Okay, so it's getting a little late in the summer... but there's still some time to head out to the lake.

Our favorite way to pass the time on the water is to rent a pontoon boat!

Nashville's Metro Parks department maintains a variety of seasonal outdoor pools and year-round indoor pools, including Wave Country, pictured here:

But my favorite kind of water park is what is known as "a sprayground" or a "spray park". The best part: They're FREE!

Well here's a fun event that you don't hear about every day...

It's called Flugtag.
What's Flugtag, you ask?

Flugtag is an extraordinary flying contest that's sponsored by Red Bull and takes place in Nashville this summer.

Red Bull calls it "the quest for human-powered flight".

It's definitely a one-of-a-kind event not to be missed!

You can sign up to participate (must register by April 16th) or just come out and watch (on June 23rd).

Here are the details...

Supposedly, wherever you are in Tennessee, there's a State Park within an hour's drive.

Hmmm... ok.

Well the good news to report is that all of Tennessee's state parks are now FREE!

Most used to charge anywhere $3 or so (per vehicle) just to enter the park and enjoy nature at its finest... plus a few cool amenities provided by the state.

So, if you haven't been to one of Tennessee's state parks in awhile, this might be something you want to add to your Summer "To Do" list.

Tennessee's state park system was recently ranked by the National Recreation and Parks Association as one of the top four state park systems in the country. Florida was No. 1, and Tennessee was tied with North Carolina and Missouri for second place. Source

One of the "off-the-beaten-path" roads that we took through East Tennessee last weekend was Highway 64. The road runs parallel to the Ocoee River, and when we noticed how close we were to this whitewater playground, we set out to find a spot to watch some of the whitewater rafters (in huge 8-person rubber rafts) and boaters (in individual plastic kayaks) maneuver the rapids.

The Ocoee River is known as "the birthplace of freestyle kayaking", and from what we witnessed on this day, I can see why!

Jim and I have both been whitewater rafting before (he more than I). The rivers we've experienced firsthand are: the Nantahala (NC), the Youghiogheny (PA), and the Gauley (WV).

We went on a VERY spontaneous road trip this weekend.

The states we visited in 2 days:

• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Georgia
• East Tennessee

And these guys went with us: Pat Green (Lucky Ones CD), the Warren Brothers (Barely Famous Hits) and Johnny Reid (Born to Roll).

After a night of camping at Cades Cove in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we all drove (the twisty, windy, turn-your-stomach mountain roads of the Great Smoky Mountains) over to Bryson City, North Carolina for a day of whitewater rafting with the fine folks at Nantahala Outdoor Center.

This was mom's first-ever whitewater rafting adventure, my second (though both were on the same river), and Jim's fourth (all on different rivers).