A Ride on the River Walk

The Walnut Street Bridge was a busy place this afternoon.  We also biked the South Chicamauga Creek trail for the first time.  So our total ride was about 16 miles this afternoon.

Coolidge Park below the bridge

Even though it was only in the upper 60's, kids were still enjoying the fountain.

 

A Ball in New Market with Claire n Easton

We got to New Market on Friday, May 21, at about 6.  Sabbath we had dinner at the Knights with Renee, Stephanie, and Andy.  The kids put on some challenging charades for us to figure out.

And we got to enjoy some beautiful music - notice Claire playing the viola!  She's really enjoying it.

Sunday morning walk at the park with Easton trying out all the fitness trail equipment.

This reminds me of several pictures we have of Amy at this age hanging upside down.

Uno Attack time

Randy and Easton helped Ryan prep his drive for sealing it once the weather cooperates.

Claire's birthday celebration choice was Mexican food which we enjoyed in New Market  Sun. afternoon since Easton had a ballgame on her birthday.

They helped me make her birthday cookies that we took to school Mon. at noon.

(Carrie's picture)

time to cut into the birthday cookie (PC: Carrie)

Our morning walk at the park Mon. morning - the umbrellas served to keep the rain away. But later it cut loose, raining out Easton's game.  Fortunately, we were able to stay till the next one scheduled on Wed. that miraculously didn't get rained out in spite of a severe storm watch in effect all evening. They got in five innings before lightning shut it down.

For her birthday dinner at home, her choice was potato curry and garlic naan.  Yumm.  

The three of us played some tennis Tues. morning in the park just a couple blocks from their house.

Ryan taught us how to play pickle ball on Tuesday afternoon - which was a good workout.

I forgot to take pictures of the badminton games we played after pickle ball since he needed his nets up for Wed. morning.

At the Mt. Jackson park before Easton's game Wed. night

Easton is good at connecting with the ball!

On to second!

the cheering section - loved watching Easton, Jordan and Jackson play ball

That's Easton on the bench and Jordan in catcher's gear.  Jackson is on the team too.

Good-byes on Thurs. morning, their second-to-last day of the school year, May 27.

A few more minutes on the tennis courts with Ryan before we left.

Big South Fork River National Recreation Area/Bandy Creek Campground

Loved the mountain laurel in bloom in the woods at Big South Fork.  It's near Oneida, TN close to the KY border, just a couple hours from Gatlinburg.

We biked about 10-12 miles a day on unimproved roads through Scott Forest, and read some library books the four days we were at Bandy Creek.

We met up with horses a couple of times.

During the day the gnats were fierce, but not after sundown fortunately.

This looked like root beer creek 

Randy cleaned up the bikes before we loaded them up to head to Elkmont.  Cades Cove is a paved road so we figured the bikes might even stay clean.

Lots of game time - Splendor, Settlers of Catan, Play Nine, Station Master, and Rummy

The road getting to the campground was a 13% grade and hairpin turns!  That's the biggest reason we probably won't camp there again.

The West Rim overlook was nice once we came out of the canyon

 

New River Trail from Fries, VA

Years ago we biked the New River Trail with Amy and Ryan so it was fun to do it again - this time it was so much cooler and less work!  We camped in Fries at the south end of one of the two forks just two blocks from the trail.  

On Mon., May 10, we biked to Chestnut Creek Falls and back, which was almost to Galax, 24 miles total.

One of the longest bridges - at the Fries Junction

Snack time along the New River almost back to Fries

There are benches along the way at scenic spots to enjoy the view and the seat change was nice.

Buck Dam

Site 15 at Fries New River Trail RV Park - it was so big and private. We would happily camp there again.  Even though we had no cell service with AT & T, they had great wifi.

taken from the porch swing on our site

typical scenery on the New River Trail

On Tues., May 11, we biked from Fries 21 miles to Foster Falls and then back, for a day's record of 42 mi. The next day it rained in the morning, so we were happy to have a day off the bike seats.

There are two tunnels on the trail.  This one was the shortest.

at Foster Falls - never did see the falls!

the historic lead mine village at Foster Falls

There were so many beautiful wildflowers along the trail.

On Thurs., May 13, we drove the motorhome about 45 minutes to Foster Falls so we could bike from there north to Draper for a total of about 34 miles. 

Hiawassee Bridge which we boated under many times when we lived in VA

We ate lunch at the Draper Mercantile right on the trail - a nice treat. 

This bend in the New River we remember well from boating days when we camped at Claytor Lake State Park.  We went aground one summer day in this area!

We didn't cover the entire 57 miles, but had seen it before so didn't feel we had to go to the ends again.  It's not as scenic north of Draper to the north terminus near Pulaski.