We are Stateside!

 

We have made it around the globe and we still have some traveling a head of us.

July 2024 (Texas - OK - TN) - NYC - UK - France- Spain - Portugal - Egypt - the Philippines - Vietnam - Japan - Peru - Costa Rica - Tennessee!

After ten months of international travel, we flew into Tennessee from Costa Rica. I may have shed a few tears when our flight attendant, whom we chatted with about our travels, welcomed us home. We will be spending the next couple of months visiting family and doing some summer road-tripping through parts of the US.

Parker’s sister Amanda and our brother-in-law Brad live close to the Smoky Mountains with their daughters Krislyn and Lissa. It was great to be around family again. The Kaesers met us in Japan to ski in March, and the cousins were excited to have more time together.

Tennessee is a beautiful state with so much to see and do. The kids had some homeschooling to catch up on since we took the longest Spring Break ever. But after school, the cousins were able to hang out. We also enjoy spending time at the Kaeser's homestead where the kids swam, rode mini-bikes, harvested honey suckles, jumped on the trampoline, and took Rahab (their goat) for walks.  

It was time to unpack for a bit and begin adjusting to the American Life (where you must drive everywhere to get anything done amongst other things). During our travels we had mainly stayed close to city centers where everything was walkable: stores, restaurants, etc. Parker had left his vehicle in storage at his sister’s house while we were gone, and we drove for the first time in ten months. We rented motor bikes in Asia but nothing else during our travels. I was a little anxious, which was silly because although it felt weird at first, it just wasn’t a big deal.

Parker is an avid fisherman and the Smokies are a fisherman’s haven. One Sunday, Parker and Brad went fishing at The Little River. It was their lucky day because they both caught their limit and brought home ten rainbow trout.  The trout were beautiful and delicious. The big boys were very proud of themselves. And the rest of us were very happy to eat the killer fish tacos and yummy smoked fish dip that Brad made for us. 

*****

One day we decided to visit Fontana Dam and we unexpectedly ended up on the Tail of the Dragon in the Smokies. The Tail of the Dragon is a famous 11-mile section of Route 129 with over 318 curves. It is popular with sports cars and motorcycle enthusiasts. We knew it was nearby, but we didn’t realize we were going to be driving it that day.

It is popular because for 11 uninterrupted miles this route has no houses, driveways, businesses, or intersecting roads. We started seeing groups of super fancy sports cars (Porsches, Maseratis, Miatas) and they were going around the curves fast!  

Kaia was starting to get a little motion sickness from all the turns. Then Parker said, ”I think the Tail of the Dragon is near here somewhere”. To which Kaia responded, “well, it says Tail of the Dragon on your navigation screen”. Ha…found it!

At one end of the route is Deal's Gap where we stopped for lunch and watched the racers zoom by. In the parking lot was “The Tree of Shame” where vehicle parts (mainly motorcycle parts) were hung, collected from crashes along the route. There are a couple of  deaths on the Tail of the Dragon every year and the Tree of Shame was a stark reminder.

There were  professional photographers at the more exciting turns taking photos of each passing vehicle (even ours - photos are available on line for everyone driving through). Also, people were pulled over the side of the road sitting on lawn chairs, watching the racers. When there a was vehicle behind us, Parker would pull over and let them pass. The drivers always gave us an appreciative wave as they sped off around us. It was fun seeing all the fancy sports cars and motorcycles. We waved at the photographers and the spectators as we rolled by in our slow, lifted 4Runner, at the posted speed limit of 30mph. 

*****

Citico River is famous for trout fishing. We had stored all of our outdoor and camping gear with our vehicle so we would be ready for the outdoors when we arrived in the States.  We headed out to camp and fly fish for a couple of days. We had previously scouted this river and knew that we would have no cell signal. We found a great camp site right next to the river, it was the perfect place to unplug. 

It was a beautiful area with no one camping anywhere for miles around us. Parker has been taking the kids fishing since they were toddlers, not only do they enjoy it but they are also improving their skills. They switch off between fly fishing and spinning rods. It was a great few days of doing everything and nothing. We fished, we read, the kids carved things, and we ate a lot of smores.