- [All] We're the Troutman family!

- [Emily] And on this episode of "Great Family Adventure," we're road-tripping from home sweet home, Rock Island, Tennessee, to beautiful Fayetteville, West Virginia.

(upbeat rock music) - This is fun!

- Can we touch the clouds?

Try and touch it!

(upbeat rock music continues) He's coming all the way to say hi!

Whoa!

Finally we're ready to rock.

(upbeat rock music continues) Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 [Exciting music] In4Adventure.com inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure for 20 years, we've been fueling innovation on the water.

Our commitment is to improve the quality of life for people all around the world.

At ISLE We believe life on the water is a life better in balance and by these additional sponsors.

(funky music) ♪ Ah, yeah ♪ (calm music) - [Nick] We're living on the road for months at a time, so there's nothing like being home.

- There's something fantastic about having your bath, your laundry, and just being that close to my family.

It's a home base for us to get regrouped, re-energized, and ready to hit the road again.

(calm music) When we're home, some of the kids' favorite activities are running up the field to visit either my grandmother or their grandparents.

So, you know, family time is fun for them.

They enjoy having all their LEGOs.

You know, Tucker has some special LEGOs that are built out on the shelf that he doesn't take on the road in case they get broken.

But a really big one for them that we obviously can't take with us is the trampoline.

- We've got plenty of games that we play out there, but it's really just fun times for Dad to hang out with the kids and get everybody outdoors.

Oh, I got you, I got you!

Steamroller!

- When we're home, kayaking doesn't slow down.

We are literally less than a mile from Twin Falls, which is one of the most beautiful places that you can visit in all of Tennessee, and it's really a great place to just embrace being in the outdoors.

(upbeat music) We actually took the kids down to the river, Tucker, playing with sticks, rocks.

Parker, 'cause she can be a little bit bolder when it comes to cold water, she decided she wanted to get into the river, hold onto my boat, and just play along.

So it was really fun to see the kids interacting.

Even when they don't wanna go kayaking and Nick and I are enjoying kayaking together, they find their own ways to engage.

Like, if they don't wanna go kayaking, that's totally fine.

They're gonna play with rocks.

They're gonna play with sticks.

They're gonna jump in the water.

And they get to see their parents doing something they really love.

So for me, it's really important that even if they don't wanna do the sport that they still come and join that family time outside.

(upbeat music) So we like to call home kind of a compound because on the same 20 acres, we have my house, we have my grandmother's house, and then we have my parents' house.

- [Nick] Everybody's just really close, and it makes just for awesome quality family time together.

(calm music) - I would definitely describe my parents' house as being really fun.

It is full of games from top to bottom, so the kids get really excited about going up there.

Not to mention, almost every time we gather at my parents' house, there's someone else joining us just because why not come have fun at the Jacksons?

(calm music) I feel so fortunate that under the same roof we can have four generations of women just sitting down, hanging out together, and just enjoying each other's company.

Not very many people get to say that, so I feel very blessed when those opportunities do come up, and I don't take them for granted.

- Thanks for being here tonight, super fun having everyone here.

(glasses clinking) - I'm not sure how I feel.

(gentle music) - So it is our last morning here at home before we hit the road for the next seven, eight months.

There you go.

There you go, perfect!

That was a perfect one!

- [Emily] Our last day at home can be very overwhelming because transitioning from having this much space in my house into a smaller trailer, it's challenging.

- Packing for being on the road is definitely an experience in the sense that we bring probably way too much stuff, and it's always like trying to pack less.

For the kids, they wanna bring all their toys, and it's usually Mom or Dad, mainly Dad, trying to like limit the amount of toys that they bring with them.

- Can I please come on the road trip?

- Yeah, please?

- When it comes to packing, generally what I do is I get everything onto my front porch, load everything into the trailer, and then as I start to put things away, I'll recognize this cabinet is designated for this specific items.

And if they don't fit in there with enough space for us to really utilize, then it has to come back out.

In general, you always need way less than you think we do.

That's probably the biggest thing that I have to remind myself.

(lively music) - I think we're finally ready to lock this thing up and hit the road.

(lively music continues) Say goodbye to the house!

- [Emily] Say bye to the house.

- [Nick] See ya later, home!

Finally, we're ready to rock.

- All right, let's rock and roll!

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) Getting back on the road can feel, for me, a little bit anxiety at first.

You know, it's like, "Okay, we're doing it.

We're hitting the road.

There's no looking back."

But at the same time it's also very liberating, just that freedom of being out on the open road.

(upbeat rock music) Our first stop on the road trip was Zoo Knoxville.

(bright music) - How's it going?

- Hey, I'm Phil Colclough.

I'm director of animal care here at Zoo Knoxville.

- Awesome, Emily.

- Nice to meet you guys.

Who's this?

- Tucker and Parker.

- Nice to meet you.

So glad you guys are here.

This is gonna be a really cool day.

We're gonna be showing you some awesome animals.

- Let's go check it!

- Good Deal.

Awesome.

- [Nick] Look, I think we're right beside the river otters.

- Oh, yeah, they're right- - Let's go check out the river otters!

- [Emily] At the zoo, the kids got to interact with a ton of different animals.

Parker seemed really interested in the river otters, which is really special because most of those river otters are local to Tennessee.

So she got to see up close what river otters are really like.

- Oh, he's coming!

He's coming all the way to say hi!

Whoa!

(upbeat music) - How's it going?

- Good.

My name's Sarah.

I'm the curator over this area with red pandas.

- One of the coolest things about checking out the zoo in Knoxville was getting to feed the red pandas.

It's a pretty unique environment to get to feed them, but also Knoxville has just a great environment for them, so they seem to flourish.

I think they birth like more red pandas than most places in the world.

- We're saving animals from extinction.

I mean, that's what we do.

We're a conservation organization that is working to keep animals in the places that they're supposed to be.

(upbeat music) - As far as Tucker's favorite animal, it seemed like Tucker was really into the gorillas.

The gorillas were entertaining, and they're really interactive.

So Tucker got to see them kind of play like a kid would.

So the kids seemed really engaged from start to finish at the zoo.

(calm music) We got to see all sorts of animals today, but highlight is this Malayan tiger right here.

So pretty neat, super endangered.

The kids are grateful for the opportunity to check this beautiful cat out.

(upbeat country music) One thing that I try really hard to do when we're going on road trips is look for random attractions that we can check out along the way, so that way the kids don't feel like they're just sitting in the car for the majority of the day, which actually led us to Big Walker Lookout in Virginia.

The Big Walker Lookout was a hundred-foot tower overlooking the rolling mountains of Virginia.

- The kids and I were looking at it, wondering how rickety this thing might be, but it was actually pretty stable, and it totally worked out great.

And once we were at the very top, it was really windy and felt a little bit wobbly.

I think maybe my fear of heights kicked in more than the kids', but it was really cool and just a gorgeous view over the whole valleyside.

(wind blowing) Man, I'm a little scared.

- [Parker] Feel like it's going to blow away.

- It's probably a bad time to say that I'm afraid of heights, huh, Parker, huh?

Are you afraid of heights?

- It is high.

- [Nick] It's pretty high.

Look at the view, though.

- I think we can almost touch the cloud.

- We can almost touch the clowns?

The clowns.

(chuckles) Let's see if we can grab 'em.

Can we touch the clouds?

Try and touch it.

Can you touch it?

(upbeat music) (car engines rumbling) (mellow music) (car engines rumbling) I think everybody was pretty stoked to arrive in Fayetteville after a long drive.

Emily and I have spent a lot of time here.

They've got some incredible rivers, and so a little bit of homecoming, but everybody was just excited to finally settle down and camp and call it for a night after a long day on the road.

(mellow music continues) - So the plan for tomorrow is Tucker and I are gonna go check out the Bridge Walk, something I've never done before, and then Parker and Nick are gonna go kayaking right below us.

So while we're up really high on a bridge, they're gonna be down below in the river.

So I'm pretty excited to check that out.

(mellow music) (upbeat music) - The New River Gorge Bridge is 876 feet above the river, so I'm pretty curious how it's gonna work with Tucker and maybe a little bit of a fear of heights, though maybe it's just my fear of heights that I'm thinking of.

So we'll see how Tucker deals with the Bridge Walk.

- Are you nervous?

- Yes.

Can you let me go?

- Yes, no, maybe, a little bit, a little teeny, tiny bit.

One of the reasons I'm unsure if Tucker's gonna enjoy the Bridge Walk or not is just because he's been a little timid when it comes to heights in the past.

So, or sometimes when he's just, he knows that none of us have done it and we can't really tell him what it's gonna feel like or seem like, you know, he can be like, "Hold up, what are we doing?

I'm not sure this is something I wanna do."

So he tends to be timid at first before he fully commits to doing something.

(funky music) - How much metal?

44 million pounds of steel.

- [Tucker] Really?

Wow.

- Plus- - That was a good question.

- [Doug] There's 44 million pounds of concrete, so.

- Wow.

- Yeah, 44 million pounds of steel, 44 million pounds of concrete.

How many pounds of pure bridge is that?

- I don't know.

- 88 pounds.

- [Emily] 88 million.

- Eight million.

- Million pounds.

- Yeah, million.

How wild is that?

(funky music) This is my very first time doing the infamous Bridge Walk.

It's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights, but Tucker is killing it.

I'm so proud of him.

How you doing, bud?

Have you looked down yet?

- I know that, oh, it's not that bad.

This isn't that bad.

- [Emily] Not too bad?

- Yeah, it's not that bad.

This is fun!

- Actually?

- Uh-huh.

- I was really proud of how Tucker did on the Bridge Walk and overcoming his fear of heights, 'cause I would've been afraid up there, for sure.

(funky music) - [Emily] One thing that was really cool is while we were crossing the bridge, Tucker and I could look down and actually see Nick and Parker kayaking on the New River.

- [Nick] What do you think, Parker?

Is that a big bridge?

- Yeah.

- [Nick] Yeah?

- Down over there, not there.

That is not a bridge.

- Well, that's a bridge too, but that's the big one behind us, yeah.

(upbeat music) Fayetteville is self-proclaimed the coolest small town in America, and I'd probably have to agree.

It's a pretty cool small town.

It's actually bordering the New River Gorge, which is the latest national park here in America.

And it really just is, got this cool vibe as there's all these local shops.

You've got kayak shops, climbing, world-class activities, and pretty much anything for getting out and about in the outdoors.

(lively music) - [Emily] We love biking.

It's one of our favorite ways to explore a new town when we visit it.

It just slows everything down, so we really get to see what these small towns are all about.

- We hopped on the bikes to check out the sights and sounds of Fayetteville, West Virginia, on our way to the Pies & Pints for some pizza for lunch.

(lively music) - One of the benefits of biking when we're around town is that we get to see everything that the town has to offer.

So Fayetteville, you know, springtime had a ton of beautiful flowers.

We got to see the courthouse, some pretty murals.

(lively music continues) And there was a ton of restaurants to choose from.

So for us, we're definitely gonna have to come back and check out all the shops and all the restaurants that the little town has to offer.

(lively music continues) - Pies & Pints is probably one of our most favorite pizza joints in all of America.

It's got a really cool vibe, some unique pizzas, and just simply delicious food.

(bright music) (funky music) (calm guitar music) (birds chirping) So it is pretty early.

Everybody's still asleep, but Dad's getting ready for our hike today, so trying to get everything ready.

Starting off with some coffee this morning.

(water splashing) (calm guitar music continues) It is a bit of a debate which is better, the pour-over coffee or the French press?

I don't know, they're both pretty good.

(gentle music) Hiking is simply one of our favorite family activities.

- One of the benefits of hiking is just getting outside.

You know, a lot of times we'll set a destination, a goal to get to, but just remembering that the whole point is just to be outside and enjoy time with your family means that we get to walk really slow.

We get to learn about different things.

You know, the kids we're checking out different mosses and mushrooms and plants, and they got to see acorns.

And so for us, it's super educational, but it's also just a reminder of how beautiful it is to spend time outside with your family.

(gentle music continues) - Anytime we're in the outdoors, we try to make it as much of a learning experience as we can, so talking about the different plants or bugs or trees.

Really anything that kind of comes about on our hikes or walks or paddles, really, we just try to inform the kids as much as we can when we're in the outdoors.

(gentle music) - [Emily] Parker, check this out, look.

Don't they look like little aliens popping out?

What are they?

- [Parker] I don't know.

- [Emily] Do you think it's this tree here?

- No.

- [Emily] You don't think so?

Should we look it up when we get home?

- Yeah.

- All right, let's keep walking.

(gentle music continues) Is that the tiniest little baby tree we've ever seen?

- [Parker] Yeah!

- Isn't it so cute?

(Parker speaking indistinctly) It's so cute!

Little baby tree.

- [Parker] Mommy, can we bring it, too?

- [Emily] We need to let it, it's just a baby.

- [Nick] Hey, Delphox!

- [Emily] Don't trip.

- Can you fit right into this little Delphox cave?

- Yeah.

(Emily chuckles) (lively country music) - [Emily] When we know that we're gonna be out hiking for a little while, I like to pack a picnic.

I mean, the kids are so used to having the trailer, so we do activities, come back, but there is something special about enjoying a meal together out on a picnic blanket.

- [Nick] We made it to Diamond Point Overlook, and it was a perfect spot for our picnic.

We got the blanket out, took the stove, warmed up our chili, and really just got to soak in the views overlooking the river.

(upbeat country music) - We're over here at the Diamond Point Overlook on the Endless Trail, and it's a little nippy, but the good news is, we brought fire, we brought food, we're eating some chili.

It's a perfect food for this temperature and for this adventure.

So we're refueling so we can keep hiking.

(upbeat country music) All right, in the Troutman household, we have a rule, no cutting into trees.

Why, Parker?

- Because it hurts.

It hurts the tree.

- [Emily] It hurts the tree.

Yeah, it hurts the tree, so we don't do that.

What do you like to do to trees instead?

- [Tucker] Hug them.

- [Emily] You like to hug them?

Yes.

- Like right now.

- [Emily] Yep, that's what we like to do.

And we like to say nice things to them.

Say one nice thing to the tree, and we'll keep hiking.

- I love you.

- I love you, too.

- [Tucker] Bye, Samantha!

- Oh, we've officially, we've named the tree.

(Parker shouting) - Honestly, I'm just stoked to be back on the road, traveling and exploring with the family.

- Being back on the road with my family is definitely my happy place, and often I wake up, and I think, "Is this a dream or is this real?"

I feel so lucky to be out here living our dream life.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 [Exciting music] In4Adventure.com inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure for 20 years, we've been fueling innovation on the water.

Our commitment is to improve the quality of life for people all around the world.

At ISLE We believe life on the water is a life better in balance and by these additional sponsors.