Jan. 28 -- ice

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We saw ice waterfalls beside the road many times on this trip, both beside the expressway and from smaller roads.







And now for some unfrozen water, the same lake we saw from the very top. Even through the haze, the views were spectacular that day.



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Jan. 28 -- the road down

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The road up and down the mountain was in brand-new condition.

We were glad it was dry. And we were glad to have our little sure-footed car.

Some of the turns are hairpin-ish, and the drop-offs are... well, we couldn't see, but clearly steep and a ways down!











In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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Jan. 28 -- still on the pinacle

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In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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Jan. 28 -- Cumberland Gap pinacle outlook

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As you drive up the winding twisty narrow road (which is in immaculate condition!) to the top, you are in Kentucky.

As you walk to the out look, you step into Virginia.





When you look out, you are looking at Tennessee.







Spectacular views, eh? It was a bit hazy, but even so............









The ambience, unfortunately, was marred by this. Everything was in such pristine condition -- clearly a lot of thought and love goes into maintenance.

We didn't linger at the outlook.....





In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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Jan. 28 -- Cumberland Gap pinacle

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You can tell when I'm driving, because the pics dry up. I should have made my long-suffering DH drive up, so I could have gotten the "road on the way up" shots, but by the time I realized that, we were committed, and the road was narrow.......

This green tree was at the edge of the parking lot near the top of the mountain. I wish I'd gotten a closeup of its leaves, for a shot at identifying it.....





Here, for the first time, is our new car.

I had a moment of panic as I began to pack for this trip. I am used to the Voyager. We never had to carefully pack the Voyager. There was so much room, we just threw everything in. In this little car, with two dog crates, I was afraid for a few minutes that it wouldn't all fit.

But it did. We folded down the backs of the back seat (the back of the back seat is in two pieces, so you can fold down all or part....), and discovered that the crates, on top of that, were *not* too high to see over, as I had feared. Once we were clear on that, we had plenty of space behind the crates to throw in everything else we wanted.

We had to turn the crates, so the doors faced out, to get a dog in or out, which was kind of a pain, but it worked.





Winter textures, seen beside the path up to the outlook.







In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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Jan. 28 -- headed toward Cumberland Gap

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Leaving the look-out point behind, we'll head on toward Cumberland Gap. We are in the westernmost part of Virginia.....











We went through a tunnel into Kentucky, and very shortly arrived here.







I believe the top of this was our goal.





In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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coming home from Tennessee, Jan. 28

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We ouslanders were puzzled by the "E" and "W" designations on roads in Kentucky and Tennessee. We came to the conclusion that they did not mean "east" or "west," or at least not that the road in question actually *headed* east or west.....

Note orange rocks......... In another life, I'm sure I could have been a geologist.....





The land around Kingsport is not flat. Not a bit. There are a few places level enough to put a park, or a school yard, but mostly it is very three-dimensional.







On the way south, we came to the decision point about big roads vs. smaller roads just as it got dark. We opted for the expressway, which, according to google, was 50 miles farther, but the same amount of time..... (Our host in TN confirmed this.)

On the way home, our choice was made on a sunny morning, so we opted for the smaller roads and Cumberland Gap.

This gorgeous look-out spot was beside the road on the way to Cumberland Gap. It was peaceful, it was quiet (except for the occasional car going by), it was littered with trash. What is *wrong* with people??????????????????

Ok, we'll lift our eyes to the view and ignore the trash on the ground......





Or ignore the view and take in all the local smells, depending on our preferences. At least until we are yanked away from examining something else that was left here that should have been picked up and put in the trash.....





What a place to have a home! Wow.





In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these Tennessee Polar Bear Picnic trip posts, a link to the next one is here.

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