How do you feel about third party risk? Ever heard of third party risk? No? I didn't think so. (Yeah, you over there. You know about it. Aren't you special?) It was a third party risk management conference that got us to Nashville. Sure. I could have flown in Monday morning and gone home Wednesday evening. But where's the fun in that? Plus, Lilly said she'd take a road trip in the south as her high school graduation trip.

So I started planning. And scheming. And mapping. Oh so many maps. We landed on Thursday night and drove from Nashville to Mammoth Cave National Park. I know, I know. I've been there before, but Lilly hadn't. Plus we were able to meet up with some cousins.

Friday we headed east to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Google tried to steer us ill, but we found our trail and did a wee little hike. Neat, but we were in a hurry and still arrived at Kentucky's high point, Black Mountain, after dark. Meh. Not much to see there anyway. We made it to our hotel by about 2am.

Saturday was a busy one. We started at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (he was a jerk) and moved on to the Blue Ridge Parkway which sounds like a lame street, but is actually a really cool area. Up to tag Mt. Mitchell, the high point of North Carolina and then down and back up to Sassafras Mountain at the top of South Carolina. We finished the day with a twofer: Clingman's Dome is the high point of Tennessee and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We weren't late rolling into our hotel for the night, but we certainly weren't early. (The office had closed by the time we got there, but the bonfire and bikers in the parking lot was still raging!)

Sunday started atop Georgia on Brasstown Bald. This was my favorite high point of the trip. Then a drive to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and then a short distance more to Russell Caves National Monument where we got a true taste of the rural south. We completed the loop and checked in at the conference hotel in Nashville in time for dinner.

Except we missed Stones River National Battlefield! We literally drove right past it as we approached Nashville. FAIL. Don't worry, we visited Monday morning before the conference kicked off.

After all that, attending the conference (me) and doing homework remotely (Lilly) was a much needed break. We dined at Starbucks every morning, lunch in the hotel, and then went for a walk in Nashville to find dinner. The only thing missing was the continual sounds of Taylor Swift and Google Maps telling me to make a u-turn because I'd missed some tiny little road.

📍On the lands of the S’atsoyaha people.