Shiloh Battlefield and The Great Smoky Mountains, July 21 and 22

We left Memphis and headed toward Shiloh Battlefield, site of a very bloody Civil War battle in April 1862. Angel seems to have planned this trip around "civil": Civil Rights, Civil War. Anyway, on the way, we saw something interesting in a cow pasture outside LaGrange, TN (not to be confused with LaGrange, GA).
We stopped and looked closer, and realized it was deer grazing in the field. Pretty cool!













We made it to Shiloh National Military Park, and since all the cannons and monuments start to look the same after a while, I'll just share one with you.










Ashlynn as Johnny Reb...


















... and as a Yankee. She's "snacking" on hardtack. It's kind of like a big, thick, hard saltine cracker. Minus the taste.

















I guess we're a house divided.













There's an "active" (is that the right word?) cemetery within the park, and this has to be the most redneck headstone I've ever seen.











More deer! These two didn't seem too bothered by us, but by the time we got up to where they were, they had made it back to the woods.











Indian mounds within the park.













After Shiloh, we drove on to Flintstone, GA, which is just outside Chattanooga, at the base of Lookout Mountain. We spent the night at Angel's cousin's house, then headed out the next morning for the Great Smoky Mountains. These turkeys were the first animals we saw in Cades Cove.







But it didn't take long for us to find deer! We ended up seeing about 6 by the time we left the park. They're redder than the deer we have in SC, and have darker places on their faces.











And then we saw what we had been hoping to see--a bear! She was walking through the woods with three cubs. Ashlynn was so excited!











Here's a picture of one of her cubs.














And here we are with Ashlynn heading out of the park. It sure was a great day! We spent a lot of time in the car driving around, but it was loads of fun!









I thought this was a neat sign. We aren't staying in Pigeon Forge though. We're in Sevierville, which is only a few miles up from PF.











Tomorrow: Dollywood!

Miles driven July 21: 360
Miles driven July 22 (including all through the GSM National Park): 210
Total miles driven: 1861 (hey--that date was the start of the Civil War!)
Total license plates seen: 31, plus Quebec and Ontario (finally saw it!)