Congaree NP to Tennessee

Made it to Congaree National Park......there is a reason you have not heard of it!  It is a biodiversity preserve, but does not have a lot of drama and had just been hit hard by an ice storm, which shut down most of its scanty trail system.  Were going to spend the night, but moved on.

Took the scenic route through South Carolina and were delighted to have some serious elevation and to discover dense groves of rhodedendrons.....oh, to be there in June when they bloom!  I am now embarrassed by Washington's much skimpier groves of its official state flower!

Made a surprise call on long lost relatives....Dirk's aunt and cousin and her husband.....the later being our kids' age. Had a fun southern dinner in Hendersonville, So. Carolina.

Headed for the Smokey Mountains and attempted to take the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, only to find it closed 8 miles in. Here is what it looks like.....very brown!  The east is brown in the winter!!!!

The Smokey Mountains really did live up to their name, although they appear smokier on a sultry summer day.  Somehow the blue haze helps to disguise the endless brown.

A hike through the woods of Smokey Mtn Natl Park led to this discovery in a big mud puddle.....over 60 egg blobs, including this "black sheep/ugly duckling" egg sack.  Think they are frogs, but the Smokeys are actually famous for their salamanders!

With great excitement we found we were able to hook up with the Appalachian trail and hike a section of it in the park!

Our hike was cut short at about 1.5 miles when the trail turned into an ice skating rink with minimal room for maneuvering around the ice.  Dirk was feeling sick too, so we turned around and headed for lower elevations in the park.

Despite the snow and ice of a few weeks past, we hit a balmy weekend in the park and took this 11 mile scenic bike ride, much of which was past historic pastures and historic pioneer buildings relocated to sites along the way.

Interrupted our bike ride to do a 5 mile hike to these falls.  After flat Florida, the up and down roads and trails and tumbling rivers were a treat as well as a challenge!

Dipped into some local country store goodies in this rural farm country.

And then took a detour to Atlanta to visit Dixie's sister in law's mom, Melba Bolin.  Played tourist in the daytime and scrabble in the night time.  Here are some delicious Atlanta biscuits from the "best biscuit house in Atlanta,"  The Flying Biscuit!  Part of a chicken pot pie!  Yum!

Took a break from the out of doors to do a little broadcast on our worldly adventures!

Cruised the Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.  Drove our car to a remote subway stop and used the metro system to get around in the town.  No traffic hassles!

Even made our way to the Center for Disease Control museum---very interesting once you break through the high level security.

Was interested to see this public health poster from about 100 years ago. It is almost identical to the education material that I am taking to Nicaragua next week to teach about sanitation!

Then a zigzag back north to Kentucky to hit another eastern national park. This one was terrific!  And good in cold weather!

Only way to access the park is to take a ranger-led tour, so we took 2 of them, or about 4 hours worth.  The cave is not highly decorated, but is fascinating due to its mammoth size....over 400 mile of passageways.

The cave is formed by underground rivers that then flow out of the limestone onto the surface, like this spring.   Yes, those are icicles!

One of our Ranger guides was from the area and had the greatest accent. We learned what a "holler" is....here is the side of a sinkhole that forms a hollow.  Did I mention that the east is incredibly brown in winter?

Then off to cousin Carolyn's house, with a detour to the Grand Ol' Opry.  It was not as much a character place as we were expecting....in fact, it was in the middle of a mall and hotel complex.....quite odd.

However, it is still apparently the home of country music and on our backstage tour we got to stand on the sacred circle where all the famous entertainers stand to sing.

We were hosted by Dixie's cousin Carolyn and her husband Al and enjoyed laughing and fake crying with their special needs son, Josh.  We really got to know them well as we were snowed in for a day after our expected departure. We had a fun and relaxing time in their lovely home.

Also in Nashville got to reconnect with a family from Kris and Rick's playgroup in Olympia.  Had not seen the Doves in 25 years and enjoyed catching up!

Then off we went on the last two days of phase II. We headed down the Natchez Trace, a historic roadway with limited access and lots of special stops along the way.  It is managed by the National Park Service.  We enjoyed this slightly icy hike to Jackson Falls, named after Andrew Jackson who used this trace/trail to move his troops.

An important stop for me was the burial site of Meriweather Lewis, who probably committed suicide in a cabin here.  The broken obelisk is symbolic of his short broken life.  He and Clark are definitely my heroes, so his death is very sad to me.

A little cheerier was David Crockett State Park, closed up for the season but still displaying informative kiosks about when Davey moved his family here to farm.

So glad the weather has warmed up to 35.  It was easier to break off the icicles!

This cold weather sucks!  It is time to go to the tropics!  Nicaragua, here we come!