This is by Far the biggest road trip we have taken!!!

I know this happened back in May, but I am finally able back to blogging and decided this would be a fun one to revisit and share. We did a 10 day road trip - and drove over 3000 miles!! We had a ton of fun and did something new everyday.

Bad news is I some how lost my log book for the trip that tracked times, miles and gallons of gas bought. Oh well. I do have the financial break down. Even with driving, free hotels, and not eating out.... I still don't want to revisit the carnage of spending.

• Day 1 - Driving to Sandusky Ohio and Lake Erie
• Day 2 - Driving from Sandusky Ohio to Kitty Hawk - Outer Banks NC
• Day 3 - Exploring Kitty Hawk - Outer Banks NC
• Day 4 - Taking Flight - Hang Gliding with Kitty Hawk Kites!
• Day 5 - Early Morning Beach and a Drive to Myrtle Beach
• Day 6 - Myrtle Beach Sunrise, Swimming and Skywheel!
• Day 7 - Driving to Gatlingburg and Checking out the Sky Bridge at Sunset
• Day 8 - Sun Rise at Clingsman Dome, Hiking Andrews Bald

Did you Say Sunrise

Yup - of course we are up for the.... holy crap we didn't actually get up for the sun rise. Well, even if we did, we had no where to go to see it. If I remember correctly it was mostly a grey day, and while I may have been awake and wanting of some coffee we tried to sleep in. None of the activities would open until 9 or 10am. My kids were pretty happy to get some Mc D's breakfast for once and watch some cartoons.

Cave City

After getting some breakfast we started to find out activities for the day. We were going to look at some caves. Cave city has 3 very different caves close to it that we wanted to see. Our goal was to see Mammoth Cave, Onyx Cave and Crystal Onyx Cave. Too bad for us, it was Sunday and the caves didn't open as early as we had hoped. We started off with Onyx Cave

Onyx Cave

We went through and did the tour as soon as they opened. We were lucky and it was only the 4 of us, so we didn't feel rushed at all. Not sure about you, but I like checking out caves. Caves are so hard to take photos but here are the best ones I could take. It is a smaller cave but has all the stuff I like in cave. All of the cool stuff you don't in just any old cave. I like all the mineral deposits and structures that take so many years to form.

Mammoth Cave

Its name is fitting since it is the longest cave in the world. With over 400 miles of tunnel, and more still be discovered every year, it is amazing to think just how big that really is. It
We happened to buy tickets for a Cave tour for Mammoth cave a few weeks before our trip and the first day they were on sale. It was a great move as every tour was sold out. While a lot of the tours looked amazing, we settled on the River Styx Tour, a 2.5 mile tour all around the cave. We were also the first tour of the year and since it goes deep, to areas that flood in the spring and winter, we had to carry the lanterns back for the rest of the people to use for the summer.

I wish I could take better photos, but it is hard to describe just how big this was... The space is enormous and while the lighting is fine to walk by, it can't capture just how big it is...

Going Into The Cave

Cave Photos

Leaving the Cave in the Rain

Drive to Champaign IL

• 340 Miles
• 5Hr 20 Min

So - After spending all day bumming around and our tour was over I think it was about 3-4pm when I stared to drive. It was only a 5 Hour 20 Min Drive. It was just another typical day driving down the road on our vacation. Another 340 Miles added...

Sunset from the Hotel

Since we didn't see the sunrise, I did get this photo of the Sunset from our last and final hotel room. The next day is just a drive home, and then laundry, unpacking, and running to the market to fill the fridge!!

Driving Home

• 390 Miles
• 6 Hours
  

Vacation Stats

Day 1 - Drive to Sandusky

• 575 Miles
• 9 Hrs

Day 2 - Drive to Kitty Hawk

• 678 Miles
• 12 Hrs

Day 3 Explore Kitty Hawke

• Sunrise
• Beach time
• Bodie Island Lighthouse
• Airplane ride

Day 4 - Hang Gliding!

• Sunrise
• Beach Time
• Hang Gliding
• Shopping/Beach/Pier Fishing

Day 5 - Sunrise and Drive to Myrtle Beach

• Sunrise
• 300 Miles to North Myrtle Beach
• More Beach Time

Day 6 - Sunrise Myrtle Beach - Beach Time and Sky Wheel

• Sunrise
• NO DRIVING ( Well just around Myrtle Beach Area)
• Sky Wheel
• Shopping

Day 7 - Drive to Gatlinburg and Sky Bridge

• Sunrise (err clouds)
• Drive 7 hours to Gatlinburg
• Sunset Sky Bridge Viewing

Day 8 Cingsmans Dome, Hiking and Driving!!

• Sunrise at Clingsmans Dome
• Hiking Andrews Bald
• Driving to Cave City

** Day 9 Cave City, Crystal Onyx Cave & Mammoth Cave

• Crystal Onyx Cave
• Mammoth Cave River Styx Tour
• Drive to Champaign IL (5.3 Hrs)

** Day 10 - Drive Home

• 390 Miles
• 6 Hours

Vacation Stats

• Total Miles - 3000+
• Total Time Driving - 48+ Hrs

Summary

It was a great vacation. Sure it says the trip was only 2907 - but we I added up each trip take, all the activity driving, and getting to our hotels we were well over 3000 miles. I enjoyed this trip so much, I hope we take more driving vacations, we got to do so much more stuff, well as long as I will willing to drive from 5-10pm most days.

Hope you enjoyed the trip log... it will be 8 months before I can take another!!!