2017 Big Truck across the Midwest, Day 6

Even though most of our trips center around being outdoors, a lot of this day was planned to be inside. We love to find zoos, aquariums and museums along the way, and Jordan was really excited to go to this particular aquarium.  We had done a bit of research and saw that they had a tunnel beneath a tank full of sharks, so that was enough for us.

As we were parking, I  noticed this on a Toyota FJ Cruiser.  I can't imagine in this part of the country that this is well received.  I also wonder what the decision-making progress is in order for someone to settle on this item. "I need something for the back of my truck/Jeep/SUV, but I can't decide between Trucknutz, a Calvin pissing on something sticker, a Bad Boy Club sticker, nope - this hitch cover is the perfect accessory!"

Ok - on to the aquarium. Did I mention someone was excited to go here?

Once inside, we had run of the place (for now) because we had arrived 15 minutes after it opened. One cool feature before we got into the exhibits was the control center. I nerded out for a bit just checking out the hardware and admiring the fact that someone thought to make this visible to the public.

An aquarium with a built in playground? We're never leaving...

Rather than showing everything that we saw in our 5+ hour visit (that's right - 5 hrs), I'll hit a few highlights.  Sally the sea turtle - she was a recurring theme.

Not a great picture, but hopefully the only time I'll ever see a shark from this vantage point.

Another impressive thing about this place was just how close you could get to the fish. The overhead tank with clear floor to ceiling viewing is very cool, and a bit unnerving at first.

The exhibits are pretty interactive for kids as well, and Jordan was all about participating.

There were also plenty of chances to make fish faces

There was a new exhibit that I did not expect in an aquarium, but after we went through it it made sense. It was a very well done history of the Pearl Harbor surprise attack, and it was fascinating. Extremely informative, very visual and well laid out. It even had some things to keep kids interested as well.

If you find yourself near Gatlinburg, definitely go check this out. It really makes you think about what it must have been like to experience Pearl Harbor firsthand, and it gave us a profound appreciation for those that sacrificed so much during WWII.

Upstairs you can take a glass bottomed boat over the same tank that has the tunnel beneath it. It was OK, but not great. The most memorable part about is is the fact that the set had a very distinct "The Truman Show" feel to it.

A few more exhibits (those crabs can grow to have a 12' wingspan. Nightmare fuel), and then it was time for the Mermaid show.

Jordan is fascinated by mermaids, to the point where she has made me sit through many episodes of this.

I will let the series synopsis speak for itself. If you still choose to watch it after reading this, I wish you the best.

Three ordinary women discover an Island on Mako and a moon pool that turns them into extraordinary mermaids with special powers over water on the night of a full moon. They must never look in the moon's eye or there will be side effects for each of them.

Anyway, on to the mermaid show. These two basically dove down, smiled at the crowd, then came up for air. Repeat this 50 times and you've seen the show. The kids loved it, and I especially enjoyed it when Jordan leaned over to me & whispered "Dad, they're not real mermaids."

Overall it was a great experience, but by the time we left it was insanely crowded. We had read some reviews that alluded to this, so we were very happy with our decision to get here early.

Once we stepped back outside, we found this little bridge which is the only square inch of Gatlinburg where useless tourist trinkets aren't being sold.

This is Gatlinburg. I would describe it as a cross between a Jersey Shore boardwalk and the Allegan County fair.  T shirt shops, old timey photo joints, and as my brother Tim described (referring to nearby Pigeon Forge), "It has everything you don't need."

We stopped in a couple places to pick up some gifts, and then we saw this place.

Our guy Kevin took us through a quick tasting of some flavored moonshine, blended whiskey, and straight whiskey that I'm quite certain was turpentine and kerosene.

We had our fill of the tourist experience, and proceeded to head into Smoky Mountain National Park for another attempt at Cades Cove.  It started off well, with a herd of horses grazing.

We toured some of the historical buildings, including this church from the 1800s.

In this one, there were a few people sitting in the pews (not these pews) and they started to sing as we were walking out. Jordan and Kim stayed to listen for a while, and the acoustics were incredible.

I was particularly interested in these old cantilevered barns. It's so cool to see how resourceful people were back in this era.

During the drive through the meadow, we were really hoping to see some bears.  We came across turkeys, deer, horses, and plenty of birds.

Apparently this scenic drive is quite popular with the bicycle crowd, and in a few spots we came across these signs. You would think this is warning you of an impending cliff or the edge of the earth.  I would love to know who gets to come up with the images for these, and would be even more interested in seeing the images that get rejected.

We arrived at one scenic turnout, and there was a crowd of 10-15 people a few hundred yards out into the meadow. We hurried out there to see, but by the time we got there the 3 bears that had been out wandering had headed back into the woods. We took the opportunity to grab a few pictures, as this area is absolutely stunning.

Since this would be our last night before heading for home, we decided to splurge and grab dinner at a local restaurant instead of cooking back at the campsite. Since nearly everything here is a chain of some sort, we decided to stop at the Mellow Mushroom. Kim used to go to the one in Atlanta so it was at least somewhat familiar.

Another productive day, and by the time we got back to the Big Truck it was nearly 10pm. It's too bad we didn't get to spend more time at the site, as the rushing creek was amazing as a backdrop. 

Tomorrow - nearly 700 miles to home. 

2017 Big Truck across the Midwest, Day 5

The morning of day 5 started with me sneaking off to squeeze in a ride & get back before our 11am checkout time. Judging by the parking lot, I think I got to the trailhead early enough.

Sheltowee Trace is over 300 miles if you were to hike or ride the entire trail. I know of one person who tried it, our Canadian buddy Eric (Erocs), who took a week last year to ride, hike & drag his bike through the length of the trail.

I would settle for about a 10 mile section, and be very happy with it.

Once I got rolling, the scenery was incredible. I was glad there was no one out on the trail, because there were so many spiderwebs strewn across the trail I was spitting, coughing and swatting every few seconds. Finally I just resigned myself to the thought of 50 spiders and their trappings draped behind me as I rode and carried on.

Ok - one more small digression. See what I see in this photo? An incredible nature scene. If you were to zoom in a bit closer, on nearly every rock along the beach you would see a gatorade bottle, an old inflatable beach toy, a bunch of empty beer cans (Bud Light too! At least drink something worthwhile before you litter), McDonalds bags, etc. Enough bitching, but this was sickening to see.

It makes me realize how effective this commercial was when I was a kid. (I know, make all the "Get off my lawn!" jokes here, I know I'm old.)

What was not sickening were views like this. Just amazing and there is a scene like this around nearly every bend as the trail follows the shore quite closely.

I had just enough time to bomb a few small downhills and get back to the trailhead in time to get back, pack up, and head out to Cumberland Falls one last time.

We packed up, left the Big Truck in the campground parking lot, and cruised the 15 minutes to the park. The roads here are so much fun, but we are using the wrong vehicle. This...

should be driven with this...

As we got to the trailhead, we saw this.  Mmm hmmm.

A few hundred yards into the hike, we could tell this was going to be a great time.

Just about 3 tenths of a mile in, there is a gorge overlook that is a lot of steps to climb to get this mostly obscured view.

When we reached the top, we met a very pleasant couple from Amsterdam that are doing exactly what we want to do. They are traveling the US 3 months at a time, spending 1 week each in 12 different locations. Then they return home for 3 months, then get another 3 month visa (until a certain Oompa Loompa cracks down on these threats to our national security) and do it again in another area of the country. Was great chatting with them, we hope they are having a great experience.

From up on the ridge you get another great vista of the main falls. Then it is a very rocky descent down to Eagle Falls, which you start to hear well before you see them.

As I worked my way around behind the falls, I saw - you guessed it - more trash.

After some very careful scrambling on wet rocks behind the falls, 

I was able to grab a few shots from behind the waterfall. The temperature drop was pretty amazing.

From there we started the slow, steady climb back up to the trailhead, except we decided to tack on the loop 9 trail while we were out there.  Again, their words to describe it:

The upper trail follows Eagle Creek upstream and then crosses a ridge to complete to loop. This is a very rugged section of trail.

Rugged is a good way to describe it. These two were absolute troopers, and we were all rewarded with this view just before reaching the trail's end. All in all about 3.3 miles and nearly 1000' of elevation. 

Ok - I am not responsible (actually, I am the only one responsible) for how sick this next photo is. 2 days of rain, a morning of helmet hair, and the day's hike had left my 'do quite revolting. Can't wait to get this thing cut (first into the most glorious of mullets for the upcoming Mudflap festival) and restart the 18 month cycle.

From there it was a 2.5hr drive to our campsite just outside Gatlinburg. Tough to beat this greeting.

Then, of course, we had to find the playground.

Just to make sure we hadn't tried to cram too much into 1 day, we took the hour drive into the Smoky Mountain National Park and beelined it for Clingman's Dome to try to catch the sunset.

It was a bit chilly, and the fog was rolling in, but it was soooo worth it.

Of course these pictures do it no justice at all, but you get the general idea.

Jordan found her 'natural playground' and went to town.

It's really hard to explain, especially after all we had seen and done that day, but this closing scene from the mountain top helps put things into perspective.

Finally, we were ready to call it a day. One long, incredible day.

Tomorrow, we head into Gatlinburg to see the Aquarium of the Smokies.