Today was a sad day for us all. We were going to have to say good-bye to our good friends. No more reminiscing about ice cream in Croatia. No more late night talks about sailing across the seven seas. No more jam sessions with a splash of wine. No more cupcake baking with an extra cup of flour thanks to Mila. No more bouncing travel ideas off of each other.
We were all avoiding the inevitable so we all pushed off homeschooling until the afternoon in order to squeeze in a little bit more playtime.
It always make me sad that the younger kids will not remember these exact moments of time that were so special to them. But I guess that is the point of the blog, to have these memories recorded for them. And the real point of the entire journey we are on is to not for them to remember all the little moments but to for all of the memories to mold them into their future selves.
On our way out of town, we drove into Cumberland Mountain State Park. This beautiful state park was originally acquired in 1934 as a recreational area for the 250 families selected to homestead in the county. We didn’t check out too much of it but what we saw, we really liked. And we might have used their dump station on the way out. Oops.
Do you know what is awesome about having playdates for the past three days? Peace and quiet in the car. All three kids fell asleep at the same time and Dan and I could actually actually talk for more than 10 seconds before getting interrupted.
Our peaceful drive out of Crossville led us to the city of Knoxville for some dinner. We decided to give Litton’s Market and Restaurant a try.
My hamburger was delicious but not as photo worthy as Dan’s pick. He opted for the famous Thunder Road burger which is smothered in pimento cheese, sauteed onions, and jalepeño.
He liked it so much that he had to take a few bites to show you a different perspective. How nice of him!
The girls ate their food right up too so let them have a special treat. They got to pick something from the bakery.
They picked rainbow sprinkled sugar cookies. Luka and I were drooling over it. It smells so buttery that once again we cried.
Well, Luka did not cry. He was too busy showing off that he could lift his leg and grab his toes today. Good job, little guy!
We were planning on driving into Asheville tonight but then slapped our foreheads when we realized that this drive was Dan’s favorite on our last cross country trip. To do it this time in the dark would be such a shame. We decided to cut our drive short tonight and stop in Newport, Tennessee for some free camping at Walmart. It would be much better to leave the scenic drive for tomorrow. This will be our fifth night in a row of free camping.
With all the money we are saving, we decided to buy a new pet. Mooooooo.
the end,
marlene
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