I got wheels on my heels and I gotta keep rollin' along Road Trip 2009

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC 30 Sep 2009

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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park(

The natural blue haze that inspired the ...

)30 September - What a diverse life I lead. Last night I was parked in a cement campground in Knoxville, Tennessee between a major shopping center and Sam’s Club. I had excellent phone, television, and internet service, I took a walk in a bustling, brightly lit modern-day shopping mall and, I enjoyed fine dining in a nearby top-notch restaurant. Today, I’m camped in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina next to a babbling brook, I have no phone, television, or internet service, I took a hike on a secluded, rugged mountain trail and, I had Spam and noodles for dinner. I love it.

En route to the campground, via the 30 mile drive through the park on the scenic mountain route US-431, I stopped at Newfound Gap, which is considered to be the center of the park. The Tennessee and North Carolina borders meet here(2

I'm in Tennessee but Daisy and Toad are ...

)and the famous 2100 mile Appalachian Trail also passes through here(2

The Appalachian Trail heading north

). I took a little hike on both sides of the trail just so I could say I did it.

1 October - Today is my son Victor’s birthday, but I have no phone service to call him. I’ll have to wait till I get outta of these North Carolina hills for that. Hopefully, I’ll be able to reach him on the 3rd or shortly thereafter.

I took off for a hike on a nearby trail this morning and did about 5 miles before noon. After lunch I took a drive to the nearby little town of Cherokee to check it out. Not too shabby. It was more than I expected. Lots of Indian owned souvenir shops, tourist traps, and other businesses around, which stands to reason since the town is on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. I stopped at a park along the river and discovered I had 2 bars of phone service so I was able to call my sonny and leave him a Happy B-day greeting after all. My next stop was at the visitor center to check out their mountain farm display. Very interesting. I then headed for Clingmans Dome, at 6,643 feet, it’s the highest elevation in the park. It is also the highest point along the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail which runs from Georgia to Maine. From the parking lot I hiked about a half of mile to the spiral ramp that took me up to the awesome observation platform(

Observation deck at Clingmans Dome

)which offers a spectacular panoramic view of the park. Very coolage. On the way back to the campground I spotted 2 black bears on the roadside. The car in front of me had come to a full stop, which is not a good idea on a busy windy mountain road, and was checking them out so I was able to get a good look at them too. Very exciting. Later in the evening I enjoyed a crackling campfire along the crackling creek. Thank you Lord, for a perfect day.