Pushed on to home

This was an amazing test of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 across the country. We pushed her to the max on the way back, and she never lost performance, even at 2% battery. We did end up spending extra time in the Kansas/Colorado border area as we charged the car, but it was a neat little spot to explore. Unfortunately, the diner was not open.

 

 

The Car is pointed homeward

Off we headed bright and early towards home.

Of course, we couldn't leave the South without getting the obligatory Waffle House breakfast. It's amazing how much better things seemed when I was 20 something vs 40 something. 

 

Race Day

The day of the race. We set up the aide tent for my husband, and got him ready to go. For 12 hours, he would be running a 3 mile loop through farmland. The goal was to see how many he could complete in the 12 hours. There was a 6 hour option, and it seemed like the majority of the people were doing that. Towards the end of the 12 hours, a storm blew through taking the 80°F day with 90% humidity and cooling it off a little.

 

The venue for the race was gorgeous, and we were still in whiskey country, so of course that would be an option at the aide station. My husband didn't have any until the end.

He finished the race in first place, having done 63 miles, and breaking the previous record of 50some miles. 

 We fell asleep that night to a loud thunderstorm, which provided a beautiful sunset. 

Departure Day

We left Sevierville this day and headed about 4 hours away for my husband's 12 hour race. Along the route, we passed the famous (in the ultra runner world) gate for the Barclay Marathon. My husband thought he would do a shake out run on the first part of the course, but as soon as we got out of the car, the rain came down in a torrential fall. It was wild. So, we took photos and headed on to the amazing Airbnb my in-laws had reserved. Unfortunately, they were unable to join us on the trip due to other things going on at home. 

My in-laws do an amazing job finding some wonderful AirBnBs, and this was another one of their amazing finds. We ended up staying on a hemp farm that had goats and horses and dogs and cats. It was beautiful and the people were wonderful. We had grabbed dinner in town before heading out to the place. So, we settled in for the night and headed to bed, so my husband would be well rested for his race the next morning. 

The Barclay gate. Hard to see the rain, but it was coming down hard 

Along the way, we found one of the Manhattan Project locations and decided to stop and visit. I have a national parks passport, so I had to get it stamped. Very interesting stop. 

Dolly statue on top of a rock. Part of the curiosity and oddities in Sevierville, according to roadsideamerica.com

Gotta love stores where you have to walk through a shark mouth to get in. 

 

Another day outdoors

The final day at the VRBO together, and my other college roommate asked about my husband and I taking her son, who is on the spectrum & easily annoyed with how slow his family moves on hikes, on a hike. My husband being more fit than I am, headed out with my roommate's son, while his father and I hung back and "hiked our own hike" I love old cemeteries, so of course I had to explore. It was along the path to the waterfall, which was the destination for the hike. 

My husband and roommate's son made it to the waterfall before me, and waited for me to get there. As soon as I got there, they basically headed back. I followed them back down the trail at my pace, again letting the son feel he was going as fast as he wanted. At one point, I happened to see the son as I was coming up the last long climb before heading downhill to the car. It made me chuckle. My husband said he was slowing down on the way back. I may be slower than my husband on trails, but I am steady. 

I forgot how many beautiful spider webs can be found in the lushness of the woods. Sure, many of these I wore when hiking the Appalachian Trail because I was the first one up and out on the trail most days, but they were/are still beautiful.

 

The GREAT Smokey Mountains

Today, it was a mix of joint events like hiking with each other and exploring on our own. The first part for us was hiking a trail in the Great Smoky mountains with my college roommate. We enjoyed exploring the trail, finding spider webs, and playing in the waterfall. 

After the late morning hike, my husband & I were on our own to explore Great Smoky mountain national park. So, we headed for the highest point in the park, Clingmans Dome. It wasn't as busy as we expected, but still busy enough. Clingmans Dome was where my father rescued my hiking partner, at that time, and me from the snow, and he took us into Gatlinburg for food, shower, and a warm place to sleep. It was great being back there remembering coming through there, hiding in the ladies restroom, and waiting for my father, hoping he could make it to us. 

As we were checking out some of the spots, we had the privilege of seeing a black bear. I've heard many stories of black bear sightings in Smoky Mountain national park. During the spring break trip in college, we heard of problem black bears coming into shelters for poorly managed backpacker food, but never saw a bear. As I came through the park to Clingmans Dome on the Appalachian trail, I was warned of a black bear by the water source at one of the shelters where I was staying. I never saw that one either. So, it was wonderful to see one on this trip. It was just wandering along the side of the road. 

After seeing the sights of the Smokies, we headed down to one of the smallish towns near our VRBO. My husband needed to get in a run, and the car needed to be charged. So, again I explored while he ran. Like I said, we were in moonshine country, and there were plenty of distilleries to visit. I didn't end up tasting, but did visit and find fun signs.