Road Trip 1st stop The Great Smokey Mountains Tennessee

To get into the National Park we drove through downtown Gatlinburg.  It was bumper to bumper and everyone was out walking around enjoying the beautiful day.  From one side of town to the other took us 1 1/2 hours to drive 8 miles to our destination for a hike.  

We hiked Jakes Creek Trail to Avent Cabin.    Here are pictures along the trail out to the cabin, it was about 2.7 miles out and back.  The out is all an incline of a 482 ft. 

To reach the cabin it's a little tricky catching the smaller trail that leads out to the cabin.  We just happen to stop and notice some steps a trio of backpacking campers stopped to chat, they were looking for the trail to Avent cabin and thought it was about where we were stopped, we told them about the steps we found so we all hiked out the trail and it was to the cabin, yeah!

Elkmont Ghost Town in the park is where we parked to pick up the hiking trail.  The fireplaces remain and some of the foundations along the trail of a resort area that was once established in the park.  There is a campground called Elkmont that looked like a great place to camp.

Nothing like a walk in the woods.

 We traveled in September along 23 and Lake Huron, over the Mackinaw Bridge onto 2 along Lake Michigan passing through Manistique, Gladstone, Escanaba then down route 35 west into Wisconsin.

FAYETTE HISTORIC STATE PARK / SNAIL SHELL HARBOR

Historic town site from 1867-1891, once a bustling iron smelting community.  

Taking a short hike up the rocky cliffs to capture this view of the town and harbor.

THE TOWN HALL

HOTEL

The park was a self guided walking tour allowing you to enter the structures and read the history about the town and the people a great place to visit.

KITCH-ITI-KIPI  - PALMS BOOK STATE PARK

This park is north of Manistique and well worth the trip, take the self operated barge platform ride with a glass opening for viewing the natural springs and fish below.   An abundance of trout live in river.

MANISTIQUE   -  The next 3 pictures are  along the boardwalk, you climb on rocks that take you out to a cement pier to the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse.

WE STOPPED IN ESCANABA AND DISCOVERED THIS INTERESTING STORY ABOUT MARY AND THE SAND POINT LIGHTHOUSE. 1868-1886

THIS IS THE CHEQUAMEGON-NICOLET NATIONAL FOREST 

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

We camped here several days and enjoyed being on Bear Lake.  Just outside the campground area we discovered the Rat River Recreational Trail which we rode our bikes over 12 miles through beautiful woods following the Rat River. 

WISCONSIN

EGG HARBOR, FISH CREEK, STURGEON BAY

DOOR COUNTY - PENINSULA & WASHINGTON ISLAND

We spent only 2 days camping in the area and definitely worth coming back to spend a week alone in this area.  We spent 2 days driving around the area, shopping and eating.  There are shops, art galleries and restaurants galore.    

A view of the waterway into one of the marinas.

We had lunch at this restaurant facing the harbor.

Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Coronado National Memorial, Arizona

Coronado National Memorial commemorates and interprets the Coronado expedition and the cultural conflict and exchange between the indigenous peoples and Spaniards during the 1500's. The area offers panoramic views of the US-Mexico border and San Pedro River Valley.

At 6,575 feet, Montezuma Pass has sweeping views of the San Pedro River Valley to the east and San Rafael Valley to the west.  

 

To get to Coronado Cave there is an uphill half mile walk to the entrance.   This is a self guided cave adventure, the entrance and cave are unimproved.  

The rangers recommend two light sources for each hiker and plenty of water. 

Going down yikes!

I bought these headlamps for the grand kids, they came in handy.

  

We're at the start of our cave adventure, after you climb over the big rocks at the cave entrance you look back to the last bit of natural light.

Our lights really didn't shine that far.

First in and last out of the cave.

BISBEE

Our visit to Bisbee started at the peace wall

 The streets were very narrow and loaded with Gallery, Small shops and restaurants. Lots of history and stories.

Living on top of the world!!

A quirky little town close to the border of Mexico. Home of the Queens Silver Mine.   Lots of friendly local shop owners along with  great restaurants, entertainment and shopping.  

April May 2019 in Arkansas, Crater Diamond State Park, Hot Springs National Park, North Little Rock

Murfreesboro, Arkansas
We camped three days to allow one day of diamond hunting in the field. There is a gift shop, visitor information center, a diamond discovery center and of course the mine.  You can purchase or rent tools for your hunt in the dirt.

One of the only places in the world where the public can search for real diamonds. 
It's a 37 acre plowed field, the eroded surface of a volcanic crater.

It wasn't in our cards to walk away with a diamond. 
More than 33,100 diamonds have been found by park visitors since it became a Arkansas state park in 1972.

The largest diamond was 40.23-carat, Uncle Sam, recently  August 20, 2019 was a 3.7-carat yellow diamond found by Miranda Hollingshead from Texas.

About 35 miles north of Crater of Diamonds is Hot Springs.  My vision, hot tubs everywhere, not what I found.
Inside the Fordyce Bathhouse is a museum. 
You can wander through the building and various floors that show
case the different types of bath's and treatments used in that era.  Some treatments included shock treatments, yikes!
The Bathhouses were built between 1892 - 1923.

This is bathhouse row, inside the hot-springs are piped into the spa's. 
You have to pay for a spa treatment in the water, which vary in temperature.

This is the other side of bathhouse row.  It's very pretty and clean in front and behind the bathhouses.
The buildings are amazing. 

Behind Bathhouse Row is the Grand Promenade, a beautiful walking park that has springs along the path.  Most of the springs are capped off and the water is diverted into the Bathhouses.

Another spring running along the Grand Promenade walkway.

Hot Springs is a National Park in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas. 
The gardens and parks are beautiful.

In and around Hot Springs there are many hiking trails and scenic drives. 
This was a view from a drive just above town.

North Little Rock, Arkansas.  We are camped on the other side of this pedestrian bridge.

We are right on the river, in the city of North Little Rock.  Three weeks later the town was evacuated due to the rising river.

The lights around the downtown area were spectacular.  Both sides of the river had parks with walking/biking trails.  It was about a 20 mile round trip to traverse both sides of the river.