Blogs from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, North America - page 7

We've decided to share our adventure with an additional traveling companion :) Our journey begins Saturday morning, February 16th. Check back soon to join the fun! ... read more

Ciao. The adventure continues. In two weeks, we leave for Italy. Will Moose and Squirrel maintain their witty banter during travel in a non-english speaking country? Will there be camping? Okay I can go ahead and answer the second question, with an emphatic "no." Will there be wwoofing? The answer to this question is "yes." Yet your next question may be "what the heck is wwoofing?". Well, since we like audience participation, lets make this into a multiple answer question. First one who responds correctly or answers with something we find funny, wins. What do you win? Well, that remains to be seen, but I'm sure it will be fun or great. Or great fun. Or something. Here are your options: 1) "we want organic food", 2)"witty workers only offer forthrightness", 3)"willing workers on organic farms", ... read more

We were in Knoxville, TN the last two nights. Tuesday morning we hit the venue around 8. It was hard to find, and as we were looking, Kyle parked the big truck in front of a building that the GPS said was the destination. We came up behind him and there were several people asking him questions. Turns out it was the back of the courthouse. When we got there, the U.S. Marshall had Kyle’s license in his hand. Now, Kyle and Rachel were in the truck. And he as dark hair and dark eyes and a full, thick beard that several people refer to as Al Qaeda. And Rachel is of Indian descent. “I am a U.S. Marshall. You cannot park your truck here. This is a courthouse.” Over and over, that’s all he said. ... read more

A few of our favorite things. 1)Best backpacking experience - Yellowstone (with our dear friend Silverchin) 2)Favorite comment - from gentleman in the Prospect Oregon laundrymat in response to my leaving/returning to laundrymat with detergent. “I reckon that the washing machine washes them so good I don’t use detergent”. 3)Favorite bed-Guest bedroom of Joe and Diana 4)Moose’s favorite beer-Moose Drool, of course. 5)Favorite car camping site- Squirrel’s-Hoh rainforest in Olympic NP; Moose’s- Ohanapecosh, Mt. Ranier NP 6)Favorite friend who met us on our adventure-John (aka Silverchin). True, he was the only friend who met us, but still our favorite. 7)Favorite B&B-Orchard B&B in Yakima 8)Favorite star-gazing - Backpacking trip in Yellowstone 9)Not having to pump the gas in Oregon. Its illegal to pump your own gas and they have attendants at all service stations. 10)O... read more

Ok, so all we really got to eat was the bbq, but even that's not bad. Sunday morning we flew out of Tampa, had a quick layover in Atlanta, then got picked up in Knoxville by my grandparents. On one of the flights I made the asinine move of leaving my cell phone in the seat as we left the plane, not realizing it until we were eating lunch in TN of course... After lunch we went and met my aunt/uncle/cousins in downtown Knoxville and explored the 1982 World's Fair site and the Sunsphere before heading over to a church for dinner and Trish got her first sampling of bbq pork. We then secured a spot outside the church to watch the nights fireworks show, attending by over 350,000 people. It was an incredible show that ... read more

Here's the plan. We have never toured the northwest nor been to Yellowstone or Yosemite--those are all first tier destinations. We will also visit many other national parks, monuments, wilderness areas, and forests along the way. This trip will complete my tour of the United States including Hawaii and Alaska and Susan will add many new states as well. The general itinerary is listed below, however, the only thing we know for sure is that it will change. That's part of the fun. We plan to leave around August 10th and return around October 30th. So don't worry--the Halloween Party is still on! August: Depart Knoxvegas Nashville, required visit to the parents Illinois, stop overnight MN, visit Aunt Dorothy South Dakota, badlands, black hills, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument, etc. Montana, Little Bighorn, etc. Wyoming, Yellowstone ... read more