A short, but rigorous hike will reward you with views of the lovely Crab Orchard Falls. Even in this very dry summer, the sound of the water rushing over the rocks is powerful. The falls are extensive and have many levels, but from what I have read, have never been officially measured. Visitors park at the Valle Crucis Episcopal Church, in the upper parking lot. It is well-marked where you should and shouldn’t park and signs will direct you to the trail leading to the Falls. 
The 1/2 mile hike takes you up 500′ to an elevation of 3,110′. Benches are conventionality placed every 1/10 of a mile to take any needed breaks. After reaching the top elevation, you will head down towards a network of boardwalks leading to the falls. The boardwalks are not in the best condition and it seems some restoration work may be underway. In general, use caution due to lose rocks, prolific tree roots and the potentially slippery wood walkway. It’s worth the trip.
Biggest college game ever – 156,990!
VOLS prevailed over Virginia Tech 45-24.
It was hot, we walked a lot, both bands were great. Sassy, well-fed gals behind us kept up running commentary – but Southern girls do know football. Loved seeing Lee Greenwood sing “Proud to be an American.” BTW, that Hokie band actually played “Do the Hokey Pokey.”
“Rocky Top Tennessee” – best game song ever!
Our final adventure of this road-trip was a tour of the Corvette plant and museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Early in the itinerary we got to see hundreds of thousands of Harleys, truly hogging the roads in the Black Hills. Today was a more fitting comfort level for my husband, who is a Corvette-owner.
The one million square foot plant is where all Corvettes have been assembled since 1981 (earlier Vettes were put together in Dearborn MI and St. Louis, MO). It was an interesting tour and fun to learn about some of the new features, like the in-car camera to record drives. The facility has the feel of organized chaos with conveyors running in all directions overhead, delivering car parts to various sectors of the plant. They were on target for completing 160 cars that day; 10 were finished during our tour. Every Vette is pre-ordered and paid for in advance.
Roy Orbison’s Vette.
The museum was nice; way more historical detail about Corvettes than I need to know. The most interesting part to me was seeing the area where the sinkhole claimed 8 cars a couple of years ago. In a classic example of turning lemons into lemonade, the museum has created a detailed interactive exhibit and displayed the 8 damaged cars, or what was left of them-not much.
The cute Corvette Café proved to be a good spot for lunch before heading home.
4,400 miles since we headed across the country, we were back in our own bed.
For your next travel adventure, see the USA!
Sidebar: You can book the plant tour and museum visit on-line ($16 combo ticket). http://www.corvettemuseum.org/. Be sure to allow ample time to park, the tour entry is at least ¼ mile from the parking area. You cannot take anything into the plant – no camera, phone, purse, backpack, etc. – nada. You need to wear closed shoes and don’t need to worry about a jacket, it was on the warm side.
We are trapped in Indiana. Or at least it sure seems that way.
Yesterday, about 45 minutes outside of South Bend, we had rain. Our nice hotel was on the Notre Dame campus, with a restaurant on-site, and lots of nice feather pillows and a 100% chance of rain all night. So, we modified our plans, stayed in, relaxed and watched the Olympics.
At the stroke of midnight, things went south. The entire campus, including our hotel, lost power until 6:30 AM as a result of massive storms. Good news, we had windows we were able to open. Bad news, no hot water. Good news, the rain was stopping.
We decided not to tour Mammoth Cave in Kentucky later today and spend part of the morning seeing the beautiful Notre Dame campus.
We were after all, on assignment from a friend to find the statue of Moses with horns. We did. He is also known as “Notre Dame is #1 Moses,” only out-ranked by “Touchdown Jesus.” Check-out the photos for clarification.
I do need to set the record straight about Moses’s horns. There is no bizarre message or meaning. What we have is a basic translation error. It seems in the original Hebrew text there was some mention of some radial beams of light emitting from Moses’ head when he came down from Sinai with the 10 Commandments. The Hebrew word for “shone” is qaran, a denominative verb from a noun meaning “horn.” A mistranslation from Hebrew to Latin resulted in Michelangelo putting horns on Moses – an error that has been replicated throughout history.
Several who read this blog are far more experienced than I am in art history and translation; so please feel free to embellish on this topic!
When we left the campus, we found out just how bad the rain had been in South Bend- 7 ½ inches. There was lots of flooding and many streets were closed, as well as some businesses. Bad news, our first attempt at a lunch spot was not open. Worse news, it was like a maze to get out-of-town due to the floods. Finally on our way, we found out that about 30 miles of I-65, south of Indianapolis, was closed for hours due to a bad accident.
So, we were trapped in Indiana, four hours behind schedule, alternating between wandering through back roads and sitting in traffic, trying to get to Kentucky.
A fitting conclusion was when Carlye, our in-car voice commander, ordered us off the interstate just before Louisville, at the last exit for Indiana.
We weren’t buying it.
Sidebar: Good news. Made a brief side trip to Peru, “Circus Capital of the World” and home of my Grandfather’s, recently discovered first wife (as well as Cole Porter). I wonder if that first wife was with the circus.
*In use since 1827, the origin of “Hoosier” to describe those from Indiana is still debated. Likely from an early reference to people who lived west, maybe for attributes of bravery and self-reliance. Can’t believe I never asked my Dad about this, now it’s time for my Hoosier friends to step-up with any insight!
