Sunday 27 August 2017

Drive Me To The Moon - Day 6

Thursday

We woke up this morning and wanted to do a little bit of exploring in Pittsburgh.  We were staying downtown and headed into the market square where we had breakfast on a patio in the middle of the farmers market. 


We went for a little stroll around the neighbourhood and walked out on to the 6th street bridge.  From the bridge we could see 2 stadiums and Logan counted 5 bridges!









We headed back to our hotel to check out and made our way to the Carnagie Science Centre.  There Logan had a blast exploring the space exhibit, as well as a water exhibit, body exhibit and eventually making our way out to the USS Requin Submarine.





the submarine was very exciting for Logan as we walked through, he was eager to try to understand what all the gadgets were for, and was excited at the idea of being under the water.







After lunch we decided to head back out on the road to make the 5 hour drive home (which actually took more like 8 hours with stops).


We were sad to conclude our road trip today, as we’re never really ready to stop exploring! We’re already planning our next adventure!

















Wednesday 23 August 2017

Drive Me To The Moon - Day 5

Wednesday

This morning we said goodbye to Pigeon Forge and started making our way back home.  Logan said farewell to the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park’s front entrance, and we were off.

We covered a lot of ground today, stepping foot in 4 states.

We headed out on the highway passing by the grand guitar in Bristol, TN and eventually reaching Virginia.  We stopped at the welcome centre for a picnic lunch and stretched our legs before continuing on our way.




Virginia was a gorgeous place to drive through, as we drove through and around gorgeous mountains and forests. 

As we entered West Virginia we continued to enjoy the scenery and the huge bridges that passed over massive canyons.  


We stopped to stretch our legs at New River Gorge Bridge which is the largest single span arch bridge.



We eventually reached Pittsburg PA at around 11pm with two sleepy heads.  We wished that we hadn’t had such a driving intense day and would have liked to have enjoyed the journey a bit more.  We ended the day a bit road weary, and ready to rest for our continued drive home tomorrow.









Tuesday 22 August 2017

Drive Me To The Moon - Day 4

Tuesday

After spending the day playing in Pigeon Forge yesterday, we decided to head into the mountains today to enjoy the National Park.

We started by stopping in to the Sugarlands visitor centre.  There we purchased a map for $1 and admired the taxidermy animal exhibit. The highlight was the black bear and the possums! Angus told Logan that it was a "very still zoo".  The visitors centre also played a video about the history of the park.




We decided to take a scenic drive on New Found Gap road.  The scenery was breath taking, and the road was very entertaining.  We drove through mountain tunnels and stopped to enjoy the look out points! The Smoky Mountains are the busiest national park in the US.  But because of the eclipse there were even more visitors then normal.   This meant waaaay more traffic then we anticipated 





We took the road leading to Clingmans Dome and got stuck in a very long line of cars heading up.  Clingmans dome is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains and offers amazing views - and 7 states are in sight from the top! Eventually we pulled off to the side of the road and walked up to the trail head. 








The trail up to the top was only half a mile, but was a very steep incline.  Logan had great fun climbing the rocks on the side of the path and really turned the hike into an adventure.  He even found some wild raspberries! 





The top was really neat, and Logan took a break to enjoy a snack before heading back down.  




The top of Clingmans dome intersects with the Appalachian trail. It was neat watching hikers emerge from the trail - looking exhausted from the southern heat!!



By the time we walked back to the car, we had run out of time and had to make our way back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner plans.  Tonight we went to a dinner theatre at the Dixie Stampede! 


The pre-show was lively bluegrass music in a saloon.





Then we headed into the theatre where we saw horse races and theatrics, pig races, chicken chase and buffalo! Logan really enjoyed 
 The show and did lots of dancing and clapping!





We also ate supper with our hands - picking chicken and corn on the cob!

Logan was very excited to see the horses up close at the end of the show.


After the show we headed back to the hotel for a late night family swim before heading to bed.