Where are you Dolly Parton???

Friday 26 October - Kim's birthday! She and Finlay are visiting Todd in Melbourne. I know Todd has arranged something rather nice for the birthday???

We are driving towards the Smoky Mountains, through Sevierville, Dolly Parton's home town. Everywhere looks busy; each side of the parkway is filled with commercial attractions, accommodation, restaurants and fun parks, including another Outlet Mall! Lots of cars fill the 3 lane highway.

Sevierville runs into the next town, Pigeon Forge. Dollywood is on the outskirts of Pigeon Forge.

We rang ahead to Clabough's Campground to reserve a site. We have several sites to choose from; it seems too good to be true but each site has a drawback - not very level, or too tight to turn into - we then upset a lady by pulling in frontward so that our door would have opened facing her door!!! That's a new one!
Finally we are set up. There are shuttles down town. We will explore further tomorrow. We walk to the closest restaurant, a Mel's Diner about a mile away.  Its nice to stretch the legs.
We then listen to a blues/gospel singer at the campground  - very nice.  The park is full and it is a warm and humid evening.

Starbucks - my favourite attraction!

Too cold ... and there's a duck in it!

We hear that there is a hurricane forming off Florida, Hurricane Sandy,which threatens severe weather. The weather in the Smoky Mountains is expected to cool right off.

And we wake to much cooler weather with grey skies. It wasn't too bad at first, about 60 degrees but then proceeded to get much cooler. Say it! Cold!!
Apparently Hurricane Sandy is pulling in a band of cold to very cold weather for the area south and west of it. A lot of campers are leaving the park I guess going home to make sure everything is alright.

We are staying here. We have booked the RV into an RV Sales and Service place in Knoxville for a 10,000
mile service. Yep, we have done almost 7,500 miles! We are booked in for 8am on Monday.

So we try to work out the shuttle system. We spend a lot of time waiting for one at various places but it is still easier than any other form of transport as the area is constantly clogged with cars.  I guess the weather is also playing a part as we are now hearing that it may snow - certainly in the higher elevations!
We do some Christmas shopping to send home for the kids.

 We have dinner at the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe and Grill. Have to leave our name as there is an hour wait for a table!! So we continue to wander quaint little shops.  Trevor buys a leather belt. American made.
He bought a belt in Kittery, Maine many years ago and it lasted well. So a new belt was on the list.
We have to wait 25 minutes for a shuttle back to the campground. It is very cold! Light rain too.


Next morning is rainy, windy, cold. Miserable weather!! Most people have left  the park and it looks very empty. I cook pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast - there is something about food in this weather.



Speak to Kim and Finlay who are just home from Melbourne.  They have had a great time. Thank you Todd!

We decide to visit Gatlinburg, a small town higher up in the Smokies and close to the North Carolina state line.The shuttle system almost beats us!
I promise you it is freezing! We wait 25 minutes for a shuttle at the campground, then a further 30 minutes at the depot for a shuttle to take us to Gatlinburg, then another 20 minutes at a bus shelter on the outskirts of Gatlinburg for yet another shuttle to take us into the town.


 But it is worth it!! Especially as one of our first stops is
 for coffee and beautiful donuts at the Donut Friar coffee shop.  Gatlinburg is quite beautiful.  The mist and rain didn't hinder us too much but without any other form of transport we were unable to get any higher. Apparently it was snowing at Clingmans Dome which was a place we had hoped to return to.

We climbed  Clingman's Dome which is the highest spot in the Smokies (6,643 ft) when we were hiking the Appalachian Trail. So many names and points of interest in the Smokies;  Newfound Gap, Davenport Gap, Charlies Bunion (where we had a hairy time in snow, ice and minimal visibility!)

70 miles of the Appalachian Trail run through the Smoky Mountains which are among the oldest mountains in the world. There is great pride taken in the history and heritage of the mountains.
A land once inhabited by the Cherokees, the Smoky Mountain region has been witness to conflicts between Native Americans and settlers as well as Union and Confederate soldiers. Tourism has replaced timber as the economic driver. The Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited National Park in the country.

Fortunately the shuttle system is a little more synchronized on the return trip and we are back in our RV by late afternoon.
Now I can start to worry about our trip out tomorrow morning. We will have to leave early as we have a  25-30 mile drive to the RV Service centre. Will the roads be driveable, will it be windy or raining or snowing even? What would life be without worries.  Trevor tells me to go to sleep!!!!

We didn't find Dolly Parton.  Listened to her on our radio and heard her singing in lots of the places we visited!  Sorry Trev!

And unbeknown to us Hurricane Sandy is gathering strength again off the mid east coast.