Crowne Plaza Hotel Knoxville

... surprising things Greg and I noticed while looking at a cemetery outside one of the original churches, was that, in this part of the country, people seemed to live much longer lives than was the norm in the 1800's. Many died in infancy, of course, but we saw that a majority of the headstones indicated years that calculated to 60, 70, or even 80 years of age! Guess those old mountain folks were made of tough stuff! It was a nice drive ...

... Not Museums, Buffet Restaurants, Music Shows and Auditoriums, and more go-kart tracks than we've ever seen, in all our travels combined! It turns out that most of the schools in Tennessee are closed this week for Fall Break, so a lot of the tourists were families, here for the amusement parks more than the National Park. Neither of us enjoys this carnival-atmosphere, so prevalent now in towns like Branson, Wisconsin Dells and ...

... has opened up and it is raining. We work our way to the I-24 interchange and enter the highway to a very slow crawl. This continues to the I-75 Interchange. We pass several accidents along the way. The worst on I-75 where there is a SUV on its roof. Looks like a pretty new vehicle too. The drive up to Knoxville pretty much sucks and is white knuckled most of the way. <br><br>We arrive at our next ...

... the kids just love. Bicycles, tubes for floating down the river. some areas have pretty good rapids parts are slower and relaxing. The bicycle trail starts right there accross the road and runs to the other end of town (5 miles). The Tuckaleechee Caverns are amazing and only cost about $12.00 per person for an almost 2 hour tour and it is open not not cramped like most. Many horseback riding stables. The best one is 1 mile from Lodge and ...

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 ...

... One single python ate an aligator that is six-feet long. Imagine what ONE SINGLE python could do to one human. Thank you for ...

Another big breakfast. Lovely day, left at 11am - went through Cherokee indian reservation. Up Route 441 - Newfoundland Gap. Went to Smokies National Park - stopped at Chimney top picnic area. Watched Americans picnicing. Lovely streamside setting with boulders. Drove through Gatlinburg, Dinner at Cracker Barrel ...

... more rhododendron, trout fishing, and trails. We came out of the mountains at Damascus, the site of the Virginia Creeper Trail, one of the best hiking and biking trails in the country. Here you can ride a shuttle to White Top Station and bike downhill for 17 miles back to Damascus-sounds easy compared to our ride on the New River Trail. We traveled the Virginia Coal Heritage Trail past the Dominion Hybrid coal-fired power station. Alternate 58 ...

... prices for only a little. We had supper then went out to a biker bar where a friend of theirs knew the person that was playing. The band was really good and when I get the name I will put it up. I had a couple of my usual diet gingerale and we went home about midnight. It was a fun time.

... central Oregon have my vote for the most fun motorcycle ride. They were perfectly cambered. I was able to cruise down the mountain roads at 85 and 90 miles per hour, and the curves were as smooth as silk. I made it to within 100 miles of the Washington state line that day. I stopped for the night at a small restaurant/hotel combo I saw on the side of the road. Day 2 -- Covered about ~350 miles -- Running total: 650 miles I woke up the next ...