Jun 22, 2009 - Cades Cove

Another thunderstorm this morning so we delayed our departure slightly as the storm was passing directly over Cades Cove and I didn't want to be driving in a downpour on narrow mountain roads. A beautiful drive that followed a river for 25 miles. Cades Cove was one of the earliest settlements in this area and is a beautiful flat valley in the middle of the mountains. It has scenic drive around the outside and there is plenty of wildlife. Lots of turkey and deer. Didn't see any black bear but were told that they are everywhere. Checked out...

Jun 21, 2009 - Clingman Dome

Heavy thunderstorms last night and this morning. Headed for Clingman Dome, the highest spot in the Smokeys. Took an hour to drive to the top and then a ½ mile steep walk to the observation platform. Unfortunately we were in a cloud and couldn't see anything. If it had been sunny the view would have been up to 100 miles. On the way down we stopped at Newfound Gap, a lookout right on the NC/TN border. A great view and an historical spot as this was where President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated Great Smokey Mountain National Park. It is the...

Jun 20, 2009 - Into the Smoky Mountains

Happy Father's Day to all of you who are fathers. An easy drive to Pigeon Forge,TN from Asheville,NC. I thought there would be more long uphill pulls. Only one fairly short one. The last part of the interstate followed the Pigeon River and it was very curvy. After we left the interstate we were on the Foothills Parkway and it was a long climb up and down with 4 scenic overlooks. Very nice. Drove through Gatlinburg and into Pigeon forge. Our campground is at the south end so we didn't have to drive the strip. Settled in and had some lunch....

Jun 11, 2009 - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

After Memphis we moved on to the Pigeon Forge, area of Tennessee. We visited Gatlinburg, which has more craft stores than I ever thought existed. And of course Pigeon Forge is home to Dollywood!!! As well as many shows, restaurants, theme parks, and traffic. We spent one great day in Gatlinburg, another shopping in Pigeon Forge, and attending Dolly Partons, Stampede show and dinner theatre. Great show and a lot of fun. We spent another full day at Dollywood, where we saw several great shows, including a fantastic Gospel quartet, named the...

May 18, 2009 - Hello (again) Dolly

Dollywood glows in the sunshine of a Tennessee spring day - Monday, May 18 No trip to the eastern end of Tennessee would be complete without a visit to Dollywood, a theme park in Pigeon Forge named for it’s owner, Dolly Parton. This was our third visit in six months (last November we came twice). It’s interesting to see people’s reaction when you mention Dollywood. Two young women we met here last fall think Dollywood is a slice of heaven - the object of frequent visits whenever they can get away from their home some 400 miles away. Their...

May 17, 2009 - Look Rock

Not quite 360 degrees but the view is pretty IMPRESSIVE - Saturday, May 16 We started the day with a hike to the top of Look Rock Tower. It is 3/4 of a mile from our campsite and the climb is an easy one. Even the tower is ramped so you don’t have any steps to climb. The tower sits atop the highest point on the Foothills Parkway, and the only thing that prevents you from having a full 360 degree view are trees that block your vision to the west. The remainder is clear and the view is spectacular. To the south and east lie the Great Smoky...

May 15, 2009 - Great Smokey Mountains NP

We spent most of the day in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Such a beautiful place. So different from what we are used to in the west with the big rugged mountains. The mountains here are actually older than the Rockies. The park was opened in 1934. It is the only park that was originally all private land and was purchased with private donations and grants from Tennessee and North Carolina. Quite a few of the people who were bought out were granted permission to live there till their deaths. And many of the homesteads are still...

Jan 5, 2009 - Dollywood

... next stop on road to Nashville was to Pigeon Forge, near Knoxville to visit Dollywood .. but it closes Jan - Mar so all I could do was stand sadly by the gates - oh well, will have to return in the spring! For those of you who don't know (!), Dollywood is a self-created ode to the big-haired, bigger-bosomed country singer Dolly Parton.

Nov 11, 2008 - Asheville, NC to Pigeon Forge, TN

We had a really nice two-hour drive today from Asheville, North Carolina to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We took I40 to west almost as far as Knoxville then #66 south about 2 miles to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We drove through the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains but the highway followed a pass and the grades weren’t bad at all, although there were lots of curves. The scenery was fantastic. There is still plenty of colour in the trees and we went through a tunnel and along some rocky hillsides. We also crossed the French Broad River again....

Nov 8, 2008 - Over the Smokies

Braving wind and cold for a glorious view - Saturday, November 8 We woke to find the campground had completely filled during the night. We are not driving far today so we took our time breaking camp, and included a one mile nature walk before leaving. The hike took us across a river on two log bridges and then up a steep trail to a good overlook of the river valley. The rhododendrons we encountered here are gigantic, with some leaves nearly a foot long. We pulled out of the campground by 11:00 and headed up the road that winds through the...

Sep 19, 2008 - Tennessee - Tail of the Dragon

We left NY, headed south through PA, MD and VA. Heading into Tennessee we stopped at a rest stop for a lunch break and to switch out drivers and saw the huge guitar across the street. Knew we were in Country Western territory! We got to our campground in Pigeon Forge, TN and set up camp. Decided to go out for a bite to eat and Mel's Dinner provided some oldies on the jute box to go along with the burgers. The next day after having our Moto Sat worked on we decided to go for a ride. We'd read about the tail of the dragon on the website by...

Sep 8, 2008 - Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Cades Cove

September 8, 2008 – Monday: The last time I toured the Great Smoky Mountains was in 1953 when my family took a trip to see old friends living in Sweetwater, TN. On the way home we drove through the Park and Newfound Gap and stopped in Cherokee to see Unto These Hills, the story of the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. We drove through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and I can remember some of that. I can only say that these towns have changed in the last 55 years! The towns almost fade one into the other. You can see where mountain sides have...