{"id":493,"date":"2015-11-13T02:52:04","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T02:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dancentury.com\/travel\/?p=493"},"modified":"2022-12-30T03:37:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T03:37:43","slug":"the-land-between-the-lakes-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancentury.com\/travel\/the-land-between-the-lakes-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Land Between the Lakes, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arrival<\/h2>\n

The Land Between the Lakes is a large National Park nestled between two long, artificial lakes. The park features 170,000 acres of forest & wetlands, bison, a planetarium, and every 13 years, Brood XXIII cicadas<\/a>. The park offers virtually any type of boating & outdoor activity imaginable. <\/p>\n

Imagine Manhattan if all the buildings were replaced by trees, and the rats were replaced by deer and bison — that is The Land Between the Lakes<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I arrived at the park just in time to hear some chorusing cicadas (they get quiet around 5 pm). In the background, weekend warriors raced their fishing boats up the lake — their engines making “bwaaaa bwa bwa bwup bwup” sounds as they struggled to keep pace with their captains’ pride.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.dancentury.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/boat.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\"Land<\/p>\n

\"Park\"<\/p>\n

There were several hours of light left in the day, so I chose to enter the park before finding a hotel. I drove the speed limit, in an effort to drive slow enough to hear the cicadas I was listening for… much to the chagrin of everyone else driving on the park road. They flashed their lights and weaved in and out of lanes, all serpentine-like, in an attempt to cajole me to drive faster. But I was steadfast in my determination to travel at the speed I desired. Eventually, these bullies of the road passed. <\/p>\n

The road never seemed to end — mile after mile of forest-lined road. It was glorious. <\/p>\n

Pig Truck Man<\/h2>\n

I managed to raise the ire of the driver of a giant, matt-black, pig-truck — once again by driving the speed limit. The giant, matt-black, pig truck was like something out of Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em>: it was a monster pickup truck, jacked-up about 3 feet higher than normal, pained matt-black, two huge stacks belching black, sooty smoke, with a pig nose for the grill, and lights for the nostrils. Most folks would be terrified by the sight of such a vehicle, two feet away from their bumper, but I was thrilled by it. I’m weaving, trying to get a photo, but failed. It was awesome though. Eventually, it passed. It would have been an honor to have been run off the road by the pig truck. All that said, I do look exactly like Immortan Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road, so the guy probably thought I was his leader. He just wanted to say “Hi”.<\/p>\n