Day 50 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

It's hard for us to believe we have been gone 50 Days!!!  This has been such an amazing journey and we are so blessed to have had such wonderful weather & safe travels.  Waking up in the presence of the Smoky Mtns. in Tennessee is an amazing experience.  The fresh air here is that of something we haven't really experienced before.  The scents are of a sweet nature, it's very hard to explain.

Today we decided to take a nice drive through the Artists Loop just outside of Gatlinburg.  What a wonderful experience!  Neither John or I had any idea how many local artists there were in this area.  We under estimated how much time it would take us to do this loop!  We thought 4 hours would be plenty, but to watch these artists do their work right in front of you was so educational!  I was so taken by all the different talents!  What a fabulous experience to see so many artists in one area.  They say it's one of the "Largest" Arts and Crafts Ccommunities in the United States.

We couldn't be gone too long as we had plans to meet with Larry and Darlene to go to the Dixie Stampede tonight.  So we decided that we would finish the Artists Loop tomorrow so it would give us plenty of time to take the dogs swimming and play fetch before we got together with Larry and Darlene tonight.

We drove back to camp and took the dogs to go play in the park.  Of course within just a few minutes, Tanner and Frankie were in the creek!  We all played for about an hour, then noticed Tanner and Frankie had their noses in the air...they were catching the scent of something, then before we knew it we could smell the stench.  It was a musty, pungent smell.  John and I got the dogs leashed up and went back to camp and talked with the park owner.  We told him we thought maybe there was a bear in the area, we explained the odor.  He indicated that the black bears are in the area frequently and that was more than likely what we smelled.  We may not have seen a bear while we've been here, but we got to smell one!!! lol

We enjoyed some of our time at our RV site visiting our neighbors, when all of a sudden our neighbors John and Tanya came over and surprised us with a beautiful oil painting that I had watched her paint during her stay here at the RV park.  She and John wanted us to have it as a gift and an inspiration to take a class in painting when I get back home.  Painting could be a great stress reliever!  What a thoughtful and wonderful thing they did!  We have met the nicest people here in Tennessee!  We have the painting hanging in our RV and will cherish it and think of John and Tanya every time we admire it.

It wasn't 10 minutes after that lovely surprise when John's phone rang and wouldn't you know it....Another Surprise!!!  Larry and Darlene were right at our doorstep!!!  What a great afternoon.  We visited and then cleaned all up to go out to dinner with them.  Larry and Darlene chauffeured us to the Dixie Stampede.  What a fantastic Dinner Show!  John and I could not believe the performance!  We would Highly recommend it to anyone visiting Pigeon Forge.  Great food, Great company, Fantastic Show!

A BIG Thank you to Larry & Darlene along with their dear friend Tami for getting us such wonderful seats at the show!  We appreciate the discount on the tickets.

Galleries everywhere!

Love the Fall Decorations!

The Artwork was incredible!

My Cousin Larry & his wife Darlene

John, Jackie & Larry



The Gang at the Dixie Stampede "Dinner Show"