Hidden in the city...

Since we've been in Tennessee for the last month we've had a lot of rain, Yuck! This turns our backyard into more of a swamp than anything and means the dogs have spent a lot of time locked up inside. Combine this with the fact that the further you travel East in our country the less "open" land there is and you will get to our current predicament. Dogs that are used to a lot of exercise getting into trouble from being confined for too long.

Last Sunday was finally nice and sunny so we took the dogs out looking for a good park, or hike to get them out of the house and backyard. While driving down the road close to our house we saw some college aged kids walking down the railroad tracks in swimsuits and towels. Jason pulled over and found out that there was a secluded trail that took you back into the woods and after awhile dropped you off at an abandoned rock quarry filled with water and surrounded by cliffs (perfect for jumping off). So today after church we threw the dogs on their leashes and started walking. The directions ended up being pretty good, and after about 1 1/2 miles we walked out of the thick forest and saw this...
Of course this view comes from hanging off about an 80' cliff... We hiked around to where the trail was right off the water and let the dogs swim. Boy they love it. It was hilarious to watch them, and there were 2 other groups of kids that were getting a real kick out of Koda fetching his "bird" (a.k.a. any stick we could find) and Titus constantly falling off ledges into the water because he's so reckless.
Jason decided to jump in and enjoyed a swim. I declined as my rapidly expanding waistline has thrown off my already impaired sense of balance and there weren't many places to exit the water that were particularly easy. Jason also decided to huck it off about a 40 foot cliff right before he left and the dogs freaked out... Kinda funny. These aren't the best pictures of the place so I'll post some more later, but it was an enjoyable afternoon, and my dogs are finally fairly exhausted for the first time in about a month.

So thank you, local college aged kids that let my silver tongued husband talk you into telling us about a local secret (they sure were resistant at first to tell a "newcomer").

P.S. The crazy thing about this quarry is that it is literally right in the middle of the city, and you would never even know it (literally in between 2 major roads). It's just so dang forested out here that even in downtown you feel like you're in a more rural area. Crazy!!!