Nashville, TN

After a nice visit with Gary's Aunt Lois and Uncle Dave and Uncle George and Aunt Cindy we head for a walking tour of Nashville where Elvis is always alive and well.

Skyline from the LP Stadium where we parked the RV

and took the Walking Bridge to Downtown

Across the river was a replica of an old fort

Hit the Honky Tonk row

Visited the Charlie Daniels Museum

and Managed to Play on stage in Nashville!

and who new there was a Parthenon in Nashville?

On to the Natchez Trace Parkway and Memphis!

Knoxville, TN

A quick Tour of Knoxville and the World's Fair grounds



Next stop Fairfield Glade, TN to visit Gary's Aunt Lois and Uncle Dave and to pick up our new Inverter.

Tennessee

Gatlinburg TN is at the north end of the Park - it is pretty much a tourist trap with the standard Wax Museum and Amusement rides.  We did find a scenic driving loop which we took.  We needed gas for the RV and the Marathon station at the start of town was $3.04 /gal.  We continued the 1.5 miles to the other side of town where the Marathon Station was $2.61 /gal.

Last day in the Smokies

Our last day in the Smokies and we encounter a traffic sign we had never seen before  - I guess this confirms that sometimes we are going around in circles!

The Foliage is spectacular - rivalling New England's - there are more species of trees in the Smoky Mountains than there are in all of  Europe

Babbling brooks, streams and rivers are everywhere

Cades Cove Loop is a scenic drive in the Northwest part of the Park with some of the historic buildings remaining.  We had hoped to see Bear but missed a mother bear and 3 cubs that had passed by an hour before us.

Some hikes you just can't do in a day!

The center of the Park is where the border is between North Carolina and Tennessee

Unfortunately, an ash borer is dessimating the Ash trees in the Park

We will continue on to Nashville to visit with Gary's Aunt and Uncle where an inverter we won on Ebay will be shipped.  Soon we will be able to raise and lower the bed and make coffee without the Generator!

Great Smoky Mountains continued

The drive thru the Smokies continues:

We drive up to Clingman's Dome the highest peak in the park at around 6600 feet.  Our hopes for a spectacular view are clouded over!

We continue the Hike a Day up to yet another Waterfall! 

Mingus Mill

A Beatifull Sunset over the Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We decide to visit our Niece Keri in Atlanta so we scoot over to the Smokies and find a campground just south of the Park and are able to scoot down in the Tracker for a quick visit.

The Town of Cherokee part of the Indian Reservation is at the South Entrance of the Park in North Carolina.

We decide to follow route 441 which travles north thru the Park.

We see Elk by the Smokemont Visitors Center

There is a replica of a small farm as well there.

We continue our Hike a Day and hike the Dark Creek Trail past 3 waterfalls.

The local entertainment center with sound surround"

Continue down to Ashville, NC

We leave the Blue Ridge Parkway to make a little better time and find that even the interstates are beautiful this time of year.