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Grabbed a chocolate malt here in Watseka, IL
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This week started with a 6.2 mile run on the treadmill at the gym, then heading home to clean up before
loading the car and heading out on a week-long vacation. The destination was Gatlinburg, Tennessee but we decided to take a leisurely two-day drive getting there.
Day 1 included a stop in Illinois as we stopped to drop off some items and visit with immediate family then driving to West Lafayette, Indiana where we spent the night.
Sunday was spent enjoying our time exploring Indianapolis after several years away. Yes, the travel from Wisconsin to West Lafayette to Indianapolis seems bizarre. The hotel was booked in Indy for Sunday night before we decided to make a Saturday stop.
Sunday was also the day I realized I left my camera bag with camera and lenses inside, at home! I was anticipating lots of interesting and hopefully beautiful pictures in the Smoky Mountains and whatever else came our way and now I was without it.
My phone made the trip so I used it for several hundred photos. It wasn't the same but certainly better than no camera at all. (Writing this after the week, I'm satisfied with the photos I brought back and determined not to leave it behind again.)
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Stopped or slow-going for nearly an hour. 7/10/23
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Monday we left Indianapolis at 8 bound for Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We made it by 5. The big delay was due to a serious car crash on I-64 east of Louisville. We were part of the 'parking lot' on the road barely moving as people and debris were handled, then made our way toward Lexington before going south to Knoxville.
On the way, we stopped at Buc-ee's. I'll write more about it in another blog. It may be large enough to be seen from space, like the Great Wall of China.
As we made our way into eastern Kentucky then headed south, the landscape became hillier as we drove into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Over a couple hours we played tag with big trucks - passing them going uphill and being passed as the heavy trucks used gravity to pull them downhill faster than lighter-weight cars. Thankfully most of the hills had three-lanes going each direction so no one was slowed down going over the natural roller coaster.
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The hills around Jellico, TN. 7/10/23 dwm
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Once we made it to Knoxville, we left the interstate for a mix of local and state roads for the final hour of our trip. Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee, we saw it's 100,000-seat football stadium on the banks of the river named for the state.
The penultimate community before Gatlinburg is Pigeon Forge, home to Dolly Parton and her Dollywood theme park plus a plethora of related family attractions that put the neighboring burgs on the map.
Wednesday morning we traveled into Smoky Mountains National Park. We picked up a daily parking pass at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center so we could park on the overlook or attractions throughout the park.
Since the park is criss-crossed with highways there is no admission fee, just a $5 parking fee. We headed to the big attraction first, Clingman's Dome, just across the state line in North Carolina. You'll see and read more about it in a future post.
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U.S. 441 cuts through the forest. 7/12/23 dwm
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From Clingman's Dome we headed through the forest toward Gatlinburg with a plan to stop and photograph a few waterfalls. Until we saw the crowded parking lots and places cars could park a mile or more from where the trail to the waterfall began.
Instead we pressed on to Pigeon Forge where my wife wanted to visit Paula Deen's restaurant and store. More on this place later in its own blog but I'll tell you here the food was amazing!
After lunch we drove to one of four existing covered bridges in Tennessee built in 1875. It's unlikely I'll get all four but a second is on our route home Thursday.
Thursday morning, after hitting the nice fitness center one more time in the Holiday Inn Express in Gatlinburg, we ate a hearty breakfast and drove over the mountains to Asheville, North Carolina.
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Looking out at Bunches Bald Overlook. 7/13/23
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The drive was beautiful. On the Tennessee side we experienced sprinkles and a lot of clouds. After we crossed the Newfound Gap, we saw more sunshine which lit up the mountainsides and outlined the clouds. Then we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway, driving it up and down the foothills and through tunnels.
The highlight was coming upon a young elk grazing on the side of the road. The day before we saw a
small black bear at the top of a tree either sleeping or hiding, that wasn't a photo opportunity for me, but the elk was calm and cooperative as I took pictures from inside our car.
From there it was on to Ashville where we checked out the local visitor center for a few goodies and information, then headed north. This drive was in the bottom of the mountain valley, in places it was only wide enough for a two-lane road and river heading downstream. It was amazing.
Two hours later, after experiencing a lot of back road driving in North Carolina and Tennessee, we found the Bible Covered Bridge. It was time to eat and there was no clue where we would find something to eat or a place with a public bathroom! After driving hopefully on a state road we eventually found a small gas station and then directions to an interstate highway to head home.
Yesterday we left Lexington, Kentucky at 6 am Central Daylight Time. It was a long day but we were blessed with nice weather, good roads, and easy traffic arriving home a little after 4 in the afternoon. It's one of our longest single-day drives in a very long time.
I hope you have vacation coming or are enjoying the memories of your summer get-away... have a great week!
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