~Cumberland Falls~

Alrighty, now that I have most everything settled here in my new place, I thought I would sit down and get everyone updated on what's been going on.  Boy do I have stories.  But first I am going to rewind a couple weeks and start there. 

A couple weeks ago, some girls from school and I headed out of town for a few days to spend some time together relaxing and enjoying each other before we all start work.  It was a much needed break.  We loaded up a minivan, and when I say loaded up, I really mean that every square inch was stuffed with something. A purse, a cooler, a suitcase, groceries, a person, a game, something.  We drove about 2 hours north-ish of Knoxville into Kentucky.  We were out in the middle of nowhere.  No cell phone service.  The nearest grocery store was a half hour drive.  Just 5 girls, a cabin, the wilderness, and we may have brought some alcohol.  :)

We got an awesome deal on Groupon and were able to rent a 2 bedroom cabin, complete with 2 full baths, a dining room, living room, fully stocked kitchen, and an awesome balcony with table and chairs (we spent most of our time out there).  

Cabin in the woods.

We spent 4 days hiking, horse back riding, reading, laughing, game playing, chatting, singing/dancing, napping, eating, movie watching, and chilling.  It was great!  It's just what we all wanted.

Cumberland River

On our second day we took a hike to a beautiful waterfall, Cumberland Falls.  It's known as the "Niagra of the South" and is the 2nd largest waterfall in the continental U.S.  And it was pretty much amazing.  

Cumberland Falls

Some of the gang.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was getting to cross something off my bucket list.  You all know how much I love doing that.  Well actually, I got to quickly add something onto my bucket list just so I could cross it off.  Cumberland Falls is one of only two waterfalls in the world that has a moonbow.  But April, what is a moonbow? Well, I am so glad you asked.  According to Wikipedia, "a moonbow is a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon rather than from direct sunlight.  They are relatively faint, and because the light is too faint to excite the cone color recepetors in human eyes, it is difficult for the human eye to discern colors.  As a result, they often appear to be white."  

The last night we were there, we stopped by the gift shop to grab a souvenir and we happened to see that there was a calendar that listed dates that the moonbow would be visible.  Apparently it can only be seen on clear nights with a full moon.  We were there about 5 days too early.  But because the next full moon was going to be the super-moon, the workers said that if the sky was clear there was probably a pretty good shot at seeing it.  So after dark we went down to the falls and sure enough! We got to see it!  The cameras we had couldn't capture it.  But it was really cool.  We stood there are watched it for a good half hour.  It was mostly just shades of white and grey, but every once in a while you could make out the faintest colors.  I am so glad I got to see it!

Here's a pic I found on the internet.
But when we saw it, it wasn't this vibrant.

It's been a challenging and incredible three years.  I couldn't have gotten through it without the love and support of my classmates and friends.  I am so glad we had the opportunity to sneak away for a few days.   I am going to miss you guys!