Tennessee Smoky Mountains

We left Mt. Airy (Mayberry), NC on Monday, Oct 20^th.  We stopped at the Tennessee Visitor Centre just across the state line and Tawny decided to go under the fence into a neighbouring field.  Unfortunately, her harness came off (!) and there was barbed wire on top of the fence!!  It took us over ½ hr to get her back, with John hiking it over the barbed wire, shielded with work gloves and hiking boots and a piece of foam to protect his hoo-haw.  But we didn’t lose her (or his hoo-haw)!  That’s a good day...

The scenery on the east side of Tennessee is very different.  More rural/agricultural.  I saw the biggest pumpkin field ever!!!  Not a great picture, but you get the idea... it went on for about 3 hills.

See all the orange dots??  Those are pumpkins!!

We got to Baileyton, TN about 5:30 and got set up and got the cats out.  There is a driving range right beside the campground, and that was the only place big enough to get the cats out in.  The campground is pretty full and zoo-y, and so we herded the kitties onto the driving range, which is empty.  There are grapevines, but they have mushrooms growing around them, so I’m thinking they are not good producing vines.

"C'mon Tawny - there's WOODS over here!!" says Sammy

John, hiking the cats back from their adventure up the hill.

Tuesday, Oct 21^st we took the cats out again for another jaunt thru the driving range, then we packed them up and headed out. We stopped at Sevierville (pronounced “severe-ville”) which is Dolly Parton’s hometown. We expected down-home, small town, wooden cabins with “coat of many colours” kind of mentality. We were wrong... the whole area is totally developed with tons of blinky lights and big buildings.  It looks like Las Vegas in the 1980’s.  

There is “Dollywood”, “Dollywood Splash Park” and some kind of a dinner theatre featuring live horses that Dolly sponsors, along with COUNTLESS other dinner theatres, casino-looking-things, amusement parks complete with ferris wheels, reptile museums... I’m sure you get the idea.  So different than what we thought.

We got the trailer parked and John & I took off in the truck – to tour the Smoky Mountain area.  The National Park is great – reminded us of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but lots more stops and visitor centres and “living history” exhibits, etc.  

The difference between the Smoky Mtn Parkway and
Blue Ridge Parkway is the amount of people - and tour buses!

Well, they don't call them the "Smoky" Mtns for nothing...

We found the Appalachian Trail again - it crosses the
Smoky Mtns several times.  Note the mile marker to Maine - 1972 miles!

The highest peak in the Smoky Mtns is Clingman’s Dome which is 6643 ft. We parked and hiked up to the platform observation tower.   It was about 4 deg C up there – plus wind chill, we were thinking it was about minus 5 deg C up there (and John didn't bring a jacket!  He said he knows better, being from the Rockies and all...)  Contrast that with Calgary, which has been about 20 deg C... and look where we are!!! Weird!  Reminded us of our trip to Argentina in 2006.  It was much nicer in Calgary than in Argentina that year too.

We were definitely "in the clouds"

The elevated walkway to the Observation Platform

The signage provides pictures of what you "could" see
on a clear day.  This was definitely not a clear day...

Anyway... we drove about 40 miles through the Smoky Mtn parkway from Gatinburg, TN to Cherokee, NC.  It seemed different from the Blue Ridge Mtns in that the colours were not as intense, but the elevations were higher and so the views were just different. We were happy to have something different to look at.

Near the end of our Smoky Mtn experience, we found the Blue Ridge Mtn Parkway again!!!!  It ends at the Smoky Mtns (go figure) and so we drove 15 miles on that, to experience the “end” of the Blue Ridge parkway – since we’ve done so much of it.  We did 105 miles of the Blue Ridge mtns  - on the Shenandoah Skyline Drive on Oct 16^th, then 90 miles (mileposts 0-90) of the Blue Ridge Parkway in  Virginia on Oct 17^th,  75 miles of it (mileposts 200-275) in North Carolina on Oct 19^th and the last 15 miles of it today (in Tennessee) to end at milepost 469 for a total of 180 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was phenomenal. Today, we got to see the sunset over the Parkway.

  The Smoky Mtn parkway is less developed in terms of roads, but more developed in terms of hiking trails (800 miles within the park) and exhibits, etc.  We loved the hike up to the Clingman’s Dome, albeit it was in the clouds...

The most magnificent elk I've ever seen - at least 7 points

My favourite time of day - the sun is low and the autumn colours seem to fluoresce... gorgeous.

On our way back tonight, we saw some rutting elk. They were amazing!!!!  John said they were just learning how to fight, and the elder male (who was magnificent) was just hanging out with the females, oblivious to the “play” fighting going on with the younger males.  Such a sight...

Mayberry! / Mount Airy, North Carolina

We've been in Mount Airy area for a couple of days, and the simplicity of the town and the throwback to simpler times can really be felt!! As mentioned in previous blog, Andy Griffith was born in this town and his childhood friend, Emmett Forest, has collected memorabilia over the decades, and there is a really wonderful museum in town, a couple of blocks from where Andy was born.  The town

of Mount Airy was the inspiration for Mayberry, and so a lot of the street names, and shop names are the same as those in the show.  We walked around the "historic" district on Monday morning (Oct 20th) and we walked through the Andy Griffith museum and the main street of town.

We did a wine tasting of North Carolina wines at "Uncorked at Mayberry" which does private labelling of local wines.  Very enjoyable morning.

We went to the Old Time Music Heritage Hall, which is housed in an old theatre and includes memorabilia from the roots of "Round Peak" style Old Time music (bluegrass) and we learned about a radio station that is streamed on the internet and features local Surrey county bluegrass music - look it up!!!!  Fantastic!!!

https://wpaq740.com/.

The night before - Sunday - Oct 19th... it was time for laundry!  We took the cats out and walked them around the little lake amidst lovely colours reflected in the water... 

Then I took a load of laundry to the building that housed the machines, and I could hear yowling... I spent the better part of an hour coaxing this VERY scared kitten into the laundry building.  What you see below is 2 hrs into our "relationship"... she finally came around to thinking I was ok.  We chased moths and she ate pretty well (the moths) then I introduced her to the top of the dryer (and its warmth) before I had to put her back outside and go home... I could hear her howling as I pulled out with the truck, but I think she had a fun evening, and I know I did!!!  I "named" her Tigger (Aunt Bev will be able to figure that one out) and she was an absolute love... so hard to drive away and leave a feral cat behind that responds so readily to human interaction..... love her... my North Carolina kitty...

Love my North Carolina kitty... she wanted to stay in that laundry room...

The next day, (Monday) it was VERY cold and foggy out, and when John took Sam out, you could see the relfection of the trailer in the lake... so cool.

:Me Too" enjoying special attention from her mom...

There are a lot of fall "displays" wherever we go... nice...

We drove to Tennessee today, and we're parked not far into the state, near Baileyton. We're going to explore the Smoky Mountains now and enjoy this part of the world.

South side of Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

We left Greenview, VA Saturday am. The kitties were a bit freaked out by all the people.  A couple of the kids saw Sammy sitting on a stump near the creek and I heard one say... "Look!  It's a black cat statue!" (they're in Halloween mode...) and the other said... "NO!!!  It's REAL!!!!  I saw it MOVE!!!"  So cute.  Two little girls came up to pet Tawny and I lost my head and said "sure!"  ENTIRELY confusing her with Tabudera, who loved kids - even infants.  Tawny??  NOT!!!!  If I had let go of her harness, she would still be running somewhere into West Virginia...  Won't do that again...  We decided Virginia has the biggest leaves ever... they're huge...

We stopped at Roanoke, VA and parked near "Camping World", a mega store that sells campground memberships.  It was on the outskirts and so very rural, and the cats had a fabulous walk around for over an hour - which made up for the not great walk this morning at Greenview.  We put the cats in the trailer and went into the store - and bought both Good Sam's and Passport America memberships.  What the heck.  It seems that wherever we go, we stay in one of those vs. the KOA and AAA membership places that we don't seem to be able to find...

We drove into North Carolina and found a spot near Mount Airy, NC which is Andy Griffith's birthplace and the inspiration for Mayberry in all the permutations of the Andy Griffith shows.  It's a lot "greener" here somehow.  Not as many trees and more open spaces.

Virginia Creeper over dead trees.

I think the ivy-looking stuff is Virginia Creeper - it's everywhere here and looks like it's covering everything in its path...

We got set up and took the kitties out.  It was their first experience with DUCKS.  Tawny just wants to catch the ducks (and lick them; not hurt them, I'm sure :) ... Sammy is terrified of the ducks... wouldn't go anywhere near them.

 

Sunday (Oct 19th) we drove part of the South end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We got on at Mile 200 and drove down until about Mile 275.  I'm thinking the "blue" part of the name comes from the inevitable fog that hangs over the range... it always looks blue.  

We decided that the nicest people we've met on this trip are from North Carolina (you know - people that aren't related to us, that is).  From the grocery store clerks to the visitors that we met on the Blue Ridge Parkway!  They are all incredibly friendly.  We love North Carolina!!!  We met one family from the Mount Airy area (Dobson I think) who were driving the parkway as a family outing.  Sandy is looking into buying a vehicle in the lower mainland of BC... that would be SO COOL!  And her dad was born near the town we're staying in.  He gave us many good ideas about places to drive and see, and people to meet.  The folks around here are absolutely the friendliest we've experienced.  We met more people today than we have on the entire trip....  Sandy took this pic of us along the Parkway... lovely lady.




We stopped at the Bluegrass Museum and the Blue Ridge Music Centre on the Parkway.  We spent a couple of hours learning about the roots of Bluegrass music - and it was very interesting.  Bluegrass is one of John's favorite music styles and it was interesting to me to learn about musicians that we play in our home regularly!!! (like Maybelle Carter...)
It was cold and windy that day (Sunday) - about 11 deg C (yes!  I know it's warmer in Calgary... that's just bizarre) and so hiking was not something I wanted to do. But we did do a short hike to a lookout that was lovely and energizing. We also went to the Brinegar Cabin museum, which is a "Living History" museum, focusing on how life was in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The guide, Jackie, showed us how to use leaves and roots to colour sheep's wool - very interesting.  And interesting that Jackie know the museum director at Heritage Park in Calgary... another "Living History" museum...

Jackie, in the Brinegar cabin museum

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Sam, wary of the DUCKS...

Tawny, wanting to EAT the ducks...

This is a really interesting part of the country. We highly recommend travel to Virginia/North Carolina!!!

North end of Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

We were up VERY early today (Friday Oct 17th) with 2 very rambunctious kitties.  We had them out before most people were up, and they had a fabulous walk and explore time before dog walking began.  We had our breakfast out at the picnic table - it is THAT nice out here! - and the cats hung out with us.

Dew on a spider web on the bridge in our campground.

We left them in the trailer and headed out at 10 am again and this time we started at the same start point as yesterday, but we went south instead of north, and it's called the "Blue Ridge Parkway" instead of the Shenandoah Skyline Drive".  this one is 500 miles long vs 105 so we didn't get it all done today!  We did 90 miles of it, which included a couple of hikes - along Otter Creek and Lake, and James River.  It was a beautiful sunny day with temps about 13 to 18 deg C - perfect for sight-seeing and hiking.

 
The Blue Ridge Parkway has a lot less "overlooks" but better signage as to when they are coming up, and where the trail heads are, etc.  It is harder to end up on the Appalachian Trail by mistake on the latter Parkway...

John, looking at a waterfall near Yankee Horse Ridge (mile 34)

Lily pads on the water at Otter Lake (mile 63)

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a lovely scenic drive.  It is different from the Skyline Drive, despite the proximity, in its vistas and the scope of the landscape.  The valley is more open and though there are less opportunities for pictures, the views tend to be more immense.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera today (!!!) so had to rely on my camera phone.

Tenting... in mid October!!!  Imagine!!!  And FULL!!!

We managed to get home tonight before dark tonight which worked better for the kitties, but unfortunately, the campground is FULL!!!!  to the rafters!!!!  I've never seen anything like it.  There are halloween parties going on all over the park, and kids trick or treating between campers, and there is line dancing and 2-stepping going on across the road.  Even the tenting spots are full... there is NO room at the Inn tonight... The kitties were quite subdued on their evening walk, but it worked and both of them crashed immediately upon coming in.  Phew.

Pretty "zoo-y" as John would say...

By contrast, coming home after dark last night, I got some amazing shots on the road at sunset... Missed yesterday's blog post... but here are some highlights.

We're off tomorrow to move the trailer further down the Blue Ridge Parkway.