Camping in the Smokies - Day 5 of 7

We didn't start as early as some other days...7:10am. Once we got our morning stuff out of the way, we headed toward the park for another full day. Our first stop was the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area again. Instead of eating first, however, we decided to hike to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse.

The hike was great; about 2 miles round trip. It started by following the Little River, then it cut west and up a steep foothill. Sam and I got to try our our matching hiking sticks that we had just purchased from the Sugarlands Visitor Center.

Once you get to the top, the trail turns north and starts to descend through a hillside of Rhododendron. They weren't blooming yet, but it was still a pretty hike.

Once you get back down the hill, you make three stream crossings. The bridges were just logs with one rail...Sam loved that. Daddy's anxiety, however, did not. I'll get over it.

The schoolhouse was neat. I hate seeing all of the carvings/writings/initials all over this stuff though. People are real tools. Sam decided to teach us with his new hiking stick.

After hiking back, we had another great picnic by the river. We sat at a table next to a retired couple from Cincinnati. It turns out that he used to own the bar on Harrison Ave in Cheviot that is now 2nd Street Saloon.

Anyway, our next hike of the day was Laurel Falls...my favorite in the park. It is also the favorite of many other people...thus the three parking lots and paved 1.3 mile trail. I carried Sam up the trail to the falls on my shoulders most of the way. He walked a little, but it was the third steep hike in 2 days, so I was okay with not making his little legs go numb.

Laurel Falls was in the middle of a forest fire a little over a week ago and it was obvious in both sight and smell. Thankfully, they were able to contain it and re-open the trail.

The Falls were flowing very well. Sam and Amy took their shoes off and dipped their toes in the frigid water. Sam thought that was super cool (no pun intended).

Amy carried Sam for some of the return part of our 2.6 mile hike. He was getting VERY tired, but he was still good. Once we got moving in the car to head back to camp, Sam fell asleep. Amy and I tried to find the cabin in which we honeymooned, but we couldn't find it.

We got back to camp and everyone was tired. Sam and Amy took a nap and Sunny and I read a little. That was nice for everyone.

For dinner I grilled some BBQ chicken. Y...U...M, yum. While it was cooking, Sam and I nailed our hiking medallions to our hiking sticks. Sam loves how they look. I'll get a picture tomorrow.

After dinner, Sam and Amy walked up to the game room for a couple of minutes and I got the campfire ready. They got back and we roasted some hot dogs and made some S'mores.

Sam crosses his legs when he sits in his camp chair...it just makes me laugh.

Right now, I'm blogging and watching the Reds OBLITERATE the Diamondbacks on Fox Sports Reds...who knew that existed? I can't believe that I didn't find this until now. The only other game that I saw was on the St. Louis station.

Amy's reading bedtime books to Sam and we are all capping off what I would consider a perfect day.

Tomorrow: Jon turns 30, return to Dollywood, dinner at Calhoun's, and Sam's first trolley ride.

Camping in the Smokies - Day 4 of 7

We woke up early. Shocking, I know. After taking our sweet @$$ time getting ready for the day, we headed out for the Applewood Restaurant, aka The Apple Barn. This is Amy's favorite restaurant in the world. Down home food in the middle of an apple orchard...who wouldn't love that?

Amy had Country Ham, I had meat loaf, and Sam had Grilled Cheese. They serve Apple Julep, Apple Fritters with Apple Butter, and Apple Muffins to everyone before the meal. They are seriously good. They have a huge store attached with all kinds of country stuff, an apple pie kitchen, and a candy factory. Sammy watched two men make some candy sticks and got a lollipop for later.

Once we rolled back to the car, we headed for the GSMNP. We got onto Newfound Gap Road heading east and set our sights on Clingman's Dome.

Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the state of TN. It is a .5 mile hike up a VERY steep trail. It's paved because of the high volume of traffic (like several of the most popular trails in the park), but it's not exactly easy.

Sam was a trooper and we made it to the top. When I held Sam up for this picture, he was higher than every other person in the state of TN! The panoramic views from the overlook are awesome. As a reward for reaching the top, Sam got his lollipop from the Apple Barn. The whole way down he was teasing people by offering it to them.

By the time that we made it back to the Durango it was 4:30pm. We had planned on doing the Laurel Falls Trail after Clingman's Dome, but we didn't want to be gone too late. Instead, we headed back to camp to grill some burgers for dinner.

After dinner, we decided to take Sam into Gatlinburg to see the stores. We visited our favorite shopping area, The Village, and looked at a couple of other stores. Sammy, of course, was obsessed with all of the guns. It seems like every store has cap guns, BB guns, pellet guns, air guns, blow darts, "Air Soft Guns" (whatever those are), and various other weapons.

By the time that we got back home, Sam was already asleep. Amy put Sam to bed and I got a campfire together. Once we were sufficiently exhausted, we both passed out as well. All in all, it was a great day.

Camping in the Smokies - Day 3 of 7

Sam was up early...again. I sense a pattern. That was okay through, because we had to get ready for Dollywood. Amy and I have been down here so many times and had NEVER been to Dollywood.

We had a reservation for Sunny at Doggywood. That's the name of the kennel at Dollywood. They charge $15/day and you can come and walk/feed/play with them whenever you want.

We rode ALL of the kiddie rides....many times. Unfortunately, I can no longer ride "spinny" rides. I just get too sick. So, Amy rode all of those with Sam. We also all rode the train, a five-mile trip around the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

For lunch, we ate ate a restaurant called "Aunt Lillian's". She had some fun with Sam.

After lunch, we rode more kid rides. We also went to a bird show that was VERY cool. Apparently, Dollywood is home to the world's largest Bald Eagle sanctuary.

We spend the rest of the day riding more rides and watching a show called "Sha-kon-oh-hey". Sam fell asleep on the way back to the camper and we just put him in bed when we got back.

Amy and I spent the rest of the night making dinner and watching the finale of "The Amazing Race" on cbs.com.

I can't really explain Dollywood better, but I have plenty of pictures.

Tomorrow: Apple Barn, Laurel Falls, Clingman's Dome, and Sam's first trip to the Gatlinburg strip.

Camping in the Smokies - Day 2 of 7

Sam was up bright and early. He was also full of energy and mischief. Sammy and Daddy went for a walk to give Mommy a little break from craziness for Mother's Day. On our walk, Sam found a new friend: Milton the Millipede. He lived on our picnic table until breakfast.

Mother's Day breakfast was a brief respite for the insanity. Amy wanted pancakes and sausage, so Amy got pancakes and sausage. After snarfing that down, we decided to head into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the drive to Cades Cove.

The drive there was great. Gatlinburg looks a lot like Gatlinburg always did. They are adding a new Hilton Garden Inn. It will be interesting to see a new/nice hotel on the Parkway.

Once we entered the park at the Gatlinburg Entrance, we jumped onto Little River Road and headed towards the Cove. We stopped for lunch at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. It was beautiful. Sam found some butterfly and goose friends. We will definitely return here every time we visit the Smokies.

Cades Cove was beautiful, as always. Sam got to pet a bear. Well, a bear skin. On the way out of the Cove we were behind the slowest car on the planet. It seems like that always happens.

Once we got back, we just stayed at the campground for the evening. We got to meet the owner, a GREAT guy. He even took Sam for a spin around the campground in his golf cart. He's a retired police chief from L.A.!

Monday: DOLLYWOOD!

Camping in the Smokies - Pictures Part 1

Amy and Sam on the banks of the Little River at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area

Our picnic view

Sunny at our campsite

Sam and his new buddy, Milton the Millipede

Our campsite

Cades Cove Road

Cades Cove Road

Cades Cove Road

Jon BARELY fitting in the camper shower...that is my head IN the skylight.

Camping in the Smokies - Day 1 of 7

So, we finally made it. I feel like I've been waiting for this vacation for years.

We made it on the road by 7:30am. The tires were performing just fine after 100 miles, so I think that we're okay. I'll check them regularly all week...for sure.

Fast forward to 40 minutes out and we're on I-40E 20 miles from our exit. We were trying to decide whether to take the "Parkway" exit and brave the nasty traffic through Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, or go to the exit that gives us the backdoor entry to our campground. We decided to pass up the "Parkway" and go down to 321. Big mistake.

What do I see now...a road closure. There was a posted detour, so we took it. Then, on one of those oh-so-helpful overhead signs, it said that the detour was 58 MILES!!!! So, we turned around, burning 35 minutes in the process.

The traffic wasn't so bad down the The Parkway (441). There were lots of changes that happened to that road since the last time that we were down here. Many of the show theaters (Lee Greenwood, Alabama) were closed and some new nice hotels popped up. The best addition (at least from the outside) is the new Inn at Christmas Place. It is STUNNING.

We got to the Great Smoky Jellystone and they did a great job checking us in. One of the sons of the owners hopped into a golf cart and guided us into our spot. It is a little uneven, but it is my fault for not bringing some leveling blocks (assuming that $37/night should buy you an level spot).

It's raining and Sam is in rare form, well...regular Sam form, so we decided to go out for dinner. We don't usually do that very much when camping (especially in Gatlinburg), but we decided it was worth it. I googled restaurants near our campground in Cosby, TN and it looked like Carver's Applehouse Restaurant was the place to go.

It was AWESOME! Amy and I agree that it had one of the best Grilled Chicken Breast Dinners that we had ever had (Apple Fritters with Apple Butter, Apple Julip, Salad, Grilled Chicken Breast with two vegetables, drink and dessert brownie for $11.75). It was great.

Now, we're going to play some 500 Rummy and fall asleep to the rushing creek outside our window.

Tomorrow: Mother's Day Breakfast/Dinner, Cade's Cove, Sam's first trolley ride.

Camping in the Smokies - Day minus 1

As any good camper knows, the prep is just as important as the camping. In fact, I actually enjoy getting ready. Ever since Amy and I aquired our 22' Fleetwood Wilderness trailer, we have been preparing for this trip. In fact, we have been planning it since December. Everything was ready; all items were ready to go.

My plan was to work a full day on Friday (until 4:45pm) and then go pick up the camper at our storage lot (Circle Storage) in Harrison, OH. That would have given us plenty of time to get home, load up, and get some sleep.

Ideally, I would have taken a half of a vacation day and left at noon. I hadn't planned on doing that because I was running out of vacation days. However, earlier in the day I had recieved an email telling me that a caroling gig that would have been during a work day was not going to go happen. So, one vacation day back in the hopper.

For some reason, I felt like I should go ahead and take a half day. I thought that I would probably get home and have plenty of time to wash the trailer in addition to the other stuff.

So, I left at noon and decided to stop at Berean Christian Books to spend some of my birthday money on something that I had wanted for a little while: a Pocket New Testament. It's cool...size and shape of a check book. After that I drove through Wendy's for a Double Stack...nice little double cheeseburger for a buck.

Anyway, I went from there to the storage lot and got there at about 1:00. I drove around to our spott and backed up to the camper. As always, I did a walk-around before hooking up. What should my wondering eye should appear, but a flat tire. Totally flat...no air.

These were BRAND NEW Toyo tires that I just purchased from Colerain RV not even 30 days ago. The tire in question was a bit of a problem for the technician. He had a hard time getting it "seated". He told me though that it wouldn't be a problem. We had even camped for a weekend at Big Bone Lick State Park. (awesome T-shirt store, by the way...check them all out.)

So, after I FLIPPED OUT, I called Colerain RV. They said that they did not have any of that wheel or tire in stock, but that they would come out to my storage lot, get the tire/wheel, take it somewhere and reseat it, then bring it back. I was skeptical, but I ran with it.

The nice lady at Colerain said that someone would be there in about an hour. So, I did what any sensible person would do: I plugged the RV into the nearest outlet at the storage lot and plugged in the TV. Unfortunately, the only show that would come in was The Bonnie Hunt Show. It was horrid, but it was the only thing on. After about 15 minutes, I started reading the gospel of Matthew in my New Testament...that helped me calm down.

It was still hot and humid wearing my work clothes out there. I ended up rolling up my pant legs and unbuttoning my shirt. I walked like that to the entrance to meet Jim, the Colerain RV guy. He got the tire off and went to find a tire store that would help him out.

So, hot and chic-looking Jon sat at the camper waiting for another 2 hours. Eventually, Jim came back with a working tire. THANK YOU GOD.

Seriously, from the time that I got the message that the caroling gig was cancelled, it is evident that God was directing me to GET TO THAT CAMPER. Had I not gotten there when I did, we wouldn't have been able to leave until 12 hours later than planned.

No problems getting it home...everything went well.