NOV. 6, Thursday, To Gatlinburg and Great Smokey National Park.
We left the house for more sightseeing. We drove through Pigeon Forge which is full of tourist attractions that I like to call “tourist trap”. I have to admit it is very beautiful and reminded us of Benson, Missouri. Hwy 441 took us to Gatlinburg, another very pretty village full of tourist attractions. The street through was very narrow and hardly any places to park. We stopped at the Smokey Mountains National Park information centre and got a map of the area.
We drove on up to the “Clingmans Dome”, 6,643 feet in elevation. We actually had to drive to the ridge where the State Line between Tennessee and North Carolina is situated. We went up to the dome’s parking lot then walk up or was it crawl up to the dome, where we had an absolutely fantastic and awesome view of the surroundings. They say one can see 7 States from this location on a very clear day!? I sort of can see why. We could look into North Carolina and also could see Pigeon Forge and Sevierville from up here and the day was a bit hazy.
We spent about a half hour up here then went back down. It was 75*F down in the valley and only 55*F at the top. We drove on to the Cades Cove Loop. The road was tortuous and narrow at some spots but we managed. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area then went on the Cades. The road looped around the country side and was a single lane farm road (paved and one-way only), an 11 miles loop which turned out to be a nightmare as there was lots of traffic and when someone stopped to take a picture, the whole lot of us behind had to stop. There were NO places to pass. Sure, signs said to pull over and be courteous but…it wasn’t heeded to. Anyway, we crawled around and it took us 2 hours to do 11 miles. Once out of there, we drove back to Hwy 73 then Hwy 321 back to our site and arrived home at 6 p.m.
Overall, it was a good day. We did see a bear, and lots of deer and horses.
NOV. 7, Friday, moving on to Nashville
We didn’t leave until 10:30 a.m. A lazy morning as we only have 160 miles to go to our destination: Nashville, Tennessee.
We drove to Dollywood Drive to see the place but it is situated in such a way that one cannot see it from the road so we kept going and got on 411 then I-40 West. We drove around Knoxville on I-640. We wanted to drive through the city but I-40 was closed due to construction so we had to go around.
We hit heavy rain just west of the city. We stopped at Camping World and I drove into a dead end by mistake. There was a turn-around but it was tight so I tried it and as I turned around, the trailer smashed the rear window to smithereens. Needless to say, I was quite angry at myself for such a stupid error. We temporarily fixed the window and then went on. Camping World and the dealership there didn't have the awning rod I've been looking for.
We went on to Nashville, crossing the Cumberland Mountains for the last time and the country side became flatter finally. We stopped for lunch and met a single lady with her dog (a widow actually), travelling with a 20 feet Citation trailer and a 150 Truck. She was on her way to Texas via the Natchez Trail. We think she has a lot of courage and guts…my hat to her!
We went on and finally got out of the rain and the sky became friendlier as we got nearer Nashville. We turned onto Hwy 155 to get around Nashville then north on I-65 to exit 98 and our next stay, Nashville Country RV Park. It is a Passport America and we paid full price for the two nights and Passport rate for two days. The book said one rate and when I questioned it, the lady told me that was last year rate and they now charge full price for the week-end year round. That amounted to an average of $27/night for 4 nights which is a bit steep but I wasn’t willing to move again as we arrived here at 4:15 pm. and this the only Campsite near the city.
We set up and I went to get some propane then found a garage to get the window fix. I have an appointment for next Monday. There are a few Canadians here and I met a guy from Kelowna, BC who's name is Ron Crockett and he claims to be a descendant of Davy Crockett. How about that!??
N 36* 22’ 25”
W 086* 42’ 37”
Alt: 511 feet
Av speed: 49 MPH
Dist. Today: 388 KM
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