adventure – Page 2 – OsteoPraxis on the road

Tennessee 3. Cedars of Lebanon

As I said before, we were scheduled to be in Knoxville for a week…but between the torrential rain and the crummy campground I had landed us in…we decided to leave early. After a search around some of the state parks nearer to Nashville I made a reservation at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

My hopes were not high as there were a couple of other state parks in the vicinity that were completely booked. Cedars of Lebanon was mostly empty…..but when we got there…what a beautiful park. From the main gate to the campground office is just under a mile and a half …but it felt much longer. It was a beautiful treelined roadway that got quieter and quieter and felt wonderfully secluded……so far off the main road that the only real noise is the cicadas and the katydids.

Lots of lovely shade trees and recently renovated so the power and the water is pretty much new. …lovely friendly staff…level sites what more could you ask. Cat was happy …!!!!

Well the showers were in dire need of upgrading…but given the work that’s been done on the park that may be next on the list. (😬)

There were a few trails to hike around the park. We picked the longer one……Hidden Springs trail………

…..a five mile loop trail…….

Compared to many of the trails we have trekked…this one was an easy level loop…

….so the blogtographer entertained himself finding some of those fantastic little details to satisfy his photo taking needs…..

This spiderweb picture is one of my favourites……

The trail description said there were multiple sink holes along the way…..and they were referred to as interesting. I may be a big fail at geology….they were mostly vague holes or depressions in the ground….

Around the halfway mark the trail turns and then follows a dry creek bed….revealing a more interesting landscape briefly

….and then a more impressive sink hole shaft…..

….and one that looked almost like a carefully drilled well. It was fenced……. Mr Photography still has to scare the bejeezus out of me by leaning in there to ‘get a better shot’..LOL

The rest of the trail was much as the first half. A pleasant stroll through the forest…(if a little on the hot and humid)…..but he does take good pictures….

Just as we were finishing the loop we started meeting more people heading out. Seems to be a ‘thing’…we like to hit these trails early and be heading home as the temps start heating up around midday. The crowds are often beginning as we finish up…either people cook themselves out on the trails …or they are far more heat tolerant than me.

It was an easy trail…and most importantly got us out and moving.

Tennessee 2. Great Smoky Mountains. Grotto Falls

The Knoxville leg of the journey turned into a bit of a mixed trip. The Bourbon search was meagre…most of the Knoxville distilleries produce moonshine not bourbon….and there were really not any that grabbed our attention.

We had planned to be in Knoxville for the week but the weather later in the week was promising huge thunderstorms and lots and lots of rain. This left us with one more day of hiking in the Great Smokies…..so we picked a trail and did a repeat of the unholy hour start to the day to get to the gate before opening.

Grotto Falls was the pick…and we knew it was going to be busier than the Abrams Falls trail. The drive in took us through Pigeon Forge…..none of the images of Pigeon Forge could prepare you for the experience of just driving down the main drag. Its a clown nightmare of rollercoasters, permanent fairground style entertainment and huge cartoon buildings.

We were both a little stunned after driving through…..

On to the trailhead. The now familiar slow roll drive up the single track paved road winding ever upward through the forest to the Trillium Gap trailhead which is also the start point for The Grotto Falls trail.

Our early start got us there with half a dozen parking spaces still available….and many people already out and up the trail.

The smell of everyone else’s bug repellent must have kept the bugs at bay cos we did not see any …which, given the shade and the humidity, was surprising.

It was a well marked trail with quite a few people out, lots of families and lots of kids…which was nice to see.

The trail is around 2 and a half miles ( a bit more than 4 km ) out and back…so it was not long before we were in sight of the falls.

…and then the Grotto Falls themselves…..very cool…..

People were very polite about allowing everyone else to take their photographs…and taking turns passing under the falls….

The path continued up and around the corner…..

….but as far as I could tell from the map there was no other viewpoint and lots of dense forest ahead…so we turned back down….

The challenge for the blogtographer was getting the shots that make it look like we were the only ones out there……LOL….

…and of course he also had to clamber out into the rocks in the middle of the creek to get the best shots…!!!!

We met some very lovely people along the way….chatting as we followed the trail ….

I’m not sure how he managed to get those shots without the people we were chatting to…LOL….!!!!

Having started out early we still had half the day to fill. So we had brought a change of clothes and the means to do a military style wash down skillfully concealed by the doors of the truck…and then followed the continuing slow roll of cars back to the gate of the park.

There were a few stops along the way……

….for picturesque waterfalls……

…and mother nature’s water features…..

…as the photography guy goes clambering again……. (spot me at the bottom and him at the top..!!)

….and a young bear along the road……

We had found our favourite frozen custard vendor, Andy’s Frozen Custard , in Gatlinburg….so a little reward for the morning hike….!!! ( lunch….!!!..Key Lime pie frozen custard….a whole slice of key lime pie crumbled into frozen custard….Wow….!!!😁😋)

As close as we got to Dollywood….the sighting of the bus was as far as we got drawn in…

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Tennessee 1. Great Smoky Mountains….Abrams Falls Trail.

We were close enough to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited of all the U.S National Parks, that it became our next ‘must see’ stop. Leaving Corbin and headed to Knoxville Tennessee on the I-75 South is a journey not to be taken lightly. Its not that far ..but the road is mountainous and pot hole ridden…indeed the pot holes had pot holes……and in two lane steady traffic it coaxed a few interesting words and phrases from the lips of the driver –

I selected a campground that seemed close enough but not hauling the trailer up some of the trickier mountain loops. Hindsight being 20/20…the road across the Appalachians to get to Knoxville was scary and the road from there up to the park was actually not that bad…!!!

My campground selection turned out to be not the greatest either…..our site was at the bottom of a hill…with a rough gravel uphill corner to get us back out. Visions were forming of the back end of the trailer scraping its way back up the hill ( Argh..!!)

But we were in…and there was power to run the very necessary AC as the daytime temps were 34-35 degrees C (93-95F)plus humidity ….not baking the cat alive being the priority.

All the trail reviews tell you to get in early as Great Smoky Mountain National Park is busy and has limited parking. We were up (well the coffee making guy was up) before 5am to leave by 5.30 am to be at the parking area before 7.

The main gate into the park opens at 6.30am and we were there by 10 after…..with a queue of around 20 cars in front of us. The best part of the day in almost any National Park is first thing in the morning and all those people in the queue had also played this game before.

Entering the park you drive along Cades Cove Loop road. It is a single track, one way (paved) road through the forest with some quite lovely views of the mountains living up to their name with that morning hazy, smoky look.

The drive is lovely….but slow. With no opportunity for passing and the line of traffic slowly crawling, taking in the breathtaking landscape…and ALWAYS stopping for every deer, turkey or bear sighted along the way.

Our first pick for a trail to hike was Abrams Falls and we were the first car in to the parking at 6.50 am….boots on, water bottles at the ready, Alltrails tracking…off we went.

Right from the start…at the first bridge there were dire warning signs posted….

We were not planning on entering the water…!!! ( Editor. Well that’s not strictly true)

It was good timing with the cooler air at this early hour on a mostly uphill trek on the outbound leg of this hike.

As a non-fan of heights and little tree trunk bridges I was slightly dismayed at the numerous little balance beams and relieved by presence the handrails.

Each and every one has a sign to point out how many people have been injured slipping on them…!!!!

One of the upsides of the popularity of this park was how nicely finished the trail reinforcements were….it’s the only place I have seen the structures built this way to accommodate the water flowing through.

It was a lovely path to walk with some spectacular fungi and intermitent views of the river to keep us entertained….

Yet another warning of impending doom…and then the flight of stairs down to the falls…..which were treacherously wet and slippery

Our early bird strategy worked, we had the falls to ourselves…….

……with enough time for the blogtographer to clamber about on the rocks for some terrific images before the next hiker arrived. (Editor. I can confirm the water looked very inviting, and would have been even more so as the temperature climbed later in the day)

(if you click on the images…see if you can find where he got himself to…!!!)

The route back……

I counted 70 people passing us, heading to the falls as we headed down…….

….but as you can see the blogtographer ‘missed’ them all…!!!

…definitely worth hoisting out of bed early to miss the crowd.

From the parking area to the exit of the park, the road continues in a long (single lane) winding, scenic loop around Cades Cove. The posted limit is 10mph…..a pace I can only imagine has never even been approached b/c of the number of cars slow rolling along the route in anticipation of sightings of bear, deer, elk or trees…..and that’s not a complaint….it’s a place that totally deserves that slow appreciative pace…..

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Kentucky 5. Stone Bridges.

If you ever have the occasion to look into the main attractions of Kentucky, besides the obvious bourbon attraction…what you will find is many images of the natural rock bridges, predominantly in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The forest itself is a phenomenal landscape covering 708,000 acres of land.

Having seen some of the pictures, and after a bit of map research…I plotted a route that would let us get in a moderate hike (leg stretching) but also visit a few more places of wonder……. we were not disappointed.

It was another early morning start (1. beat the heat and 2. beat the crowds) and a drive up to Grays Arch trailhead. It promised a 6 km out and back hike with a view.

After a torturous 4 mile drive up a pothole ridden gravel forest trail…the trailhead had nicely shaded parking.

Gray’s Arch Trail

Off we trotted on a mostly downward trail into the valley where the arch was promised.

For how moist and shaded the trail was (and how much fluid was leaking out of our skin) there were surprisingly few mosquitos.

There were a few trees downed on the trail…….

There are some pretty impressive rock formations on the way down….

…some stairs…then the path descends further….then more stairs down…….

Almost at the bottom you are rewarded with a glimpse of the stone bridge…….

..and then down at the bottom the huge rock formations are impressive to say the least.

A short scramble up the other side has you standing under this enormous other worldly stone arch. Just WOW…!!!

Now all you have to do is climb back out of the gulley…..!!!

Princess Arch

The next stop along the loop was Princess Arch..this one was a 15 minute walk in…to an arch that you could walk over the top of then loop around and walk underneath……lending itself very nicely to photo ops.

Right across the parking lot was a bonus trail and lookout point at Chimney Top.

The signage was………interesting….!!!!

The view was spectacular……

Sky Bridge

Sky Bridge is reviewed as one of the most impressive arches.

It’s another one where the trail loops over the top and then back underneath. We set off in opposite directions expecting another photo op….. but …unfortunately there is not a point from the top where you can see the trail underneath and vice versa….

..it was still a pretty impressive stone bridge tho…

Angel Windows

Last but not least, another trail heading down into a valley (15 minute walk) to Angel Windows.

A very pretty little spot with a double arch. The kind of place that would be perfect for a picnic….if it was not quite so busy.

In its defense there were not loads of people there…but a steady stream of visitors coming down the trail, taking their pictures (just like us) and then climbing back out.

All in all a beautiful drive through the forest and some spectacular pieces of natures architecture. All in all a grand day out on a hot day….so of course we had to finish it up at an ice cream store….. 😁🍦

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Kentucky 4. Finger lickin’ edible

Corbin turned out to be a great spot for a bit of R and R….(as well as the occasional killer hike…!!!)

After the long weekend of fireworks (yup from Thursday to Tuesday…fireworks every night) our big ‘who-knew-it -was-there for Corbin Kentucky was…… the actual birthplace of KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I cannot confess to being a fan of KFC….however…when in Rome…..

So of course we had to go down to the Harland Sanders museum..

..and yes we had to eat there.

I can’t tell you if it was finger licking good cos we had the pot pies (who knew KFC did pot pies) which were surprisingly good…not overly salty or greasy and made with real vegetables…..LOL…..

Like so many American icons…the museum is a much more fascinating place than you might expect……

….and like most things…when you look at where they started…….there’s an interesting story…and Harland Sanders was definitely an interesting man.

Kentucky 3. Trying to kill Steve (unsuccessfully..!!)

As we continued our journey south, searching for a spot that was accessible for the Daniel Boone National Forest…and had a site available over the long weekend (July 4th being a ‘thing’ in the USA…!!!) I snagged a site at a KOA campground in Corbin, Kentucky.

It took us close enough to another expat friend (Hi Steve..!!) who lives in North Carolina to make an epic drive (he drove up through the tail of the dragon) to come and join us for the weekend.

Searching for this campspot, I was really more concerned about finding a decent location to stop during America’s ultimate party (and fireworks) weekend…..not following the brief of the bourbon trail. So…I managed to book us into a town that bridges two counties….both of them dry counties…LOL…so much for obscure bourbon tours and tastings.

We made up for it by having Cumberland Falls State Park right next door. Between us we picked a hike, which according to Alltrails was a moderate, 9.3km, 2 and a half hour hike. …and enticingly named Cumberland Falls and Dog Slaughter Falls (we preferred to read that as Dogs Laughter Falls….it just felt less disturbing.)

An early rise to beat the heat and the parking lot had a few vintage vehicles show up before we started….

We admired them for a bit then donned our boots, hoisted our packs and set off……

The trail was lovely and followed the river….as we began there were multiple rafts and kayaks lowering into the water to follow pretty much the same path as us.

The path was rocky and up and down most of the way………

Many parts had stone, or wooden constructed stairs…the stairs blended with the environment by being extremely uneven and treacherously moss covered.

All requiring careful foot placement.

There were spots where we opened out onto the river again……and the rafts were not catching up to us…

The trail proved trickier than its promise…..lots of little ups and downs ……

A bit of rock clambering and a few spots where downed trees blocked the path requiring looping up and scrambling through some pretty dense forest.

We were grateful for the shade on this trail as the temperature climbed….. also grateful for having started early enough that we were not at the peak heat of the day.

But there were lots of rock formations and overhangs to stop and stare at….

….and many stone ‘staircases’ (mostly moss covered and slippery)

Many spots with downed trees that required climbing over …

….or completely re-routing around

…..and a few narrow paths to edge around…… (not my favourite)

Crossing one of the tributary creeks to the river we came across a well placed bridge. I am not a fan of jumping into the unknown…..so after the boys leapt ably across the rocks….

I chose to scramble down the mudbank (yes I am a big wuss..!!!! )

Hydrating amply as we walked (between the humidity and the sweat we were all pretty soaked by this point) we made it to the last little climb to Dogs Laughter Falls.

Very pretty. Other people had come in via a much simpler route so we left them to frolic in the cool water with just a mild spat of envy. Checking out some huge dragonflies and weird ‘ufo looking’ spiders….!!!

Time to trudge on back……

The return journey was made harder by the fact that we were now on tired legs (and on our first real hike of the season)…….

…the path always seems a little steeper…..the stairs more numerous….

..the coolness of the rock overhangs and falling water was most welcome.

But at last we returned to that long flight of stairs we recognised from MUCH earlier in the day. A couple more turns and at last the Cumberland Falls re-appeared…..

Suffice to say that the trail description lacked accuracy. Five and a half hours later we emerged muddy sweaty and ready to admit that it might take a few days before that seemed like fun.

Back at the visitor centre/parking lot……ice cream and large pops all round to lift us a little before heading home for showers and cold beer.

It was a good hike…but maybe a bit more than planned for a first outing of the season. Steve was a good sport allowing me to take frequent rests and slow the pace on the way back.

Thanks for joining us Steve…..I thoroughly enjoyed the company on the hike. (Does it seem like more fun now ?….or still too soon…!!! 😆)

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Kentucky 2. Bourbon County Bourbon, Paris Kentucky.

After a quick (google) search around Blue Licks….the nearest Liquor Store (Kentucky has this radical notion of selling liquor , wine and beer from the same store) was on Old Paris Road….in Carlisle. That alone made it worth the trip to see what kind of beer we could find.

(Nb. We lived in the town of Paris Ontario….for 30+ years…)

Whilst browsing the store we came across a Daniel Boone Settlement Rye Whiskey. It seemed to be one worth further investigation given the history we had found ourselves in the midst of.

We struck gold with our first official Kentucky bourbon stop on this bourbon trail adventure, Regeneration in Winchester KY. They have a partnership with a local restaurant, Beech Springs Cafe, making it a perfect lunch spot with free whiskey/moonshine tasters. (and the service was excellent too…!!) They make a whiskey made from rye grown on land Daniel Boone farmed……how cool is that…..and it tastes not half bad…!!! (yes I have a bottle.) Winchester is a lovely town…beautiful old brick buildings constructed between the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

Winchester itself is a pretty little town…we had a wander up and down the main street….

Having passed around the edge of Paris, KY on the way to Regeneration..it was most fortuitous to find the other nearby distillery, Hartfield and Co…was located in the middle of the town of Paris itself. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss…so we hot-footed back there and found a parking spot to run in and book ourselves on the tour.

This was a great one to pick….not only are they a young, family owned company (opened in 2016) but they are also the only Kentucky Bourbon Distillery actually operating in Bourbon County where it all began. (Pre-prohibition Bourbon County had 29 distilleries…!!)

It was a superb tour looking at the bones of this growing operation as they follow in the footsteps of many before them to becoming established in the bourbon world.

It speaks of the ingenuity, the grit and graft of this family as they make it work.

Tour done…..and thoroughly enjoyed……it was time for a bit more discovery in the town itself.

I did not know, but do now…!!….that Paris is a major thoroughbred horse town. Driving between towns takes you through the most amazing, lush, rolling landscape filled with horse farms, manicured fields dotted with beautiful horses, picture perfect fences and magnificent stables.

The sidewalks through town have the names and shoes of all the famous horses from here….

The most famous being Secretariat, who was owned by a local stable…and was buried locally after his passing.

Thus far the decision to stay off the beaten track and search for smaller, lesser known distilleries has paid off. Not being lead by the nose through glitzy tourist information, but happening upon obscure but fascinating historical bubbles has so much more appeal.

I will raise my glass to the next ‘who-knew-it-was-there’ spot.

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Kentucky 1. Blue Licks Battlefield State Park.

I’m reluctant to say that we start the travel season without much of an itinerary…but we do start with either an overall theme (ie. route 66 last year) or an end point, and evolving as we find stuff along the way.

This year the idea was to follow the Bourbon trail through Kentucky and Tennessee……or at least use it as a theme to give us a direction of travel.

Researching Kentucky suggested we needed to be down around Lexington to start. So my first search was for an interesting camping spot somewhere around there. I tried to get in to Buffalo Trace State Park…but sadly it was not available for the dates I needed…..(boooo…!!) Searching Kentucky State parks I happened on Blue Licks Battlefield Resort State Park…..the name alone was irresistible (if you know me you will not be surprised at this…LOL)

I was panicking a bit as we approached Kentucky as I had been told some stories about the roads, ‘S’ bends and steep up and downs…….and the State Park I had picked for our first stop all of a sudden looked like it might be the middle of nowheresville.

The road was thankfully much less dramatic than I feared……and we arrived at this lovely little park run by a super friendly ‘friends of the park’ group. (…and the online booking site for Kentucky State parks is one of the best I have come across..!!)

Blue Licks Battlefield was the scene of the last big battle of the Revolutionary war……and Daniel Boone fought here…and lost his son in the battle.

The Blue Licks name and the Licking River, as strange as they sound, turn out to be because this area is an old inland sea. The area has significant salt deposits which were a big draw for roaming mammoths and mastadons ( I love that..!!) then latterly roaming bison herds. The word Trace in the place name refers to it being an ancient path carved out of the landscape where these great creatures walked. eg Buffalo Trace.

In the early days of European settlements the salt deposits served to provide income and trading goods…..and with a bit more ‘civilisation’ , health spas.

Imagine our surprise to find the remains of the Arlington Hotel…!!!

Even tho temps were in the mid 30’s C (low to mid 90’sF) the intrepid explorers set off to follow the Licking River Heritage trail using Alltrails.

Another little factoid for this trail is that it is reputed to be roughly the trail that Daniel Boone took to escape from the battlefield.

oh…and then there’s the local flora..…Shorts goldenrod..….I have never seen goldenrod any other colour than bright yellow….this stuff was very pretty…..

We set off early to follow the trail…it was not long, but the day was promising much heat and humidity.

Last year we had little opportunity for actual hikes and I had forgotten to carry a walking pole with me…..not for walking but on forest trails the lead person is constantly walking into lone spider silks that whisper across your skin…..carrying the big stick in front of your face helps reduce the unpleasant feathery yeuch factor on this one.

At the outer curve of this loop hike there is a reproduction of Tanner Station. A pioneering time operation to extract salt from the local salt springs…..and a little photo op.

It was a little more than an hour walk but we arrived back absolutely soaked between the heat and the humidity.

The park has a great little museum on site. An easy stroll from the campground and a good afternoon to be in air conditioning…!!!!

The ranger in the museum was great……very engaging. He showed us some of the artifacts he has reproduced using techniques from the first peoples of the area.

This is a tulip poplar bark basket.

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To Ontario and beyond.

From Chicago it really is only a short hop to our little secret spot outside Paris, Ontario and our ever patient and generous hosts who allow us to tuck in behind their barn when we visit.

Ontario treated us to some impressive stormy weather ………

…… a gentle introduction to the summer heat….a catch up with a dance at AIM dance studio…..

….a little bit of tree surgery to make space for us to pull out without sacrificing anything on the roof …..

a trip to Buffalo,NY for the Allentown Arts Festival…..

No pictures of any of the art work cos this is a juried art festival with many unique artisans. Definitely worth the visit as art festivals go..!!

…and of course, the opportunity to drop in and visit with some people. If we missed you on this visit we will catch you next time.

A long time friend moved house to a little place just south of Windsor, Ontario allowing us to break our journey as we headed south. Boy oh boy its humid in that area…but beautiful and lush.

First morning we woke to the plague of fish flies that are apparently a local phenomenon…..the whole sde of the trailer, truck and every house in the neighbourhood was covered….

We stayed a couple of nights to admire her new place and the landscape around Amherstberg, Leamington area, then headed on down across the Ambassador Bridge for a return visit to one of our favourite Boondockers Welcome hosts just north of Columbus, Ohio. Thanks Din…great to see you.

It was a little warm in Ohio…..the cat has begun his summer shed..(he much prefers travelling in the truck on days like this)

One little creepy chap stowed away and made it to Ohio without the AC…!!

But he is not coming with us to Kentucky…!!!

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Deja vu….all over again.

Starting the process of planning our route east for this years’ travel it became apparent we would be in the US over Memorial day weekend…so threw an inquiry out there to see if an invite could be arranged back to the party we accidentally found ourselves at last year. Cathy and Russ, our Boondockers Welcome hosts in Crete, Illinois responded positively..so the end date of the journey was set…I just had to fill in the dates in between.

This spot was the perfect jump off for us last year as we tackled Route 66.….and explored some of the tourist features of lakefront Chicago. Scott was soooo disappointed last year when ‘the Bean’ was shrouded in construction tarps and fences ( for maintenance and repairs to the walkways)….so here was a chance to go back and actually see it this time.

So…a year on from the epic journey of 2024…..we found ourselves back in Chicago’s Millennium Park on Memorial Day.

……and able to walk, unimpeded, right up to the Bean. (The ultimate selfie spot…!!!)

Last year, after walking over to the sign at the official beginning of Route 66 to take the picture, we had booked the tour at the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio, only to find that our path was completely blocked as State Street along with all its’ immediate side streets had been closed for the Memorial Day Parade.

This year with time to spare, we walked up to watch the parade itself….stopping, of course, to take that picture of the sign again…..and for some arty shots of the ‘L’ tracks. (with a few shuddering memories of being jammed in traffic there last year)

The side streets were all blocked off using the city snow plough fleet….!!!

….and could not miss the opportunity to take some pictures of the main street in downtown Chicago at noon on a Saturday…!!!

Yes…me in the turquoise shirt…!!!

We were not quite sure what to expect of the parade……but it turned out to be a very impressive display of marching bands and junior ROTCs

…….there were many groups from neighbouring states….

….and an overwhelming sense of respect from the onlooking crowd…..

….it seemed like each individual youth group were wearing identical, highly polished, black patent leather shoes……that’s a lot of shoes….!!!

And of course…the highlight of this stop….the Drunkin’ Seagull. A really terrific group of people…and more than a few laughs were had. Scott was appointed to hoist the sign for this years’ official season opening…..