Let the vacation begin!

7/8/19 - 7/10/19 - Red Bay, AL to Woodville, AL (121 miles) Parnell Creek RV Park $57/night
7/10/19 - 7/12/19 - Woodville, AL to Cleveland, TN (110 miles) Chattanooga North KOA $47/night
7/12/19 - 7/20/19 - Cleveland, TN to Sevierville, TN (116 miles) Riverside RV Park $41/night

After two full weeks in Red Bay, we finally got Pearl (the name we gave our rig in honor of our 30th wedding anniversary) in good order.  Many Tiffin owners go back every year for maintenance, so I can’t say we won’t be back, but so long!  We met some great people and learned lots about fulltiming with a motor home.  But now I feel the real vacation begins. As you can see, we’re not going very far each time we move, because we don’t have to. The only deadline we’ve given ourselves is to be back in San Antonio at Thanksgiving.

Before we head north, we wanted to spend some time in the Great Smoky Mountains.  This area is actually several small towns close together - Sevierville, Pigeon Forge (where Dollywood is located) and Gatlinburg.  Last time we were here (18 years ago) it must have been off-season.  I remember being the only ones around.  Now, sadly for the pollution it’s causing, the whole area is high density, vacation Mecca.  Similar to Branson, the Wisconsin Dells, and  Niagra Falls, this place has water parks, rollercoasters, dinner shows, Ripley’s Believe it or not, wax museums, and on and on.  You have to look really hard to see the beauty and quaintness it used to be.  I wonder if Dolly envisioned this when she started Dollywood, and if the locals appreciate it.  

It is possible to not spend too much money, except on gas and food, and have fun. We went to the Bush factory and homestead to see a tour (on video) and learn about how Bush Beans came to be.  We visited Dolly’s statue in Sevierville.  We visited the Apple Barn and ate a fried apple pie a la mode (yum!). And we visited a huge knife store, way larger than Outdoor World, with all things gun and knife related, with lots of taxidermy.  

Yesterday we spent the day doing the driving tour through Cade’s Cove, a settlement established in 1827.  We saw mama and baby bears on the ground and in the trees, three felting deer and two turkeys.  Sorry, no photos.  The sightings were all very fleeting and difficult to see.  Oh yeah, and the story of the village was cool, too.