Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN

Sunday (Oct 26th), Ron had the day off, so after taking the kitties out for a walk in the very dense morning fog (which was surprisingly WARM!!), we all headed out to Fall Creek Falls State Park, about 2 hrs east of Murfreesboro.

One of many falls in the park... we visited several

We hiked down to the base of the largest falls, and Ron & John skipped stones along the pool there.

Ron, Shayna, Dawn & John

The colours along the ridge of the canyon were stunning.  We hit the autumn just perfectly in this park!

Ron drove us around to several different areas of the park, and it was wonderful to spend time outdoors, walking and visiting with both Ron and Shayna... we have spent time individually with them this trip, but not together.  We had a lovely day.

Ron and Shayna

John tossed a stone into the pond and it made the
most amazing ripple effect in the reflection of the trees

We stayed in the park until just before dark, then headed back to Murfreesboro and had an awesome dinner at Nick 'n' Jim's BBQ, where we tasted collards and black-eyed peas for the first time!  It was a good food day!  We started the morning at The Egg & I for brunch where I tasted grits for the first time ever.  We have seen "cheese & grits" on many menus, but it was the first time I found grits without cheese.  They were so good, we stopped on our way home from dinner and picked up some from the grocery store.  I like grits! (and collards and black-eyed peas...)  I guess I like southern food!

John is working on the truck and trailer today (Oct 27th), changing the oil and rotating the tires as we're over 10,000 kms (and 6 weeks) on our trip.  Then we'll head out towards St. Louis tonight.  We decided today that we're taking the shorter route home, through Missouri and Kansas, versus the optimistic route through New Orleans and Texas.  I'm bummed we won't be able to visit my cousins in Texas this trip, but we want the rest of the trip to be as enjoyable as the first 6 weeks, so we're going to take the more leisurely way home. We will be able to visit with my cousin in Kansas with this routing, so I'm excited about that!!