Day 1 - Roaring Fork Drive

Today was an excellent day.  The weather was perfect.  Before we left the campground, I took some pictures of our shady parking spot and the spaces right on the river which have "decks."  They cost $5 more, so we didn't think we needed one of them.

 Right next to us is an open field which we walked over to yesterday.  It had something that looked like a zip line running down to the river, but the hooks on it weren't heavy enough to hold a person.  This morning we saw it in use -- they hook tubes on it to get them down to the river for tubing.

We started the day by stopping by the Visitor Center in Townsend and picked up some maps.  Then we headed toward Gatlinburg, following this beautiful river.  We spotted some tubers on the river who looked like they were having a good time.

We drove on tree-lined roads all day long, usually right beside this beautiful river babbling over boulders and rocks, with little waterfalls.  The sun glistening on the rapids was breath-taking.

We turned off the main road to check out one of the national park campgrounds, and came upon a really nice spot to pull off, where there was a boy fishing.  We chatted with this family for a few minutes, and the boy got his fishing line stuck in the tree, so we watched the dad wade out in the very chilly water to retrieve it. 

We finally headed on down the road, taking in more scenic views, then we arrived in Gatllinburg.  The town was teeming with pedestrians and traffic.  Cathy had recommended a Mexican restaurant, so we found it for lunch -- No Way Jose's.  Very good.  We were going to sit outside next to the river, but that's where the smokers were so we went back inside.  But we still found a seat right next to the river.  If you look carefully below the window blind, you can see the river flowing by.

 We made a quick stop at Ogle Farm on the outskirts of town, then started on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  That was a beautiful drive, again right along the river.

Right next to the road was this small building that held an old grist mill run by an old water wheel.  I thought this maybe was the beginning of indoor running water, but Joe explained to me how the water wheel worked.

We saw several waterfalls today, some small, but some falling several feet.  The last one I missed, so Joe turned around and drove back and parked so I could see it.  He also spotted a turkey along this road.

On our way back to the camper, we came upon this swimming hole with lots of people jumping off the rocks, some people out wading, so of course I thought I should get my toes in the water here.  Cathy said she wishes she and Joe were here as our tour guides, and we parked next to a vehicle with Indiana license plates here, but I couldn't find Cathy anywhere.

We went back to the RV and had dinner (I had bbq chicken in the crockpot), caught the weather on TV, then headed out for our EWVD (Evening Wildlife Viewing Drive), back to Cades Cove Road.  Just after we turned onto this road, a black bear crossed the road right in front of us.  I wasn't in camera-mode yet, so we didn't get a picture, but we did get a good look at him.  Next we came upon some turkeys out feeding, 5 in total, and one Tom posed for us rather nicely. 

The horses we saw out in the field yesterday at a distance were right beside the road tonight.  I even petted one briefly, but I think he wanted to bite me so I didn't pursue that any further.  They were really beautiful, many different colors.

We got out on our drive about 1/2 hour earlier tonight and the deer were just starting to come down out of the forest.  We spotted one, then we pulled off the road and let traffic go by -- it was bumper to bumper tonight.  While we were sitting at the pull-off, we spotted two more deer coming down out of the trees.  Then we came upon a bear jam -- a bear had been sighted, but it got spooked and headed to the trees before we got to see it -- cars were parked all over the place so we knew something, most likely a bear, had been seen.  Then a coyote crossed the road in front of us, and it ran alongside the road with us for probably 1/4 mile. 

Joe had picked out another road he wanted to take, so even though the animals were just beginning to move out in the open, we left the Cades Cove road and drove up and over the mountain on the Rich Mountain road, a one-way, gravel road, that turned back to pavement about half-way down, between heavily-wooded forests.  There were no meadows or openings and we didn't see any more animals, but I did get a picture of the dogwoods that are blooming here, and a nice sunset.

We hit pavement again just as it got dark.  This was a very crooked road with hairpin curves, so once we were on blacktop Joe got to practice his grand prix driving.  I first thought NASCAR, but they only turn left, and he had to turn both ways, a lot.  It was a good drive, but not one we need to do again.  So today's wildlife count was:  6 deer, 6 turkeys, 1 coyote, and one BEAR!

Arriving at the Smokies (Mon.)

Sunday we actually did manage to do NOTHING.  It was hard, and not something we handle easily, but we never left the campground, stayed inside all day except for one short walk in the evening.  Read books, napped, played on the computer, watched a little TV when the signal would hold.  Of course, it helped that it rained off and on all day long, but we needed the rest.

This morning the sun came out, so I walked down to the lake.  The geese had moved in overnight, in fact I think they took over this campsite.

Everything looked fresh and green this morning.  There were a few more empty campsites now, but this was a very nice place to stay.

We had an errand in town, so it was 12:30 before we got on the road.  Then we missed the road out of the campground and ended up making an 8-mile loop, back to town, to get back on the highway.  This wasn't the only road we missed today.  After we got through/around Knoxville, we took the 321 South, which went north.  This turned out to be about a 40-mile loop back to the north.  We came back to the same road (129), and had to take 321 North, which went south.  Go figure. Joe kept following 321S, but when we noticed Lucille said we were heading NW, I got the map out.  So it was 5:00 before we got to our campground, in Townsend, just 2 miles from the entrance into the Smoky Mountain National Park. 

Before we got so turned around, we crossed and drove alongside the very pretty Tennessee River.

We had a little trouble finding our campground, again we took the wrong road (Old TN 73), but that only took a phone call to the campground, and just getting back onto the highway.  Guess it wasn't our day for driving.  We got set up and walked over to the river that flows right behind the campground (pictures tomorrow), then went out to get something to eat.  Obviously, no one cooks in this RV!  I assumed we were heading back to camp after we finished eating, but Joe, naturally, thought we should see where the road goes that goes on past our campground, which took us into the Smoky Mountain National Park.  And lo and behold, just a few miles in, was a loop road that had his name all over it.  But it was an Excellent Adventure -- the Cades Cove loop road.  And fortunately, I keep a second camera in the car!

We came upon a pasture full of beautiful horses.  We don't know if they are wild, or belong to some stable around here that provides horseback rides, but they were a sight to see.

There are several stops of scenic attractions on this loop -- old churches, cabins, etc.  We haven't been to the Visitor Center yet, so we only stopped at one of these, an old church, until we get a brochure that tells us what we are seeing.  The cemetery here at this church had flowers on every grave, even though many of the gravestones were from the late 1800s.  And one grave site looked like a fresh one (we couldn't see any dates, but there were lots of flowers).

 It was interesting to see the foundations of buildings like this one.  We don't know if these are the original locations or if they were moved here, but they were not put on level foundations, they just leveled the foundation with blocks.

 We saw a plaque commemorating the work of the CCCs here in this national park.  I always like to acknowledge their work in the parks we go through.  I'm pretty sure my dad never worked here, but it makes me remember him anyhow.

More scenic views as the sun was going down.

And then we started seeing WILDLIFE!.  We saw a wild turkey, a big one.  Then we started seeing deer.  I don't know why we think we have to take a picture of every deer we see, and we actually did stop trying to take pictures of them, but it is our first instinct.  The second picture is of a deer that crossed the road right in front of us.  I yelled "don't hit him, don't hit him."  The deer wasn't in any hurry to get out of the road either.




And I don't want to forget my other dear.

But then it got even better.  We came upon a BEAR JAM.  Yes, a mamma bear with two little cubs had been sighted in the woods, so we got out to watch.  The mamma bear was just meandering along, but the little cubs were frolicking all over the place, up and down trees, across logs.  They were fun to watch.  They were moving away from us so we didn't get very good photos but we sure enjoyed watching them.

We finally got back to the RV just at dark and called it a day.  We only drove 134 miles today but it took us 4 1/2 hours.  Price of gas around here is $3.189.  We are looking forward to the next few days here in the Smokies!  Thank you, Cathy, for your suggestions.