Tennessee for the 4th

Mason and I took advantage of our 4- day (thanks USAF) weekend and headed to Johnson City, Tennessee for the 4th of July weekend. Mason's grandma Carole, cousin Sam, and dad Dave all live out there. I was nervous about the 13 hour drive (both ways) in such a small amount of time, but it really wasn't too bad. Mason and I had never driven the route before, so it was fun to see a new part of the country. We went through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee- so we got to mark off a few states we'd never been too.

We were excited to stop in Jackson, Mississippi for Thai food at a restaurant right off the high- way. It was okay, but not quite up to Mason standard. We left Shreveport around 1:00pm on Thursday afternoon, and arrived in Johnson City around 4am local time Friday. Luckily Mason agreed to check into the hotel a day early so we could catch up on some much needed rest before seeing family. I was really excited to meet Carole, as we'd never met before. On Friday, we spent time catching up, and Dave took Mason and I hiking at a place called blue hole, where Dave had taken Mason as a child.

The temperature in Tennessee was much more bearable that Louisiana, so hiking was actually pleasant; especially down by the waterfalls. Mason and Dave were busy taking lots of pictures, while I tried my best to keep up, and take in the gorgeous scenery and fresh air. Blue hole got it's name because of the large "blue" pool of water created at the bottom of the waterfall. It was really breathtaking and peaceful. On Friday night we went into a smaller town, Jonesborough, for early fireworks. We spent lots of time playing cards and just enjoying the warm evening followed up by a great fireworks display; after all, what's the 4th of July without fireworks. Oh yeah, and we had Nathan's hotdogs for dinner, so that makes it a 4th of July weekend for sure.

Saturday we all headed out to the National Park Rock Creek. Carole sat and read a book by a small portion of the river which had been turned into a swimming area, and Mason, Dave, and I went off hiking. The terrain was really rocky, hence the name Rock Creek, and the river that we hiked along was beautiful. Again, Mason and Dave were taking lots of photos, being the artists they are. The trail started getting steep so Dave stopped to take photos and let Mason and I forge ahead to the top where there was supposed to be a beautiful waterfall. Mason and I headed on, Mason wanted to turn around, but I said, no, we must go to the top. ;-D Well, we had a nice time at the waterfall, that we thought was the top, but only found out once we had climbed back down, that we hadn't made it to the top, that infact "the" waterfall was about another 30 minutes due up! I was a bit relieved to hear that when we were already to far down, to turn back...it just give us something to go back for.

Mason, Dave, Sam, and I all went white water rafting on the Nolichukie river on Sunday (thanks to Dave). It was a blast! I'd never been white water rafting before, so was nervous (as usual) but fortunately the guides convinced us ( well more so, the boys said okay, so I had to comply) to go down the river in fun yaks, essentially inflatable Kayaks, versus a large raft. I was soooo glad that we ended up with that option because we were on a lower level portion of the river where we only hit level I-III rapids. The water levels were a bit low, so we got ( I got) stuck in a few spots, but it was totally worth it. Mason and I are even more hyped to go in Arkansas now once the water levels rise.

Despite unnecessary worry, and nerves, the trip was a blast! We were both sad to have to go back into the real world. But are hoping that Dave and Carole will come visit us sometime soon.

We've got LOTS of pictures posted, so check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031229&id=77800450&l=ed7a959866
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031230&id=77800450&l=696ba2a669
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031231&id=77800450&l=02b3b75012