We're home! Brian and Renee will be envious knowing we picked up pizza on the home just for Ryder. Total mileage.

Confederate monument

Canon battery on the Cumberland River at Ft. Donelson

Ft Donelson

Passed the South Bison Range after crossing TN line. Stopped at McDonalds on Hwy 79 for lunch.

Elk and Bison Area

Land Between the Lakes (East Golden Pond Visitors Center - KY)

We just crossed the Ohio River we are now in Kentucky.

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We are now back in Central Time Zone.
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On the Road Again.

Gonna walk around Brian and Renee's property perimeter a bit. Brian said four laps was a mile. Beautiful morning.

Carson snoozing on the luv seat. Ryder plopped in the bed with JA and I somewhere around 4am. I moved to the couch at 5:30, Ryder's original location.

Plan on following Route 1 somewhat. Will be using a map as much as GPS when we take off later today. It's funny I always thought IN was further west. Traveling is an education within itself.

Knox County of which Vincennes is the county seat is one of the first two counties established in Indiana. County pop. is 38,000 while the city makes up 18,000 of that total.

Vincennes is in a terrible drought not having rained here since before Memorial Day and the current 100+ degree weather isn't helping. The corn and bean crops that cover the landscape could be severely devastated. The trees will reveal the price over the coming years, according to the park's Arborist.

Homeward Bound

University of Vincennes is located downtown. UV was founded in 1801, the first in Indiana. Really pretty campus with an advanced Technology dept. Read more at their sure below:

http://www.vinu.edu/about-us

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Bridge over the Wabash River. Halfway across is the Illinois state line.

The funny pic.

Inside the memorial. Notice the murals. There are seven murals.

George Rogers Clark Memorial. Made of bronze, marble, and granite. Stands 85 ft tall.

Lunch at Dot's Rest downtown

Missile from Cuban Missile Crisis

Reproduction WWII bunker

C47

German Halftrack

Soon to be Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes. Unloading alligator tank used transport vehicles. This one would hold up to a 3/4 ton truck.

William Henry Harrison's house built while he was the governor of the Indiana territory.

Brian and Renee's house. Carson and I ride with Brian to take Noah to school. Took a tour of South Knox Elementary.

Friday

Gorgeous morning for a walk. Trying to beat the heat. It hit 107 here yesterday late afternoon.

Shutting one of the gates at George Rogers Nat'l Park

We are in Vincennes, IN.

Just passed through Lawrenceburg, Indiana, home of Seagrams Distillers since 1857.

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Hittin the road. Ryder struggles to sit up due to his extremely sore abs from climbing on the log in the pool yesterday.

Travel Day

Beautiful day for a walk. Logged 2.6 miles in 33 mins. Time for breakfast.

Ryder called me on not posting this photo so here it is.

Kicked back on the balcony relaxing. We are on the backside. You can see two of the coasters from here, the neatest being Flight Deck. In the lower left you can see the very edge of the outdoor pool area. It's nearly 8pm here but would like to hit it early tonight as we'll be traveling into CST tomorrow headed for Vincennes, IN. The forecast is a little worrisome, predicting 104, 105 and 106 for Thurs thru Sat.

Supper at Outback. JA and Ryder split steak and crab legs while Carson and I halved a full rack of baby back ribs. Finished it off with the "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under".

Bounced back and forth between the indoor pools/slides/wave pool etc and the outdoor pool until nearly 6EST. While HA dried her hair the boys wanted to write a story. Hit the showers and now huntin' grub.

Post lunch nap by the pool

Whole pizza, half pepp half cheese, whopper of a salad, our first cannolis, and soft drinks from the coca cola freestyle.

Relaxing by the outdoor pool awaiting pizza for lunch.

Leisurely Day

We slept or at least laid in the bed until 8:30am EST before hitting the breakfast buffet.  We all had our usuals.  Back at the room, the boys have been playing with their soldiers, watching videos on youtube, and helping with our King's Island ride/adventure rating and notes for the blog.  Jane Anna is at the outdoor pool which we will be making our way towards shortly.  Going to keep them outside for a while before hitting the indoor water slides.  Today the hi is 89 with a low of 65 tonight.  Tomorrow looks much different with a hi of 103.  We've been fortunate all around especially the weather.  There's been a nice breeze continuously

King’s Island is an amazing amusement park.  They also have a water park which we did not visit.  Our visit to the amusement park started just prior to 10am and departed around 9:30pm EST.  The park closes at 10pm with a fireworks display each evening weather permitting.  This park reminds me so much of visiting Disney.  King’s Island doesn’t have the ties to the movies, characters, and that touch of magic but the size and amazing rides makes it one of the best.  This is roller coaster haven.  We rode nine roller coasters and two smaller coasters, some multiple times.  If you are planning a visit in the region, set a day aside for this amusement park and maybe one for the water park as well.  

We rated our rides/adventures at King's Island.  My personal top three were Flight of Fear which is very similar to the Rock-N-Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios in Disney.  Flight of Fear might be better but it didn't have the fancy car and Aerosmith tunes.  Diamondback had mammoth size drops with the first one being over 200 feet and several over 100 feet.  The Beast was awesome especially the third drop which starts in a slow turn then accelerates into two high speed downward turns thru dark covered bridge like areas or even tunnel like.  Honorable mention is Vortex.  Vortex has multiple loops and inversions which Carson and Ryder didn't like therefore they gave it a low rating.  Surprisingly, Viking Fury is the only one that messed with our stomachs.  VF really made us all a little queasy.  Several others made us a little dizzy but not sick at our stomachs.

Ride/Adventure Name	Type	Times ridden	Rating(1-5)
DiamondBack	Roller Coaster	2	5
Firehawk	Roller Coaster	1	3
Flight of Fear	Roller Coaster	2	5
Adventure Express	Roller Coaster	2	4
The Beast	Roller Coaster	2	5
Vortex	Roller Coaster	1	3
Backlot Stunt Coaster	Roller Coaster	2	5
Flight Deck	Roller Coaster	1	4
The Racer	Roller Coaster	2	5
Eiffel Tower	Scenic	1	5
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill	Adventure	1	3
Viking Fury	Thrill	1	2
Flying Ace Aerial Chase	Roller Coaster - small	2	5
Surf Dog	Thrill	1	4
Woodstock Express	Roller Coaster - small	1	4
Race for Your Life Charlie Brown	Water - Floom Zoom	1	4
Congo Falls	Water - Raft Ride	1	5
White Water Canyon	Water – Large Logs	1	5
Dinosaurs ALIVE!	Adventure	1	5
Total Rides/Adventures		26

Notables not ridden:  Invertigo, Drop Tower, Windseeker

Fountains on the main street from the entrance of the park.

From the tower you can see the Vortex, blue and yellow, to the right. We ride it once but boys didn't want to ride again. Carson said it made him sick. The tower with red towards the top is the Windseeker. The WS is a swing ride that stands 301 feet. No one showed any interest in it or the Drop Tower.

Planet Snoopy from the tower

Tower viewing platform

Centerpiece of the park. Been there 40 years.

After supper:
Adventure Express rc - 2nd time
The Racer - 2nd time
Backlot Stunt Coaster -2nd time
Flight of Fear - 2nd time
Eiffel Tower - center point of park
Walked the 3/4 miles back to the lodge
Hit the showers and now time for bed

Supper time at the park. Nothing but LaRosa's Pizza will do. JA purchased a meal pass we used at lunch which saved us some cash but supper was costly. Still having fun. I think we are on our 3rd or 4th wind.

This ride is similar to the Haunted Mansion in Disney World but not quiet as spooky. You have blasted to shoot targets that light up mirrors with ghost or pop ghosts out of chest or other places. Kids said it was ok.

Flying Ace Aerial Chase a second time. Smaller coaster on
Planet Snoopy. Your feet dangle as you twist and spin. Fun one.

Carson showing off his wet duds.

Race for Your Life Charlie Brown (log ride). Carson sat in front and took the wave.

Congo water ride. Soaked! This ride is reminiscent of the Grizzly River Rampage or the one currently at Animal Kingdom. The first wave hit Ryder in the lower back and rear. Carson is the only one that made it out without a soaked rear end and back.

THE BEAST has been conquered by the 4Cs twice in 15 mins. The BEAST is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world. First two drops not bad but the third spins left and drops. Two hard downward turns thru dark covered bridges. It was a hit.

Ryder and JA on the Diamondback. Carson decided to opt out on the second run.

Stop by the 70's music stage for a rest, entertainment and snack. We were all getting drained.

The Backlot Stunt Coaster looks small but unexpectedly exciting.

The T Rex was massive.

Stop at "Dino's Dig Site" just prior the end of the trail.  Who thought they would have enjoyed this with everything else there is to do.