Comfort Inn On River Gatlinburg

... color, a few wild turkeys, and several deer grazing in the meadows in Cades Cove.

This is the 75th Anniversary (actually, my birthday, June 15th, was the date!) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Dolly arton was named the Ambassador for the 75th, so we were able to buy a fund-raiser CD written and sung by Dolly especially for the occasion!

We spoke to a park ranger, who discouraged us from taking the drive ...

... Park area.

We arrived at our campground, (a small park right on Walden Creek that managed to squeeze a lot of RV's into very little space), at 1:15. We were horrified, when we turned off of I-40 to head into Pigeon Forge, to see traffic at a standstill as far as we could see. Pigeon Forge (Home of Dollywood) and Gatlinburg have become huge tourist attractions, with miles and miles of T-Shirt Shops, Ripley's Believe it ...

... I decide I want to watch that.

We try and head to Calhoun's for dinner, passing yet another car that has slid off the road, but it is mobbed. That is expected for the night before a game. I figure anything near the University will be packed so we eventually head over to the south side of the river. Of course that was after we drove through the revived old town area. I am glad to ...

Hi, everyone,
Just want to say that the Riverstone Lodge in Townsend, Tn. is by far the very best place to stay in The Smoky Mountains. It is the closest Hotel / Lodge to Cades Cove which is just unbeleivable with its mountain views and all the wildlife (deer, black bear, wild turkeys ect...) also well maintained original cabins & churches from the1800's are spread out across the 11 mile journey. Mountains all around you. AHHH. The ...

Yesterday was a pretty relaxed day of driving, minus the extreme sticky southern heat. This stuff the horribly disgusting!!!!! We only made a few stops, one was to get our normal beer and glass, we tried to get one at a few places in Nashville but we struck out a lot. So we stopped in Knoxville and we finally got one. After that our mission was complete. We got back on the road and headed to our destination Pigeon Forge, home of ...

Dear python owners all in the everlades of Forida,
You may think it is okay to realese you beloved python into the ...

... not cut out for backcountry driving. The roads are largely unlabeled, and jog several times. It didn't take long before we had turned the wrong direction. Because there are so few roads through the park, it's difficult to get anywhere on the other side of it.

Anyway, long story short we ended up at Cades Cove (not where we needed to be, but hey, a great tourist attraction that we ...

... a bear cause I was never gonna out run it. But alas, no bear to be seen. I didn't even get a squirrel that day, but I did later, as you will see.
My plan of going back to Gatlinburg after the hike drifted away as the pain in my feet screamed louder in my head than my desire to see another carved bear or jar of blackberry jam, so we headed back to the time share for the night. Tomorrow - the Biltmore.

... least Gatlinburg is cute and doesn't have any stripmalls. The Red Roof Inn we are staying at is just fine. It's off the main strip (a good thing) but walking distance to anywhere you need to go. We also have a little balcony overlooking the creek behind the hotel.

This morning we visited the Flapjacks Pancake Cabin. Gatlinburg has an intense number of pancake houses, cabins and pantries. I didn't want to eat pancakes in a pantry, and ...

... back on the road. Played singing games to while away the time.Got to Nashville around 5.30 pm. Very warm evening. Went into Nashville. Raucous bands and few people. Eateries shut at 9pm. Tried on hats and saw General Jackson Showboat (paddlesteamer. ) Ended up going to Student District for San Antonio Taco Co.