle - it was so loud that the kids were holding their ears!
The performers in the country music show were very talented and energetic.
One morning we opened the door and were greeted by a group of quacking ducks.
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| Tony doesn't look so happy about this! |
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| Here's a shot you won't see too often - Tony feeding ducks! |
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| I thought they were going to follow me into the motorhome! |
Today, we're heading to a Cherokee Reservation about an hour away, in western North Carolina.
The museum was very well done, depicting life on the reservation in the late 18th century.
Within the reservation, there was an area which depicted venues of various demonstrations of Indian handicrafts:
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| Making clay pottery |
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| Weaving |
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| Belt made of buffalo hair |
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| This tiny weaved basket goes for $50 |
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| Chiseling an arrowhead |
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| A tree becomes a canoe |
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| Council Lodge |
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| Wood and hide drum |
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| Larger weaved baskets range from $100-$400 |
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| An elk in the meadow |
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| Great Smoky Mountain National Park |
We headed to Nashville, and stopped at The Opryland Hotel. It's a massive building with a magnificent atrium, which has waterfalls, a "river" flowing through it, a rainforest and numerous shops and restaurants. The hotel is such a tourist attraction, that they charge $18 to park your car. Of course, we found another parking lot - for free :-)
Here's a video of the atrium, called "Cascades":
Click the arrow below:
Some other photos of our day:
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| Orchids growing out of a tree |
We stopped for a wine and cheese tasting on the way home, always a good thing.
On another day, we visited Carnton Plantation, a privately owned home which was taken over by the Confederate army and served as a Civil War Field Hospital during the Battle of Franklin.
This is said to be the five bloodiest hours of the war. The battle involved a massive frontal assault larger than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. The bedrooms upstairs served as the operating rooms, and there are stains on the wood floors where the blood soaked through the rugs. Of the 9,500 casualties on both sides, fifteen hundred Confederate soldiers are buried here, including 4 generals. The 2 acre cemetery is the largest privately owned military cemetery in the country.
Later, we went to The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which was well done, depicting early stars of the genre all the way up to the present.
We drove north into Kentucky to see the Lost River Cave.
It consists of a cave with a river running through it. We rode along the river in a small boat, and in some sections, the ceiling was so low that we all had to bend way over so as not to scrape our heads!
Animal life consists of bats, crickets, craw fish and cave fish. The bats and crickets are able to exit the cave to forage for food, and their excrement becomes fish food (!). The fish have adapted to the darkness and are thought to be sightless and since they have no preys, they do not have to be camouflaged, therefore their skin is translucent.
Outside, there is a canopy with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the center, where functions are held.
During the Civil War, the area was used by the Confederate Army.
Tomorrow, Cori & Craig fly home out of Nashville, and we continue down to Red Bay, Al, to leave the motorhome with the manufacturer to finish up with some repairs.
