Epic RV Trip -- Nashville, TN

**SAT 5/18  DRIVE DAY 135 miles --> Nashville, TN

We got to the new park at a reasonable time, put more state stickers on the map, enjoyed the surroundings, watched the kids ride bikes in the stream (not sure I liked them them riding barefoot and wet but happy at how much fun they were having on their own), and did some laundry.  Apparently you have to run the dryers twice, but I was too cheap and mentally over it to get more quarters so I carried all the half-dry clothes back and we hung them up to air dry inside the MH--we had a lovely decor of boxer shorts, shirts, and socks on hangars from the cabinets over the dash, couch, and in the hallway.  

We are thankful that we beat this storm!

**SUN 5/19  Water Park play day!  Waterpark at Nashville Shores.

Not many pictures today, but they would have been bright and colorful.  It wasn't too crowded so we go to do many slides multiple times.  We counted steps for each tower and multiplied to estimate the number of steps Addisyn and Piper climbed today--over 1000.  We wrote "stair-climbing" on their PE logs for homeschool.  Marissa is just barely tall enough for the height rules, but still got stuck in a tube slide and had to push on the walls to inch her way along until the water current caught her little body again.  She was scared in the dark, but she did the right things and we praised her for it.  She didn't do any more closed slides after that.  The lazy river was fun as a family.  And the "family tube ride" that fit 4 people per raft.   We played until we felt rained out and couldn't get the purple out of Marissa's lips, and we walked back to the MH.

We moved sites to a lake-front camp site this morning.  It is so beautiful sitting outside the MH writing this blog with the full moon glistening off the water.  (okay, I'm trying to make it sound glorified... it IS beautiful, but we also have spotty cloud cover and bugs looking for a meal on our legs.)

A miracle happened tonight--gotta thank my glorious hubby for inspiring them... they worked together washing, drying, and putting away dishes so I would have room to cook them dinner.  And I was able to write because I wasn't nagging them.

Tonight Chris turned on television and the only channel that came is was staticy drag racing, but the kids were totally into it.  We thought it was funny that they were so happy to just watch anything simply because there were no other choices and they were so tired they didn't even think to complain.

**MON 5/20 Nashville--Music City & Capitol

We went bar hopping on Broadway.  We wanted the kids to experience the live music scene, with sounds competing between open windows on every level up and down the street.  Tootsies (famous because it's purple?) had live groups on three levels.  We gave Addisyn's ears a break after letting her "suffer" a bit and went outside or to the mid-level game room.  We were impressed by the lady playing fiddle by letting a customer hold the bow straight up and down in front of him, and she slid the instrument up and down the bow.  

Around the corner we ate a snack at another place with a solo performer wearing a little tambourine on his bare foot.  He took requests and even figured out how to play a non-country song Addisyn requested--"Believer" by Imagine Dragons.  The kids said it wasn't the same, but Chris and I were impressed that he was able to figure out a song he had never played before on the spot--that's talent.

We walked several blocks over to see the Capitol.  Our visit was short because someone had to use the bathroom again, and they closed at 5pm, 2 minutes before we got there.  We did walk the steps and walk around the entire building to read signs and (quickly) enjoy the views.  

We went over to Gran Old Opry--just the outside so they can say they were there, and had dinner at the aquarium restaurant in the mall.  

We learned: the Tennesse flag, state slogan: "The Volunteer State", Nashville is the capitol and President Polk is buried on the east lawn, the state bird is the Mockingbird (maybe because it likes to make music?) but we have seen more bright red Cardinals.

**TUE 5/21  half work / half play at our campground Nashville Shores

The kids are getting jealous as they realize kids in this area are getting out of school already and they still have schoolwork to do.  After schoolwork, we rented kayaks and SUP.  I was just thinking how I needed an upper arm workout, and I got it paddling.  There was moderate wind, so A&P decided to switch to kayaks.  I only fell off the paddleboard once, but the water felt nice.  Marissa helped Chris oar the double seater kayak.  PE is fun now!

Tonight Chris fixed the wifi--$ fixes everything.  (We changed our Verizon plan to unlimited data last month, but we didn't know we were on "basic" rather than the fast speed, so we had data available but no access to it because it was so dang S-L-O-W!, so we upgraded the plan on 2 of our phones now and we can actually load the schoolwork we need to again.)

**WED 5/22 School day, more fun at Nashville Shores, and more Music City
We started the day with Karen taking Addisyn & Piper to the treetop ropes & zipline course at the campground property (after pulling hair back and in tight braids).  We rode our bikes over there, but they weren't ready to start yet, so I stayed to pay and complete waivers while A&P rode back to camp to knock out 45 min of schoolwork and then come back.  The course was a good workout for core and arms.  It was fun and challenging.  The longest zip was 600' across.  I was surprised that I was a little anxious about the zip lines, but they started short and got longer as we went, so I had time to learn how to steer it, which helped me get over the trauma of my *incident* in Costa Rica last year.

Then, we set up the shade tarp and had HW time outside.  and laundry -- A&P are sharing a laundry bag, and Marissa's goes in with C&K-- to make sorting clothes out easier.  And again didn't dry--we used the ez-up and chairs to hang things up in the sunshine... which was all good until one of Chris' shirts landed in the firepit ashes (not hot) and so it had to go back to the laundry bag (glad it wasn't one of the kids...not sure how they'd of handled it),  and they thought it was funny to have their underwear hanging on a bar over our front door (inside!).

In the afternoon Karen & girls did the Parthenon & line dancing.  Chris had to stay behind for school.

The Parthenon is a replica of the original building in Athens, Greece, built as part of the centennial celebration of Tennessee's statehood in 1897 (*quiz time: what year did TN gain statehood?)  Parthenon (means "house of the maiden") is home to Athena, goddess of wisdom (knowledge & wit), practical art (a.k.a. handicraft/useful inventions/skills), and protector of cities (a.k.a. war & courage).  There are many interpretations of her strengths but I think she won battle by using her wits, strategy, the art of giving soldiers courage, and inventing useful tools for that purpose.

*Gee, wonder if she is how the city of Athens got it's name? I also wonder how tall the statue and the doors are.  Her statue depicts the goddess of victory Nike in Athena's hand.  (*Btw, we think the company Nike was clever in its naming.)  Overall, the kids seemed interested in Nike and the creatures--the Pegasus (horse with wings), sphynx (woman head on lion body) on her helmet, and the Gryphons (lion body & tail with eagle head & wings) on the rooftop corners.

Line dancing classes were at the WildHorse Saloon, and were on a southern schedule.  We passed the time eating desert taking pictures with the horse statues.  It was a fun way to finish up our time in Nashville.

I went for a dam run this week.  I'm trying to stay motivated enough to squeeze exercise in when I can.  I have to do it early in the morning because this heat sure saps a lot of energy.