Day 25 Gatlinburg

Funny what happens on a day that you don’t think will account for much! David has had just about enough of the crazy traffic! It doesn’t matter what time of day, or in which direction you travel, there is crazy traffic! Once you get into the park it’s OK but getting to the park through the tacky tourist attractions is a nightmare. I think he would have been just as happy to spend a quiet day at the trailer. This was our last day here though and we have only seen a fraction of the park so it seemed a shame to waste it.

In an attempt to avoid the worst of the traffic on the main streets we set off to become horribly lost on back roads. Now anyone who has gotten lost on back roads knows that while it usually isn’t the most efficient travel route, it is rarely without its hidden charm. This morning it led us to the Art and Craft Community that we had visited on the trolley the other day. This is a funky back-woods community of creative people who are involved in everything from delicate glass blowing to chainsaw carving! Stopping at a few shops was interesting and various stops offered additional thrills...while leaning against the split rail fence to chat with the chainsaw carver I was startled but delighted at the bright blue lizards that ran along the posts. In front of the Dulcimer Shop we were startled by what sounded like a gunshot! Now I am well aware that my fanciful imagination could jump to “gunshot” at a loud bang in the backwoods of Tennessee. When a local shop keeper came running out to see about the “gunshot” well...let’s say it was time to finish with the shopping and move on!

Smoky Mountains National Park is so huge that not only does it have countless hiking trails it also has many auto tours. Many of these have been established as one way loops, and a mile or two will clearly establish the wisdom of that decision! There is a mountain stream that runs though a particular area and a narrow road is created to follow the stream – literally! As the steam twists and turns the roads twists and turns. You hug the mountain and tree branches occasionally intrude through the truck window – the road is just that narrow!

Beautiful but interesting driving!

The beauty of these auto routes though is the hiking opportunity. At every ½ mile or so on this eight mile route there are lay-bys. At each stop you have the choice of hikes ranging from a short stroll to a 4 mile climb through the mountains. This set up allows you to cover a lot of ground but expend your hiking energy wisely. Each time we pick a new area to explore we think it was nicer than the last. Today was no different. We tended to stay away from the most popular areas littered with other tourists and used the guide book from our “Starter Kit” to find less popular, thus less populated routes. I can’t imagine how great the trendy trails must be since the exploring we did on Roaring Forks was phenomenal!

Bud Ogle (first settler) Homestead. He built this home for his family then went back east to get them. He died on the way back so never got to live in it with them!

Cool "bridges". Halved logs thrown across the stream and a railing added on one side!

Beautiful, rugged trails.

Breathtakingly beautiful streams.

Occassional mountain views through the trees.

Ephraim and Minerva Bales raised nine children here!

My view for much of the day!

If this is my picture, imagine what David's looks like!



Alfred Reagan place. An entrepreneur in the early mountain community. Painted his house "all three colors that Sears and Roebuck had"!! Called a saddlebag house, it had a central chimney that heated a room on either side. The door led to a loft where their six children slept. The kitchen was out back (seen in the picture below) - very fancy!

Foundations were interesting, yet the houses are still standing - and sturdy!

One of Reagan's enterprises was this mill. The flume still carries water as it has for over a hundred years!

I was in the mood for a steak. That hardly ever happens so I thought I would give in to the urge and we planned a BBQ back at the trailer. Back to the outskirts of town we found a large grocery store. The man at the checkout in front of us asked, “D’y’all have a valued customer card for the store?” I have no idea how he could ever have know we weren’t from around here! Right! Our friends Donnie and Theresa are travelling in Wales and her blog was mentioning how they stood out with their accents. I don’t think it’s any less true here! Anyway I told him we didn’t and he offered his card which gave us over $5.00 in savings so that was very nice!

On the way down from the mountain we stopped at Ely's Mill for some boiled peanuts. A local delicacy you see them at road stands everywhere here. Boiled in pots of brine they are sold hot. The expression on my face should tell you what I thought of them. They are wet and slimy, and the nuts themselves are soggy and chewy! Yuck!

By the time dinner was cooked the sky was looking mighty angry. As we were cleaning up Shirley and Joe Ferguson from Kentucky came over. They had noticed our licence plates and weren’t sure how familiar we were with southern storms. They had been tracking one headed our way and we discussed safety measures, emergency shelters and escape routes! This storm had some serious potential! By the time the last of the dishes were done with the serenade of the local traffic station warning of impending doom in the form of tornados, floods, severe lightning and baseball size hail we were hopping in the truck and seeking shelter somewhere other than our tin can (though lovely tin can as it is) that is parked between two trees beside a ...remember that lovely river I was bragging about days ago? Not so happy with that at the moment!

As we were heading to the bathhouse with other folks (Shirley and Joe had been over to check it all out and recommended the men’s section since that was in the middle of the building between women’s and laundry) the man across the road was getting in his truck and (wisely) suggested that if trees came down we would be trapped without a way out of here and was moving his truck to higher ground away from trees. By this time I am a bit anxious – this was serious! The best spot it seemed for the truck was the parking lot by the registration office. By the time we parked the storm was in full lather and we were NOT walking back to a bathroom! It may have been best anyway since the registration office was quite large with staff who knew the area. We had a TV and internet to keep us informed. There was some furniture and the little tuck shop had food! What more could we want? With two dozen other campers and a dog we settled in for the next 2 ½ hours as the storm raged around us. We didn’t in the end see any tornado action or hail but we did watch reports from neighboring counties where homes were destroyed and trees uprooted. The hail damage was wide spread and the young guy who worked in the camp office ran out to throw rugs over his car! He has suffered hail damage before and now carries rugs in his trunk! Hail ranged from pea sized to one picture they showed of a woman holding a baseball and a piece of hail of the same size!!

After about 2 ½ hours the first line of storms passed through and we decided to go back to the trailer to check on any damage and maybe get some sleep as the second line of storms was due at midnight so it could be a long, sleepless stretch. By the time midnight came we were back into a storm so fierce that we couldn’t hear the TV reports! Although there was still a tornado watch, it was not thought to be likely. The bigger concern with this wave of nastiness was flooding and our county was the major target! Given our spot by the river we thought the best plan this time around was to stay and closely monitor both the reports and the evidence outside the window. It was a loooong night! The river came up to the top of its bank but didn’t go beyond that. The lightning was indeed severe and the storm raged on for hours before eventually going off to wherever worn out storms go! We are fine, our truck and trailer are fine but I was as scared as I have ever been by weather. By about 3:00 am I felt I was finally able to leave my post and get some much needed sleep!