Across Covid America - Tour of National Parks 2020 - Day 1

Ahh, June. What a perfect month. Summer is taking hold again and the temperature stays above 60 degrees. When I think of June, I remember all those weeks spent at the beach soaking up the sun and enjoying being outside. Growing up in New England, summer creates a primal urge to spend more time outside. Thoughts of getting out there and enjoying the sunshine replaces that 'Huddle by the Fire' mentality that winter usually bears. My mind is saying June is the time for adventure and exploration. June is time for a vacation!

Then I have to stop. Completely. And rethink how I travel for the summer of 2020 thanks to Covid-19. The pandemic that has only just slackened its iron fist on our globe. Covid-19 if you don't recall caused a worldwide shutdown on any traveling, gathering with others, boating, hiking, or any other activity where more than 10 people had to gather. It was that bad. {Key sad music} But the restrictions that began midway through March this year have recently been slackened (not completely lifted, I mean there still had to be some precautions). 

If I was going to make this vacation virus free, I would  have to follow some ground rules. So, here's the plan since we are driving the entire way:

-Bring enough Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer to fill a bathtub (who knows when you'll need a dunk)

-Starting at hotel room door wipe down EVERY surface with said wipes

-Bring a plastic trash bag to place all dirty clothes in until we can do laundry

-Bring mask and gloves to cover at least five days

-Social D.I.S.T.A.N.C.E.

Okay, so back to planning. Something my partner and I like to do to make sure we cover everything we want to see or do while traveling. With Covid hanging over us like a black cloud, this year G and I thought we'd shake things up a little. Instead of crossing the pond and exploring the vast reaches of Tahiti, Australia, or Europe (that last one having banned American travel at the moment) we decided to stay closer to home. We thought it high time that we explored all of the beauty our very own country has to offer. Both of us enjoy wide open spaces and beautiful vistas. As we were researching ideas, we kept getting hits on National Parks. A lot of them. 

G went into his Superhero Overload mode and began plotting out an entire course of places on our Must Do List. He had pages of ideas and a calendar spread out. Neither of us likes to drive extended periods of time so we looked at keeping most days to 4-6 hours away from the next stop. The most was 8 hours. By the end, there was something like 45 days mapped out. Umm, that was a little much. So after a few weeks of hemming and hawing we narrowed it down to 30 or so days that had us making a huge loop across the center of North America. 

And our home? Who would be around to protect our homestead from natural disasters and racoons? Why the best bestie that ever was the best, Katie! She promised to stop by and check the place out every now and then so we could galavant to our heart's content. 

Looks good to me!

Day One

8:49 A.M.

10321 mileage

8122 steps

So, here it is June 1 and we have begun our American Journey to see what our continent has in store for us. We left Atlanta around 8:30 A.M. on a cloudy Monday morning and headed north up I-75. Our first stop was the Tennessee Riverfront  in Chattanooga about 11 A.M. 

Walking around the area around the aquarium was a bit weird. Normally it is packed with people. It was awfully quiet and the only activities listed were the closed aquarium or the Southern Belle River Boat which wasn't doing tours although their restaurant was open for service. We sighed and continued on our way grabbing lunch at Urban Stacks where we were told we could find the menu using a QR code taped to the table. Huh, that's an interesting take on keeping customers from spreading germs.  We were out on their patio with a huge reduction in the number of tables available for seating to promote the 6 feet distancing codes from the CDC. After our tasty burgers we  made our way to our next stop, Rock City. 

I have had one of those birdhouses built like a red barn with a black roof emblazoned with the logo "See Rock City," but never actually followed its advice. I wasn't exactly sure what was in store, but it was quite an unexpected treat. Turns out it was the brain child of Garnet and Frieda Carter who wanted to create a path so visitors could walk through the odd rock formations they discovered and fell in love with around their home. Garnet, the inventor of miniature golf, let his wife create a 'Fairyland' to highlight her love of European Folklore. 

There are incredible rock gardens, actual gardens, bridges, pathways, and some really tight squeezes. There is also a beautiful waterfall and overlook called 'Lover's Leap.' Definitely not for the faint of heart. 

Rock City had developed a safety plan and instituted a timed entry and reduced the number of visitors for each slot. Park guides were stationed throughout with masks and gloves to answer questions and point you in the direction of the nearest hand sanitizer station. There were a bit more people than I would have liked moving through the paths and too many handrails to touch (hence gloves). We put our masks on as we encountered a log jam of people at Lover's Leap and kept them on for the rest of the walk. Very nice way to spend a day in the southern heat as most of the walk is in, around, and under colder rock formations. 

We continued on through Tennessee and into Kentucky for our first overnight stay in Bowling Green. 

Nice way to start our tour, eh?