Day 54 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

Well....The day has arrived that we must pack up and get ready for our journey tomorrow. 
The chill is definitely in the air.  We had a lot of drizzle this morning, it seemed to clear up later in the afternoon.  My cousin Larry and his daughter Sydney came by and what a wonderful visit we had!  We wished Darlene could have come over, but unfortunately she's working.  No worries Darlene!!!  We will be back and you will get sick of us!! ha!

It was a great visit!  Larry and I got caught up and it felt good.  Poor Sydney, Tanner fell in love with her and wouldn't leave her alone!  But, lucky for Tanner, she adored his attention.  Darlene and Larry are so blessed with a wonderful daughter.  It was great getting to visit with her! 

John went and picked up Pizza for us, so it was Pizza, beer and football.  A man's Dream Come True!!!  It turned out to be a great day, great send off!  We'll be back before you know it!  We Loved it here!

After everything was hooked up and ready to go, we snuggled together in our little home away from home and watched my favorite channel HGTV....Looking forward to our new adventure ahead.

Cousin Larry and his daughter Sydney (3rd. cousin!!!)  Tanner is hitting on Sydney...

Tanner fell in love with Sydney!

Happy Cousins!!!  Larry, Sydney and me (Jackie)



John, Sydney and Larry



Day 53 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

Woke up to another beautiful day this morning.  Seems the heat decided to come back!  It's going to be a beautiful Summer day! 

We left early to go to the Sevierville, TN Flea Market.  Well, we didn't last their long, wasn't really that good.  So we went back to camp since it was getting so warm and enjoyed the RV Park.  We cleaned up around camp then headed to check out some of the colors around Gatlinburg.  We had dinner at "No Way Jose" Cantina.  GREAT Mexican food!

We enjoyed the evening in Gatlinburg!  We shared some Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry's...Yummy!!!  Checked out some stores to pick up some last minute souvenirs because we more than likely won't be back in Gatlinburg.

We are getting things picked up and ready four our journey back through Tennessee into Arkansas, Oklahoma etc...A LONG trip home!  We still intend to do a lot of sight seeing on our way back.  Should be a lot of fun!

The boys have really settled into the RV life.  They are adorable and have enjoyed it here in Tennessee.  As I write this, they are snoring!  Life is good!!!!

Day 52 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

We are having such a wonderful time here in Pigeon Forge!  Today we decided to just hang out around camp and run some errands.  We went to Sevierville to pick up dog food and treats for the boys.  They have done so well on this trip!  So many things to see everywhere.  Sevierville is quite large!  We shopped around and found a good pet store that carried our kind of doggie food.  Visited with the folks there.  Seems that wanted to sell John and I their business!  Sorry, that's a big NO to us, we are enjoying retirement waaaay to much!

We stopped in at the local grocery store and stocked up on food, beverages and other misc. items.  Since we are heading out on Sunday, we thought we would get the boring stuff done so we could enjoy the rest of our time here.

After we finished up our errands, we went back to camp and took the boys for a good long break.  They went swimming "again!"   Our neighbors were getting ready to leave, (Tanya & John) and came by to say good bye.  What nice people they are!!!  We shared some laughs and took some photos together.  Sure hope we cross paths again. 

We later went back to The Artist Loop just outside of Gatlinburg.  It seem's I have lost my Wiley X Prescription Sunglasses!  I'm sick about it!!!  But, as John has said over and over....they can be replaced, no big deal. 

Never found the sunglasses, so when we got back I put on my pj's and just pigged out on popcorn and watched Grey's Anatomy!

Campground Office

Beautiful Day at Up the Creek RV Park!

John, Jackie & Tanya...Atwork done by Tanya

Picture time everyone!!!

Day 51 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

Beautiful day today!  The colors are changing so quickly.  The mornings here are certainly much cooler than they were when we first got here.

We had such a wonderful time last night, John and I are running on adrenalin.  So much to talk about!!  It has just been so much fun hanging out with my cousin and his wife.  We were going to extend our stay here in Pigeon Forge, but unfortunately John is feeling a need to get back home to Washington so he can spend some time with his mom.  He has been in contact with the nursing home and it really sounds like she has taken a turn.

We spent the morning trying to figure out our plans for our return home and decided not to extend our trip on this end of the United States, but to take that time and extend it in Riverside, Washington to spend a few days with mom.  We know without a shadow of a doubt that we are returning to Knoxville/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee within the next couple of years!  There is just so much to do here.  Plus we have an IN on the area who can point us in the many directions that we need to see while we are here!  Thanks to my cousin Larry!

After making the difficult decision of leaving on Sunday : (  , we decided to hit the road and finish where we left of yesterday on the Artists Loop.  It's an 8 mile loop and what a fabulous time we had.  We ended up purchasing a few items made locally here in the Smoky Mtns.  Our prize possession was we had a Leather shop make special dog collars for our boys.  They turned out beautiful!

We left the Artist's Loop and took the Motor Nature Trail just outside of Gatlinburg.  The boys were with us so we were able to take them on some of the hiking trails.  (NOT!!!)  We were so disappointed that the dogs couldn't hike in with us, but understandingly so, the bears were out in full force today!  Many sightings today.  It was cool enough that we could leave the boys in the truck while we were able to hike in on some of the trails.  Beautiful scenery.  So very sad to see the vacant homes that use to be filled with love and wonderful times.  If only those walls could talk.  It's like an abandoned community in the Hills. 

A very relaxing day and a lot of photo opportunities.  The Fall weather is certainly here and we are loving it.

After an afternoon spent in the Smoky's, we went back to camp, made dinner and exercised the dogs.  We decided to spend the evening on the town in Gatlinburg.  So much fun at night time!  We listened to good music and had our first taste of Real Moonshine!  It was great stuff!  I guess I could have been a Hillbilly very easily!  Beautiful lights shine in Gatlinburg under the beautiful dark skies of the smoky mountains.  Great evening.

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"



Day 49 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

Not too much to BLOG about today.  We woke up to rain which was quite refreshing!  We decided to just take it easy today and stay around camp.  We enjoyed our neighbors company here in the park, then went to lunch at the Red Lobster.  John and I both had the "All You Can Eat" Shrimp...OMG!!!  I won't have to eat for the rest of the week!  The waiter kept bringing us shrimp and more shrimp.  Then before we left, he insisted we take some home with us, so he piled us up with a whole mess of shrimp and even added some shrimp pasta!  The best waiter ever!

After lunch I felt like shopping around and John wanted to head back to camp.  So he dropped me off in Pigeon Forge and I did some shopping while he went and gave the dogs a good break.

Today was very quiet, we hope to see more of the Smoky Mountains tomorrow.  We are loving it here and hate to leave.  When we head back, our plans are to go via: through Memphis, TN.     On our way there, we plan to make reservations to stay at the Loretta Lynn's RV Park and then off to stay at the Graceland RV Park.  Life is  Great on the Road here in Tennessee!  The Parks are really filling up because of the fall colors.  It's unbelieveable here!

Day 48 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

With the colors changing so quickly here in Tennessee, John and I decided we would take a nice Sunday drive up to Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park.  The locals are saying the leaves are falling a lot earlier than normal this year.  The leaves are turning here at the campground, but of course they are really turning color up on the higher elevations.

We left around 11:30, thinking we would be at the Dome by 12:30.  Well, we took the LONG and WINDY road to Clingman's Dome!  The drive was incredibly beautiful, but the roads are so darn narrow!  John had to pull in his side mirror in fear that someone was going to hit it from the other direction!

At 6,643 feet, we were finally there!  Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It IS the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi.  We took the path to the top of the dome which is extremely steep, but paved!  It's a little over a 1/2 mile hike to the top.  Once you get to the top, they have built an interesting structure that gets you above the treeline and gives you the best view inside the park.  We saw views of Tennessee and North Carolina.  On really clear days you can see four states from the dome.  You can also access the Appalachian Trail at Clingman's Dome.  It is a continuous marked footpath (a distance of about 2,160 miles) that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia.  I really wasn't in much of a mood for a hike like that today!!

We enjoyed the views and spent about 2 hours sightseeing at the dome, then headed back to camp!  A little overcast today and cooler than it has been.  Our neighbors in the campground left today and John and I hustled over to their campsite and got all the wood they left behind.  We're so darn cheap!!!  So a nice fire in the evening, the sound of crickets in the background and a wonderful evening it turned out to be!  Fantastic Sunday.