The Great Midwest Trip Continued Kentucky, Tennessee

If you are just joining me, let me catch you up to speed.

Our family of five just returned from what we call The Great Midwest Trip.

We flew from Seattle, Washington to Indianapolis, Indiana and drove 1500 miles on a two week long road trip in a rental van.

I've shared with you the stops that we made in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

Today  we continue on to Kentucky and Tennessee.

We started our morning with a quick drive from Ohio to Lexington, Kentucky. Horse Country. Also home to University of Kentucky.  and Rupp arena We had more than a few people tell us that we needed to stop for ice cream at Grater's. We did. It did not disappoint. We spent some time touring the grounds of Henry Clay in Ashland Before heading on to my family reunion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This is the view from our balcony at the resort. The Great Smokey Mountains was our stop for five days so we took the time to do a few things while we were there. Nine of the 16 went white water rafting {on the border of North Carolina, which brings out states visited total to six now} We went to the Tomb pyramid attraction, visited the Titanic museum, enjoyed the resorts water park {similar to Great Wolf Lodge} and spent two days in Dollywood. This is a glimpse of the family that was able to be there for the reunion. All of my siblings and my parents My brother in law Will is an amazing photographer. He took some great family shots, but also some amazing landscape shots as well. The Great Smokey Mountains is a beautiful area! We spent some time exploring it one day and took a short hike to Laurel Falls. It was an easy mile hike to the falls that this group of all ages could do. We even saw a black bear and her cubs on the way back down. It was a fun stay in Tennessee and while we said goodbye to my family, we didn't say goodbye to the state. Come back tomorrow to see our adventures in Nashville. Recommended stops if you find yourself in the area: Graters ice cream {Cincinnati, Lexington} Titanic Museum The Great Smokey Mountains Dollywood {you must get the cinnamon bread, it's worth the price of admission}