Cynz Travel Blog

All of these years, we have come to the Smoky Mountains to enjoy hiking, Clingman's Dome,  Cades Cove and all that downtown Gatlinburg has to offer. I was looking at the map of Gatlinburg to see what was new and I noticed Roaring Fork Road.  It said something about a motor nature trail. So we decided we'd try it. Boy, did we find a jewel! It is a one way loop that has several pull offs with old cabins, beautiful streams and trails. We decided to find the Grotto Falls trail. Didn't look too bad...only 1 1/2 miles to the falls. Right?? The drive on the loop was so serene under a gorgeous canopy of trees. The trail to Grotto Falls was really beautiful and pretty much straight uphill! The trail was rocky, with small streams cutting across our path and several broken limbs that looked petrified.  The humidity was horrible, but the hike was great! We saw rain in the distance and was worried it would catch up with us! We had a wonde...

It's a good thing that I like people because Gatlinburg was crowded! We walked around downtown today and did some shopping.  I went to my favorite silver jewelry store, The Silver Tree. Curtis stopped at a few Moonshine bars (there are a bunch of them) to have a sample. I rode the Sky Lift without my husband.  That was fun and the views were great!

I love the Smoky Mountains!  It is always so beautiful and a great place to bring the motorcycle to enjoy the scenery!  Here we are on big red...our Goldwing...entering the park.  We drove straight up to Clingman's Dome. It was a little chilly, but the 1/2 mile hike uphill at probably 30 degree incline got rid of any cold we may have felt. There were so many motorcycle riders!  I took a few panoramic pictures from the top of Clingman's Dome.  It shows why this area is called Smoky Mountains. This is the ramp to go up to the platform.  My husband decided he wouldn't join me. He's in the white shirt on the ramp.

I'm back!  We have had a very busy summer.  I'm still not sure if I'm recovered from our 2 week incredible West Fest vacation.  My husband and I have decided to take advantage of this Labor Day weekend and go to the Smokies with our Raptor camper and our Goldwing motorcycle.  I'm very excited.  The colors should be beautiful and riding through the mountains on the motorcycle will be a great way to celebrate fall and Labor Day! We got a nice spot by the creek! We are at the Twin Creek RV resort in Gatlinburg. So far we are very happy with the place. 

Curtis suggested that I do one last blog with the trip statistics.  So here are the numbers. 16 days on the road 15 nights in a hotel 14 states we traveled through 8 times we crossed the Continental Divide 3 National Monuments 4 National Parks 1 privately Held Monument 8 museums 8 times we crossed the Missouri River ------------------------------- = 5424 total miles traveled On a funny note: the service light came on as we were traveling on I-565, about 15 miles from home, indicating that the oil needed to be changed. After the fiasco with Enterprise about the mini-van, or lack of one even though John reserved it several months ago, we all felt vindicated. We also brought back so many dead bugs plastered to the front of the Tahoe that it may take several car washings to get them off! For anyone who ever thought of attempting a two week adventure, we all recommend doing it! It is the trip of a lifetime.  Curtis and I learned a bunch about our country's history and...

Curtis and I crashed at my parents home in Wichita.  I love being at home.  For some reason, I always sleep well at mom and dad's.  Trish and John picked us up and we had lunch at Old Chicago.  Mom and Dad enjoyed getting to know our friends and were impressed that we are all STILL friends! We headed toward Little Rock and Curtis announced that we had completed our 5k (5000 miles)....Woohoo!!! Trish and I yelled out in unison a very loud "Yay!".  Hard to believe that we started this adventure over two weeks ago! After we checked into the hotel, we met downstairs to have a drink. A very drunk guy next to us was eavesdropping on our conversation and started talking to us. He couldn't see Curtis,  but heard him. He asked us if Barry White was with us and complimented Curtis on his deep voice. We got a good laugh out of it! We should be home tomorrow.  We plan to do one last blog and do a trip recap.  Thanks again for going on this adventure with u...

We are back in the Central Time Zone! This has been an amazing adventure,  but we are all ready for our own beds. We had a long travel day to Dodge City,  Kansas.  We stopped by the Boot Hill Museum.  The museum told the history of Dodge City.  Legendary old west figures like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson once called Dodge City home. The People of the Plains museum was really neat and had a ton of old artifacts. The displays were very detailed.   The funniest fact was the Jaycee's asked Fort Dodge to donate the old jail. But some law prohibited the donation. But they were told that if the jail was "stolen", then no charges would be pressed. So a bunch of Jaycee's stole the old jail one night and brought it to Boot Hill Museum.   We are on our way to my folks' house in Wichita. I can't wait to see them!   Boot Hill was our last stop on our West Fest! We are heading east now and will be home in a few days! It has been an incredible a...

We are on the down hill slide of our West Fest. It has been an awesome trip! Today, as we drove out of the Grand Tetons, Trish and John were nice enough to agree to let Curtis and I drive a small portion of the loop that we missed yesterday.  We drove to the Snake River Overlook where Ansel Adams took his famous black and white pictures.  It is a very beautiful spot with the mountains as a back drop for the river. Thomas Moran also found this area artistically inspiring and drew some paintings that are hung in major museums and the US Capitol.  Then it was a long haul to Cheyenne,  Wyoming.  Wyoming is a beautiful,  diverse state which encompasses the entire gamut of terrain...mountains,  green valleys, desert, rocky cliffs. I enjoyed watching the scenery go by. As a side note, I ended up with pink eye. BUT the lodge we stayed in last night had a clinic with a super sweet doctor. After making sure it wasn't a scratch and it wasn't a Lu...

We drove to Jackson Lake Lodge today in the Grand Tetons National Park.  It is beautiful to see the mountain range as a back drop to the valley where the lodge is located. The lodge is very woodsy with large beams and an awesome fireplace that I want! Curtis and I stayed at the lodge and enjoyed the trails while John and Trish drove the loop. I love these purple flowers. They are called Lupine and they are everywhere.  That name seems fitting since purple is my favorite color and I have Lupus. Purple is the official color of Lupus.  Sunset over the Grand Tetons

We made it to Yellowstone today! Signal is spotty here so I am a day late posting on the blog. Hopefully I can get this posted. We are halfway through our West Fest. We headed straight for the geyser area. The colors in these pools are created by the different minerals and microorganisms that live in them. I tried to capture them, but not sure of I did them justice. Then of course, we saw Old Faithful!  She was a few minutes early, but I got her on video and took some great shots! The sun was perfect and cast a nice glint in the sky. Old Faithful erupting Today we got up REALLY early and drove to Lamar Valley. It was a beautiful drive and we saw a bunch of wildlife.  A couple of buffalo decided to share the road with us. We then drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and saw the different waterfalls from several view points.  On the lookout at the top of the waterfall, there were several rainbows that could be seen as the water roared ov...