2015-06-27: Road Trip Day #8 Geocaching and Hiking Tennessee and Alabama

Today is Saturday, only two more days of vacation, and we're still in Tennessee. We really don't want to go home. But...

Waking up in Hillsboro, TN, we had one more local virtual Geocache over by Arnold AFB to get before continuing southbound, then a few more caches in new counties. Then it was a cache stop in a very well known place in Lynchburg, TN. The home of the Jack Daniels Distillery and Visitors Center. While Candy and I are not much for drinkers, although the Jack Daniels BBQ sauce is pretty tasty, we opted out of the tour and just found the cache.

Next stop was Stonebridge Park located in Fayetteville, TN. Within the park is a stone bridge representative of the famous stone bridge that once spanned the Elk River. There's also this log cabin from the 1700's converted to a visitors center.

Here's another example of why we go Geocaching! This is not a public park, not a tourist area, no signs along the road pointing the way. This is private property, somebody's private residence. However, they allow an earthcache here so Geocachers can come and appreciate the beauty of this natural bridge. The history behind this area was that it used to be an unauthorized dump. There was anything from household trash to appliances and even a car dumped here.

This couple happened to notice the natural bridge among the rubble. In 1997, they bought 15 acres that included this bridge and waterfalls. Cleaned it up and began building their dream home. They have since acquired approximately 40 more acres to preserve the area.

Even further down the road is another earthcache in Gadsden, AL. Noccalula Falls is a 90 foot waterfall flowing from Black Creek.

A few caches later and it's time for a hike. And what a great hike it was! Located within the Talladaga National Forest in East Alabama, is the Cheaha State Park. Within the park and on Bald Rock is the "Cache Across America" cache. From the parking area, it was an easy hike to the viewing platform on the boardwalk. A little bit rougher, but still an easy trail to the cache site. This is the highest point in Alabama.

Our last stop for the day was the Brown Bomber. LaFayette, AL was the birthplace of Joe "The Brown Bomber" Louis, the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion from 1937 to 1949. Here you'll find a statue in his honor outside the courthouse.

We ended the day in Opelika, AL. Still 400 miles to go and one more day to get there. Hopefully, we still have time to do some Geocaching tomorrow too. Stay tuned.

2015-06-26: Road Trip Day #7 Geocaching Kentucky and Tennessee

Hello again. We started out in Bowling Green, KY this morning and a few local Geocaches planned locally before hitting the road again. First up on the list was a web-cam cache at Western Kentucky University. These used to be a LOT harder to get because you had to have to coordinate your visit with somebody near a computer to take a screen shot while you're standing in view. Now with smartphones, you can do it yourself.

It was summertime and this was the only student we saw on campus.

There was another virtual on campus at a memorial plaque talking about the occupation of Bowling Green of the Confederate Army before leaving Kentucky. A few blocks away was the next earthcache at the Historic Railpark and Train Museum, formerly the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot. Built in 1925 replacing an older facility, the depot was made from local limestone.

One last historic virtual cache before leaving Bowling Green was the Riverview House at Hobson Grove Park. Construction began on this house in the late 1850's, halted by the Civil War, and finally completed in 1872.

Moving on down the road to Glasgow, KY was our next stop at this First Responders Memorial next to the Glasgow Fire Department.

From Glasgow heading SE on Hwy 90, we grabbed a quick cache at a cemetery and new county in a little town called Summer Shade. Then taking some back roads down to Tompkinsville, KY, we found Old Mulkey State Park. Located within this historic park is the Old Mulkey Church. The church was founded in 1773 by Philip Mulkey and the building constructed in 1804. Daniel Boone's sister, Hannah, and Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here in the graveyard.

Continuing through the backroads of Kentucky and into Tennessee, also Geocaching along the way, we come across "Odd Fellows Cemetery." Located in Baxter, TN, what's strange about this cemetery is a double headstone for Thomas J Stowers. I guess you can say he has a headstone and a footstone! Who's Thomas J Stowers you ask? Well he claims to be the sole survivor of General George Custers last stand on June 25, 1876.

After a few more standard caches and a 23 cache power trail along US-70, we finally got to do a little hiking in Walling, TN. Near the junction of the Caney Fork and Collins Rivers you'll find the Twin Falls and the down river trail. A great moderate trail along the banks of the river with some very scenic views. There were two caches here, one being down the trail. Again not a bad hike until you got to the last few hundred feet it went uphill by a water fall before finding the cache.

We ended the day in Hillsboro, TN. Our Geocaching total for the day is 38, add in some history, a hike, and spending time outdoors with a great lady makes for a fun adventurous day!