Big Circle – First Half

After a successful “’71 Turns 60” event last year ...

Me with bestie Donna

... my high school class decided to do it again. So, they planned another event this year – “’71 Turns 61” at the Holiday Inn on Clearwater Beach. 

Location for fun

With a severe case of “travelitis,” I decided to drive to Clearwater to attend the event – and to finally visit Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks on my way home.

I plotted a course that would quickly get me east and then allow me to slow down and visit a few places I haven’t been. The route would take me through Kansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia to Florida. Then, home through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and southern Colorado. Plus, I ended up briefly in North Carolina, as well. That’s 13 states in two weeks.

The route

I decided to leave a day earlier than planned to give me more wiggle room getting to Florida. Turned out that I needed it.

My first day was just driving like a bat out of hell – up 24 through Limon and then onto I-70 straight through Kansas. After some chilly rain in Colorado, the weather turned hot and windy – and buggy. My windshield was repeatedly assaulted.

I’d like to say something about Kansas and I am sure that if I got off the Interstate and searched, I could find something. It is flat-to-slightly rolling, with very little to interrupt the fields and crops. The Interstate is straight and fast (except for frequent road construction). Instead, the best I can say is that I appreciate the agriculture and the ability to move from point A to point B very quickly.

In fact, I was so quick that day, that I made it all the way to Columbia, Mo., for the night – 717 miles.

The next day, I moved quickly in the morning – traveling through St. Louis. I was going to stop and photograph the arch, but I have done that before ...

Gateway Arch, 2007

... and the sky wasn’t particularly extraordinary that day – so I pressed on. 

I traveled through southern Illinois and into Kentucky, where I made my first real stop – at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. I love the name of the place and have always wanted to see it.

Land Between the Lakes

The park, which straddles the Kentucky/Tennessee border is exactly what its name says: a narrow piece of land between two long, narrow, dam-created lakes, Kentucky Lake (dammed on the Tennessee River) to the west and Lake Barkley (dammed on the Cumberland River) to the east. 

Before the dams were built, the area was called “Between the Rivers.” The park is about 50 miles long and only a few miles wide. It has forest, pastures, gently rolling hills, picnic areas, campgrounds, 300 miles of shoreline, hiking trails, two bison herds (I saw none!), an elk herd (zip on that, too), a living history museum (it was closed by the time I got there) and a nature center with a small zoo of indigenous animals (fallow  and White-tailed Deer - much smaller than western Mule Deer ...

White-tailed Deer

... a Coyote, a Bobcat, Red Wolves, a Bald Eagle, a Barn Owl and a Barred Owl (confused?) ...

You must enunciate: Barn vs. Barred

... a red morph Eastern Screech Owl and a Great Horned Owl ...

A little one and a big one

... a Red-tailed Hawk ...

You lookin' a me?

... possums ...

A little cutie

... vultures, turkeys and turtles. I was pleasant, but full of mosquitoes. I guess I didn’t expect so many bugs in October.

After a peaceful afternoon interlude, I continued on through Nashville at rush hour (yikes, I don’t need to do that again). I finally stopped in Murfreesboro, where I ate one of the two restaurant meals I had on my road trip (I am the picnic queen). It was late, I was hungry and I needed to stop long enough to find a hotel. So, I stopped at Chili’s – ate half an appetizer sample and saved the other half for lunch the next day. I found a Best Western very nearby – because of their loyalty programs, I tend to stay at Best Westerns and Holiday Inns. After dinner, I was on the way to my hotel when I stopped at a red light and was rear-ended. Fortunately, it was a very light hit that did no damage to my care, thanks to my trailer hitch, which left a signature imprint on the other driver’s bumper. A big scare, no harm done!

The next morning, I made another stop at a place I had always wanted to see – Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park in central Tennessee. 

The Falls

When I was a little girl, while we were visiting my grandparents in Chattanooga, Tenn., my father took my brothers camping at Fall Creek Falls. It always sounded intriguing. I am so glad that I stopped. 

Fall Creek Falls is one of the most beautiful and well-equipped state park I have ever seen. It has campsites, cabins, a golf course, a swimming pool, lakes, hiking trails, horseback-riding, natural swimming holes and all kinds of activities in the summer. It looks like summer camp for families. 

It looks like a painting

I was there off-season, so it was virtually empty, but beautiful. 

I was glad to be there off-season

I visited the falls, did a short hike to one of the two suspension bridges ...

Just a little swing

... I walked across (the other is near the natural swimming hole). The swimming hole is beautiful, as well.

Incredible reflection

It looks like a great place to camp.

Gorgeous

Then, I headed on. I was going to go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but since I am going in late October and it was a bit out of the way, I opted to head into the more southerly Smokies.

I drove through a number of lovely small towns and then along the beautiful Ocoee River, including stopping at the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics whitewater rafting competition. 

Interesting rocks

Then, I drove the Richard B. Russell scenic highway in the Chattahoochee National Forest in North Georgia. It has some beautiful views and crosses the Appalachian Trail.

Pretty vistas

I even came across the turnoff to the home of Cabbage Patch Kids.

So, that's where babies come from

Then, I meandered down 441 to Macon, Ga., (in order to skip Atlanta traffic) and ended up spending the night in Byron, Ga.

The next day, I was going to make some stops along the way, but the weather was rainy and muggy, so I just headed to Clearwater, arriving the day before originally planned.

The Clearwater High Event was fun – basically hanging at the pool, taking a couple of long walks down Clearwater Beach, talking with old friends.  

The group

Scott flew in on Friday and stayed until Sunday. 

Poolside

Morning at the hotel

It turns out Scott’s sister, Nancy, was in town, so we had a breakfast with Nancy, Scott’s mom, Betty, and my brother, Mark. Then, Scott’s brother invited me to dinner on Sunday afternoon at his house. Guests included Nancy, Betty, Scott’s Uncle Dick, Aunt Becky, Cousin Jules and her husband, Patrick, Nancy’s son Jon and his wife, Gabby. 

Family dinner

It was lots of fun and I still got in a quick beach walk before a massive storm rolled in. I didn't realize until  got home that I didn't take any beach pics. here is one from last year.

Beach walk

Trip date: September 24-October 7, 2014