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Driving across the USA

avril 2018 - mai 2024
Une aventure ouverte par Elisa En savoir plus
Actuellement en voyage
  • 84empreintes
  • 2pays
  • 2 238jours
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  • 10vidéos
  • 36,5kkilomètres
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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 42

    Hot Springs National Park to Memphis

    15 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    We originally booked 2 nights at Hot Springs National Park but figured it would be better to have Mothers Day with family rather than traveling.

    The Hot Springs KOA was lovely. It was unlike most of the other KOA's as it was not next to a highway and we didn't wake up to sounds of trains, trucks or airplanes. So we all had a lovely sleep.

    We were out of the campsite and at the National Park by 10. This National Park is very different to other National Parks that we visited as its not really in a park. It mostly consists of a street with the heritage buildings which were all old bath houses using the Hot Springs from the mountain..

    We checked out the inside of the Fordyce bathhouse, which had a separate women's and men's area. The mens area was so much nicer. Only one of the buildings is used today and I believe they mostly closed in the 80's.

    As it was a National Park, Brandon got another junior ranger badge. This booklet was all about the bats in the park. Behind the houses was the promenade, which was a paved walkway with historical information. We saw a few outlets to the hot springs and got to touch it at the well, which was really hot.

    We had our lunch on the promenade and then we had a few hours drive to Memphis. We stayed at Memphis KOA, about 20 min from the Tennesee/Arkansas boarder and downtown Memphis city. The KOA was basic but they did have a pool and a cafe for breakfast in the morning. As like most KOA's it was next to a highway.

    We got the tent up, a swim in the pool and then we headed into the city. Our original idea was to eat dinner at the Hard Rock cafe, as we knew it was kid friendly and had live music but when we got there it looked pretty dead. We had a walk down Beale street, the main night life street in the city. There were many venues with bands playing and music blaring from inside. They all seemed to have a cover charge and no kids.

    We found live music outside on a side patio of one of the venues. The bouncer invited us in and kids were allowed. We had a great time listening to the band and Brandon even requested to get the CD, which we bought. Elisa ordered this massive PBR which cost less than $6. The kids had chicken fingers and it was the best chicken we have had yet here and it was real southern chicken. Inara fell asleep while listening to the music. We left just before 10 and right before kids had to leave.

    It was an enjoyable night and so far Memphis has lived up to its expectations.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 43

    Mud Island River Park

    16 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today we had a full day in Memphis. Our campsite is on the Arkansas side of Memphis. Memphis consists of areas of Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. As we learned last night, heading into Beale st, we are about 15 min from downtown Memphis in Tennessee.

    We started our day checking out Mud Island River Park. Mud river consist of a miniature size Mississippi river where the kids can play in the river. Every 1 mile of the river is a foot and this miniature river goes on for over half a mile. It has depth, speed and even areas where it has dried up, just like the real Mississippi. It's really impressive and the kids enjoyed it, as well as the adults. The Mississippi river was very important for many years for expansion and cultural exchange.

    To get to and from the park/museum you could either walk the 1/3 of the mile on the pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi river or take the monorail. As we crossed 4 times, we did it both ways twice.

    We headed back to the car to make lunch and while Inara slept in the carrier, Brandon had a rest in the stroller, we were able to walk some of the museum in piece and quiet.

    The musueum gave information on the native Americans, the settlers , the advancement of boats and significance on the river, as well into jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

    We are supposed to have the next week full of rain, so we headed to Shelby farm park before the storm came. Shelby farm park was another 25 min east, out of the city. Shelby Farm Park has a playground which was named in the top 16 play grounds in the world. We have kids so we had to check it out.

    We probably spent an hour at Shelby farm and it was pretty cool. There was 4 areas, and all the areas were surrounded by arboros and plants growing up them. Everything in the park is sustainable and not bad for the environment. There was swings, slides, sand and a whole climbing ropes course which looked awesome. We were secretly happy it was closed as Inara is becoming a monkey and would love it.

    The kids were exhausted but we didn't have any food to cool for dinner so we found a brewery on the way back to the campsite from the farm. Boscos had good beer, great food and we had a very relaxing dinner and a great waiter. We tried fried green tomatoes for the first time and the kids had their first Shirley temple.

    We are now back at the campsite, kids are in bed and we are awaiting for the storm to come. The lightning has been going on for a while, the wind is picking up and you can smell it in the air.

    Memphis has been hot though, and didn't cool down over the night last night. Hoping tonight with the rain it will be a bit cooler.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 44

    Graceland and Peabody ducks

    17 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today we were going to be tourists. We had no idea what we would expect for Graceland as we didn't look anything up.

    We got there about 10am and it was not that crowded yet. We were not expecting the $60 a person cost (luckily kids were free) but it was something we had to do, even if neither of are huge Elvis fans.

    We have been introducing Brandon to Elvis over the last week or so, and he was so excited. He loves the GPS on the car so he knows how close we are (as well as learning numbers and time) and 4 min till Graceland he was so excited, screaming like a young teenage girl at a rock concert.

    Graceland the many museums in the area were worth the money. There was a lot to learn about Elvis and career. He seemed to be a stand up, charismatic family guy who loves to entertain. We saw his house, Graceland, his outfits, all his gold records, all his movies he was in, information about his time in the army, and his many cars. The kidney pool that was built looked exactly like my grandparents house.

    We had no idea that Graceland was going to take 4 hours and we had to change our day around as we weren't going to see all we had planned.

    As of most of the week, it was hot and sticky and thought we could take the kids to a splash pad which was supposed to have great views of the city. Well, we could not find this place, so we ended up going to the Memphis Botanic Gardens.

    It was 3pm, the weather was threatening with a storm, and we couldn't drive all the way back to the campsite as we had plans to be at the city at 5. The gardens would normally cost $10 an adult, but the nice lady let us in just to check out the kids tree house and stay for a little bit. The gardens were beautiful and the kids area was fun. There was a cubby house which lots of banging and music could be played. There was slides and holes to crawl through. Cubby houses with alfalfa growing on the roof. There was a tree house that has a slide from it. Inara tumbled down the slide and hurt herself. Between the two kids they have scrapes, and bruises all over their legs and arms from falling and being kids.

    We had about 30 min before the storm came down on us as we were playing in the tree house. There was thunder and lightning and hard rain. We got soaked getting to the car.

    Our next destination as tourists was the Peabody hotel. This hotel has been around since 1925 and the spectacle of the Peabody ducks since 1930. At 11am the ducks waddle across the foyer on a red carpet from the elevator to the water fountain in the middle of the bar area and back at 5pm. The kids got to sit right at the red carpet as the ducks made their quick exist from the fountain. It was a unique site.

    By the time we got back to the campsite, the rain has stopped, the tent was safe and dry inside and we had a lovely spaghetti dinner made by Josh.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 46

    Musicians corner music festival

    19 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    We didn't want to be real touristy in Nashville but we wanted to experience the music. Elisa googled and found a free musical festival called Musicians Corner about 20 minutes from the KOA.

    Before our adventure out we all had a fun time in the pool, trying to stay cool in the humidity. The kids had such a great time and exhausted themselves that they had a great nap on the way to the festival.

    We got there right when it started, before the stage began, but the one tent was showing the royal wedding. The event happens from May to July on Fri and sat and are free events. We saw 8 artists and the best was Cordova. They were awesome. The last act was a chic from England that we believe that we have heard on a local radio back at home.

    There was one large stage and one small stage while the big stage changes artists. There was a few food trucks and Inara loved the retro snow cone truck. There was also a kids area where Brandon played with some kids. He played all the sports there on offer.

    We also met a lovely family who sat next to us halfway though with kids about the same age. The little girl had a soccer ball and her and Brandon had a great time. There was also a Mexican guy, our age, behind us and he started playing with Brandon. Brandon had so much fun,.and so did this guy. He said Brandon is a natural and was very impressed.

    It was a fun day but long as we sat in the sun and heat all day long. The lines for food and drinks were too long but all that didn't matter.

    We were all exhausted but didn't not want to go out on a Sat night in Nashville. The family we met gave us a few touristy suggestions and we decided on heading to the Oprey.

    The Oprey is a large complex that is known for its name as a event stadium where all the big names sing at. The Oprey has hotel rooms, shops, restaurants, bars, and is all under one roof, split up in different sections. We spent a few hours walking around seeing the " Delta " section, the rainforest section and another one. The delta had a river and you could ride a boat around. The rainforest had lots of plants, waterfalls, starry nights. We had a quick dinner at an Italian restaurant and got to watch dancing water. It was a nice surprise and we definetly want to come back and stay there, as at the end of this year there is a water park being built called sound wave.

    It was a late night but we all enjoyed this unique experience and had a great sleep.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 47

    Happy birthday Elisa

    20 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We had a late night last night so we had a sleep in and a lazy morning. Elisa went for a run and then we all enjoyed the pool again.

    As it was Elisa's bday so she got to decide what the day was to entail. We headed into the city and spent a few hours checking out the many pubs. We started our with lunch at Margaritaville, then headed down the street and poked our head into a few pubs /bars with live music.

    We settled at The Famous Saloon, and had the 3 person group sing happy bday to Elisa. We were going to head out to check out other places but the storm came down fast and hard and we weren't going anywhere.

    One of the things Brandon wanted to do was country line dancing. The bar two down, was the wild horse saloon and we braved the weather and ran to the pub. We all learned a country line dance and Brandon had fun and did really well.

    We left after that and we were all exhausted so we had a home.made dinner under the patio in the KOA as the rain was still pouring down.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 48

    Off to North Carolina

    21 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Nashville was awesome and we definetly want to go back. There is so much we didn't see and experience.

    We made it out of the KOA by 11. We even got a swim in the pool before we set off, as well as tenpin bowling and a swing on the hammocks. Our plan was to stop in Gatlinburg, a small mountain town that the locals at the festival said to visit. We were staying in a cabin at Asheville so we didn't need to set up a tent, so we could check in late.

    Well, Gatlinburg didn't happen. Brandon needed to go to the bathroom and we therefore we pulled off and stopped at Cummins Falls. What a great little surprise. It was a short walk to the overlook of supposedly one of the best swimming holes in North America. It was awesome and we will be back some day to swim in the hole and sit under the falls.

    We made it to the Asheville East KOA a bit after 7pm, losing another hour as we made it to the East Coast. We didn't have a tent to set up, as mom upgraded us to a cabin as she used to work at this KOA. It is a large KOA, and is has 2 lakes and has the Swannanoa River running through it. The KOA advertises about tubing down the river, but the river was fast and very high as they had over a week of rainy weather. No way could we let the kids go in there.

    Mom raved about the Pisgah brewery not far from the KOA, so we planned on eating dinner there, but we didn't realise they didn't serve food. Josh bought some beer to go and we went to the little town of Black Mountain and had an amazing dinner at Trailhead. It was the best dinner we have had out, felt healthy and tasty, and with 2 beers and dessert, with tip was $50. So affordable.    En savoir plus

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  • VoyageurDriving across the USA
    Jour 51

    Drive to Nags Head North Carolina

    24 mai 2018, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Today was all about driving. The kids from the campsite next door finally woke up (as Brandon wanted to wake them up for a few hours) to say goodbye.

    We had a 4 hour drive from ashville to chapel hill and then another 3.5 hours or so to Nags head.

    While on our trip Bruce, josh's dad, asked us to chat with Bea. Bea is an American who is engaged to Josh's cousin Calvin, who lives in Canberra. Bea just happened to live in Chapel Hill, NC, halfway between Ashville and Nags Head. Bea and I organised to meet for an early dinner.

    From Ashville we planned on starting our day with a walk to a waterfall Elisa's mom suggested and we thought that would be great to tire the kids out but, as we got to the parking lot of the walk,.Inara was already asleep.

    We made it to Chapel Hill a few hours earlier than planned and had a lunch with Bea rather than a dinner. She took us to a old style pharmacy which has a diner in it and a confectionary store. To enjoy the interesting old fashioned store we all had milkshakes. After lunch we had a walk around North Carolina University campus, with old heritage buildings, big old trees and lots of squirrels.

    The kids were great on the drive and was our longest of the trip. We made it to Nags Head about 8pm, 2nd to arrive. Elisa 's mom and husband made it a just a couple hours earlier.    En savoir plus

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