I took a couple of days off last week to make a 4-day weekend out of a trip to Breaks Interstate Park. I needed 4 days because it’s a 7-hour drive from Richmond. Which means it would be 9 hours from VA Beach. You never think of VA being that large, but the state extends way west. The park is basically due north of Knoxville, TN. The drive there takes you through the heart of Virginia coal country, which was not a part of the state I had visited in my 20+ years there. We did see this on the drive though.

I did not know there was an open Radio Shack left. In truth, I suspect it’s not actually selling Radio Shack type stuff, but they just left the sign. But I’m going to maintain the fantasy by assuming that had I really needed a 500 ohm resister, they would have had it for me.

The park is really remote - it’s a good 15-minute drive to the nearest gas station and two hours from an interstate highway, coming from the east. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve ever spent a weekend camping without leaving the park. Yet I still had a T-Mobile signal. I did not expect that.

The park is right on the VA-KY border, with a 1700-foot deep canyon with a river at the button as the primary feature. It’s billed as the Grand Canyon of the South.

On Friday we hiked, We did about 7.2 miles down the river and back in a lollipop. Don’t do that. The hike down to the river isn’t worth it as you only are on the river for about 50-100 yards, then it starts climbing again. And the trails are not well groomed. We took Laurel Branch down, and it’s basically a straight shot ¾ miles down the side of a cliff. There are a few switchbacks, but not enough. It had rained the previous day and the steepness and wetness made it treacherous. In many places it’s so narrow you are walking one foot in front of the other, and for large stretches you are right on a ledge with a multi-hundred foot fall one stumble away. It was a lot of fun in that “what the hell are we doing” way. Then at the bottom you get about 1 minute on the water and then the river trail starts a 1700-foot climb back up in one mile. That’s a 32% grade friends. The river trail at least is a series of short switchbacks.

Nice view for lunch but I'm not sure it was really worth the effort.

The Prospector Trail that run between the two trails is fabulous though. It runs at the base of some huge and amazing rock formations. It’s steep in places but not consistently, and rocky as all hell, but loads of fun.

They really don't want to rescue clueless tourists from the trail

I'm not kidding about the rocks

After the hike, we drove around the park and checked out the view from several overlooks that are the top of the rocks we were hiking along earlier in the day.

Sunday was kind of a repeat, except that after the Prospector trail we turned right instead of left on the Laurel Branch trail, staying above the river and among the rocks for about a 4-mile loop. There is a 2/3 mile out and back trail called the Geological Trail here that has a bunch of markers and a trail guide explaining the science behind all these huge rock formations. It was really interesting and I learned some stuff.

This was a natural arch many, many years ago.

After lunch, we lazied away the day lounging at the campsite reading and relaxing under postcard perfect blue skies and 72F temperatures. After grilling steaks for dinner on Saturday night we met up with a few other small camper folks that were there for an impromptu campfire party. Sitting around a campfire drinking with newly met friends was something I took for granted when camping prior to last year. But after camping about 30 nights last year barely speaking to another person other than my wife, I won’t take it for granted anymore. It’s the best part of camping.

Breaks is a neat park. They’ve got lodges, a swimming pool and ziplines (both closed, presumably due to COVID or maybe staffing issues), cabins, and a decent bathhouse in Campground D at least. But as I said at the top, getting there is a hike from just about anywhere.

I took a couple of days off last week to make a 4-day weekend out of a trip to Breaks Interstate Park. I needed 4 days because it’s a 7-hour drive from Richmond. Which means it would be 9 hours from VA Beach. You never think of VA being that large, but the state extends way west. The park is basically due north of Knoxville, TN. The drive there takes you through the heart of Virginia coal country, which was not a part of the state I had visited in my 20+ years there. We did see this on the drive though.

I did not know there was an open Radio Shack left. In truth, I suspect it’s not actually selling Radio Shack type stuff, but they just left the sign. But I’m going to maintain the fantasy by assuming that had I really needed a 500 ohm resister, they would have had it for me.

The park is really remote - it’s a good 15-minute drive to the nearest gas station and two hours from an interstate highway, coming from the east. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve ever spent a weekend camping without leaving the park. Yet I still had a T-Mobile signal. I did not expect that.

The park is right on the VA-KY border, with a 1700-foot deep canyon with a river at the button as the primary feature. It’s billed as the Grand Canyon of the South.

On Friday we hiked, We did about 7.2 miles down the river and back in a lollipop. Don’t do that. The hike down to the river isn’t worth it as you only are on the river for about 50-100 yards, then it starts climbing again. And the trails are not well groomed. We took Laurel Branch down, and it’s basically a straight shot ¾ miles down the side of a cliff. There are a few switchbacks, but not enough. It had rained the previous day and the steepness and wetness made it treacherous. In many places it’s so narrow you are walking one foot in front of the other, and for large stretches you are right on a ledge with a multi-hundred foot fall one stumble away. It was a lot of fun in that “what the hell are we doing” way. Then at the bottom you get about 1 minute on the water and then the river trail starts a 1700-foot climb back up in one mile. That’s a 32% grade friends. The river trail at least is a series of short switchbacks.

Nice view for lunch but I'm not sure it was really worth the effort.

The Prospector Trail that run between the two trails is fabulous though. It runs at the base of some huge and amazing rock formations. It’s steep in places but not consistently, and rocky as all hell, but loads of fun.

They really don't want to rescue clueless tourists from the trail

I'm not kidding about the rocks

After the hike, we drove around the park and checked out the view from several overlooks that are the top of the rocks we were hiking along earlier in the day.

Sunday was kind of a repeat, except that after the Prospector trail we turned right instead of left on the Laurel Branch trail, staying above the river and among the rocks for about a 4-mile loop. There is a 2/3 mile out and back trail called the Geological Trail here that has a bunch of markers and a trail guide explaining the science behind all these huge rock formations. It was really interesting and I learned some stuff.

This was a natural arch many, many years ago.

After lunch, we lazied away the day lounging at the campsite reading and relaxing under postcard perfect blue skies and 72F temperatures. After grilling steaks for dinner on Saturday night we met up with a few other small camper folks that were there for an impromptu campfire party. Sitting around a campfire drinking with newly met friends was something I took for granted when camping prior to last year. But after camping about 30 nights last year barely speaking to another person other than my wife, I won’t take it for granted anymore. It’s the best part of camping.

Breaks is a neat park. They’ve got lodges, a swimming pool and ziplines (both closed, presumably due to COVID or maybe staffing issues), cabins, and a decent bathhouse in Campground D at least. But as I said at the top, getting there is a hike from just about anywhere.

It's been a while since I added to these Musings. That's not because nothing's been happening. Or, truth be told, it's more like because nothing has been happening. When I'm not working, we've been doing just that — nothing.

Nothing, as in relaxing and enjoying the down time. Some of that has been necessitated by a long period of dull and wet weather. I skipped shooting last weekend for lack of desire to be running through water. Fortunately the screen porch is fit for other activities.

Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro, a humidor staple

Fratello DMV Maduro Selection (Maryland)

Fratello DMV Maduro Selection (Delaware)

Montecristo Open, a Cuban brought back from Ireland a few years back

Liga Sun Grown Maduro

We are pleased to announce the winner of the Spring 2021 Andrew Flusche Scholarship: Amy George!

Here’s a little bit about Amy:

I’m Amy George, and I’m from Bothell, Washington. I’m studying at DigiPen: Institute of Technology to become a professional digital artist and animator. I love storytelling through comics and animations, but outside of drawing I enjoy crafting and building with Legos. My dream job would be working as a toy designer.

The post Spring 2021 – Andrew Flusche Scholarship Winner appeared first on Andrew Flusche.

On Wednesday we packed up and made the one-hour drive to Gatlinburg. We stayed at the Greenbriar Campground, wedged between two Class A RVs. It makes for a funny picture, but I really don’t get why somebody spends $385,000 (base price of the RV on the right) to basically never come out of the RV. No campfires, no cookouts, nothing. He had adult kids also at the campground, and we saw him drive the John Deer over to them once or twice. The campground wasn’t large enough to need a golf cart for anything. I circled the entire campground on a walk in about 10 minutes. We were right on the river, the bath house was quite nice, and the wifi was usable. So not the worst campground to use as a home base to explore the National Park, but it was probably the least friendly campground I’ve been to. It just had a vibe that I did not like. Michelle overhead two moms with 15 kids between them (not a typo) complaining that the bath house was insufficient for their needs, and they were late getting to Dollywood while they tried to get 15 kids showered. You can imagine just how little sympathy I felt upon hearing that story. I also did the math on 15 kids and 4 adults at Dollyworld for the day. They’ll be spending over $1000, easy.

Wednesday was kind of cool and rainy, so we didn’t do a lot. We wandered the streets of Gatlinburg, and about all I can say about Gatlinburg is that if I had to pick between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’d pick Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg is at least walkable, although you are walking from a tacky t-shirt shop to a taffy shop to an “old tyme” photo shop to a candy shop to a restaurant, then back to another t-shirt shop to repeat the cycle, for about 10 blocks on both sides of the road. It kind of reminded me of Panama City Beach circa 1979. Most of the hotels are locally owned non chain places, which is cool. 1979 me would love 2021 Gatlinburg. 2021 me is over it. We planned to go to the Salt and Pepper Museum (over 20,000 salt and pepper shakers!), because why the hell would you not go there? Alas, it is only open 10-2 during the week, and we stopped by at 3 PM.

Earlier in week while watching some bad movie we downloaded from Netflix at night in the camper there was a photo booth scene and I mentioned that I had never actually done a photo booth photo. So when we walked by a photo booth in Gatlinburg we knew what we had to do.

On Thursday we headed back into the park and made our way to Clingmans Dome and then all the way to Cherokee, NC, where we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Along the way we stopped at various scenic overlooks and did a couple of short hikes. It was low 60s and comfy when we left the campground and about 41 and windy at Clingmans Dome. The ½ mile paved walk to the observation tower at the peak is a real leg burner, as the pitch is pretty steep. Michelle has been nursing a sore hip, so she hung out at the car and chilled while I made a workout of the trip up by attempting to walk it at a normal walking pace with no breaks. I needed one break, and my legs were feeling it when I made it to the top. The view was worth the effort.

The museum in Cherokee was interesting, but it’s an old school museum with no interactive elements, just a bunch of static displays and a lot of reading to learn the history of the Cherokee people. I was there to learn, so I was fine, but I could see kids being bored sick there. In fact, we did see kids, causing trouble because they were bored, and their parents weren’t paying attention. It’s interesting to see businesses using wigwam in their name or totem poles in their imagery in Cherokee, as none of that has anything to do with the Cherokee people. They didn’t wear big feathered headdresses either.

Friday we hit the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, which is similar to Cades Cove. It’s a six mile one lane one way road weaving through the mountains exploring the history of the area, with a few scenic overviews. We didn’t see any bears, or really any wildlife. Then we met local friends for lunch at a BBQ joint in Gatlinburg, where we ended up lingering for 3 hours. Late afternoon I hit a trailhead about 15 minutes from a campground for a nice 4-mile hike to a waterfall that I couldn’t really see because the foliage was so thick. Oh well, it was a nice hike and I got to cross this sketchy bridge about 20-30 feet above the rocky river. Falling would have probably been certain death. (Hyperbole. Maybe)

We spent our last evening of vacation chilling at the campground. Saturday AM we headed home. The lunch / gas stop in Bristol TN was a little sketchy as two of the three gas stations at the exit were dry, and the third only had 87 octane, which was what I needed, so it was fine. That made me a little nervous based on the news about gas shortages in VA but the gas stations along I-81 in VA were fine.

So, the Smokey Mountains vacation is in the books. I love the Smokies, and I could spend weeks there hiking. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’ll be fine with if I never visit again. 2021 camping season is off to a good start. Next up, Breaks Interstate park on the VA - KY border in early June, for a weekend of hiking.

On Wednesday we packed up and made the one-hour drive to Gatlinburg. We stayed at the Greenbriar Campground, wedged between two Class A RVs. It makes for a funny picture, but I really don’t get why somebody spends $385,000 (base price of the RV on the right) to basically never come out of the RV. No campfires, no cookouts, nothing. He had adult kids also at the campground, and we saw him drive the John Deere over to them once or twice. The campground wasn’t large enough to need a golf cart for anything. I circled the entire campground on a walk in about 10 minutes. We were right on the river, the bath house was quite nice, and the wifi was usable. So not the worst campground to use as a home base to explore the National Park, but it was probably the least friendly campground I’ve been to. It just had a vibe that I did not like. Michelle overhead two moms with 15 kids between them (not a typo) complaining that the bath house was insufficient for their needs, and they were late getting to Dollywood while they tried to get 15 kids showered. You can imagine just how little sympathy I felt upon hearing that story. I also did the math on 15 kids and 4 adults at Dollyworld for the day. They’ll be spending over $1000, easy.

Wednesday was kind of cool and rainy, so we didn’t do a lot. We wandered the streets of Gatlinburg, and about all I can say about Gatlinburg is that if I had to pick between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’d pick Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg is at least walkable, although you are walking from a tacky t-shirt shop to a taffy shop to an “old tyme” photo shop to a candy shop to a restaurant, then back to another t-shirt shop to repeat the cycle, for about 10 blocks on both sides of the road. It kind of reminded me of Panama City Beach circa 1979. Most of the hotels are locally owned non chain places, which is cool. 1979 me would love 2021 Gatlinburg. 2021 me is over it. We planned to go to the Salt and Pepper Museum (over 20,000 salt and pepper shakers!), because why the hell would you not go there? Alas, it is only open 10-2 during the week, and we stopped by at 3 PM.

Earlier in week while watching some bad movie we downloaded from Netflix at night in the camper there was a photo booth scene and I mentioned that I had never actually done a photo booth photo. So when we walked by a photo booth in Gatlinburg we knew what we had to do.

On Thursday we headed back into the park and made our way to Clingmans Dome and then all the way to Cherokee, NC, where we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Along the way we stopped at various scenic overlooks and did a couple of short hikes. It was low 60s and comfy when we left the campground and about 41 and windy at Clingmans Dome. The ½ mile paved walk to the observation tower at the peak is a real leg burner, as the pitch is pretty steep. Michelle has been nursing a sore hip, so she hung out at the car and chilled while I made a workout of the trip up by attempting to walk it at a normal walking pace with no breaks. I needed one break, and my legs were feeling it when I made it to the top. The view was worth the effort.

The museum in Cherokee was interesting, but it’s an old school museum with no interactive elements, just a bunch of static displays and a lot of reading to learn the history of the Cherokee people. I was there to learn, so I was fine, but I could see kids being bored sick there. In fact, we did see kids, causing trouble because they were bored, and their parents weren’t paying attention. It’s interesting to see businesses using wigwam in their name or totem poles in their imagery in Cherokee, as none of that has anything to do with the Cherokee people. They didn’t wear big feathered headdresses either.

Friday we hit the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, which is similar to Cades Cove. It’s a six mile one lane one way road weaving through the mountains exploring the history of the area, with a few scenic overviews. We didn’t see any bears, or really any wildlife. Then we met local friends for lunch at a BBQ joint in Gatlinburg, where we ended up lingering for 3 hours. Late afternoon I hit a trailhead about 15 minutes from a campground for a nice 4-mile hike to a waterfall that I couldn’t really see because the foliage was so thick. Oh well, it was a nice hike and I got to cross this sketchy bridge about 20-30 feet above the rocky river. Falling would have probably been certain death. (Hyperbole. Maybe)

We spent our last evening of vacation chilling at the campground. Saturday AM we headed home. The lunch / gas stop in Bristol TN was a little sketchy as two of the three gas stations at the exit were dry, and the third only had 87 octane, which was what I needed, so it was fine. That made me a little nervous based on the news about gas shortages in VA but the gas stations along I-81 in VA were fine.

So, the Smokey Mountains vacation is in the books. I love the Smokies, and I could spend weeks there hiking. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’ll be fine with if I never visit again. 2021 camping season is off to a good start. Next up, Breaks Interstate park on the VA - KY border in early June, for a weekend of hiking.

On Wednesday we packed up and made the one-hour drive to Gatlinburg. We stayed at the Greenbriar Campground, wedged between two Class A RVs. It makes for a funny picture, but I really don’t get why somebody spends $385,000 (base price of the RV on the right) to basically never come out of the RV. No campfires, no cookouts, nothing. He had adult kids also at the campground, and we saw him drive the John Deer over to them once or twice. The campground wasn’t large enough to need a golf cart for anything. I circled the entire campground on a walk in about 10 minutes. We were right on the river, the bath house was quite nice, and the wifi was usable. So not the worst campground to use as a home base to explore the National Park, but it was probably the least friendly campground I’ve been to. It just had a vibe that I did not like. Michelle overhead two moms with 15 kids between them (not a typo) complaining that the bath house was insufficient for their needs, and they were late getting to Dollywood while they tried to get 15 kids showered. You can imagine just how little sympathy I felt upon hearing that story. I also did the math on 15 kids and 4 adults at Dollyworld for the day. They’ll be spending over $1000, easy.

Wednesday was kind of cool and rainy, so we didn’t do a lot. We wandered the streets of Gatlinburg, and about all I can say about Gatlinburg is that if I had to pick between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’d pick Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg is at least walkable, although you are walking from a tacky t-shirt shop to a taffy shop to an “old tyme” photo shop to a candy shop to a restaurant, then back to another t-shirt shop to repeat the cycle, for about 10 blocks on both sides of the road. It kind of reminded me of Panama City Beach circa 1979. Most of the hotels are locally owned non chain places, which is cool. 1979 me would love 2021 Gatlinburg. 2021 me is over it. We planned to go to the Salt and Pepper Museum (over 20,000 salt and pepper shakers!), because why the hell would you not go there? Alas, it is only open 10-2 during the week, and we stopped by at 3 PM.

Earlier in week while watching some bad movie we downloaded from Netflix at night in the camper there was a photo booth scene and I mentioned that I had never actually done a photo booth photo. So when we walked by a photo booth in Gatlinburg we knew what we had to do.

On Thursday we headed back into the park and made our way to Clingmans Dome and then all the way to Cherokee, NC, where we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Along the way we stopped at various scenic overlooks and did a couple of short hikes. It was low 60s and comfy when we left the campground and about 41 and windy at Clingmans Dome. The ½ mile paved walk to the observation tower at the peak is a real leg burner, as the pitch is pretty steep. Michelle has been nursing a sore hip, so she hung out at the car and chilled while I made a workout of the trip up by attempting to walk it at a normal walking pace with no breaks. I needed one break, and my legs were feeling it when I made it to the top. The view was worth the effort.

The museum in Cherokee was interesting, but it’s an old school museum with no interactive elements, just a bunch of static displays and a lot of reading to learn the history of the Cherokee people. I was there to learn, so I was fine, but I could see kids being bored sick there. In fact, we did see kids, causing trouble because they were bored, and their parents weren’t paying attention. It’s interesting to see businesses using wigwam in their name or totem poles in their imagery in Cherokee, as none of that has anything to do with the Cherokee people. They didn’t wear big feathered headdresses either.

Friday we hit the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, which is similar to Cades Cove. It’s a six mile one lane one way road weaving through the mountains exploring the history of the area, with a few scenic overviews. We didn’t see any bears, or really any wildlife. Then we met local friends for lunch at a BBQ joint in Gatlinburg, where we ended up lingering for 3 hours. Late afternoon I hit a trailhead about 15 minutes from a campground for a nice 4-mile hike to a waterfall that I couldn’t really see because the foliage was so thick. Oh well, it was a nice hike and I got to cross this sketchy bridge about 20-30 feet above the rocky river. Falling would have probably been certain death. (Hyperbole. Maybe)

We spent our last evening of vacation chilling at the campground. Saturday AM we headed home. The lunch / gas stop in Bristol TN was a little sketchy as two of the three gas stations at the exit were dry, and the third only had 87 octane, which was what I needed, so it was fine. That made me a little nervous based on the news about gas shortages in VA but the gas stations along I-81 in VA were fine.

So, the Smokey Mountains vacation is in the books. I love the Smokies, and I could spend weeks there hiking. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’ll be fine with if I never visit again. 2021 camping season is off to a good start. Next up, Breaks Interstate park on the VA - KY border in early June, for a weekend of hiking.

Last week I made a quick run to the outdoor range for a little stress release. While I enjoyed the time spent shooting, it wasn't the most interesting part of the outing. As I fired my first shots my electronic ear protection allowed me to hear the unmistakable chatter of a Bluebird behind me. I turned and saw this male Eastern Bluebird fluttering against the passenger side window of my vehicle. He seemed quite annoyed. 

A few minutes later he was back. This time his interest focused on the driver side. His mate made an appearance as well. They both would fly around the car, before flying off together but returning again and again.

At times, their attention was focused on the windshield. Other visits they perched on the back window. I became fascinated by watching the antics of the pair.

I was at the range for a little over an hour. The curious, or upset (?) birds continued their visits the entire time. When it was time to leave, I was apprehensive about opening the back hatch to load my gear, not wanting the birds' curiosity to extend to inside the vehicle. I gathered all my belongings at the back the car and loaded quickly. As I packed up, I could see the male Bluebird watching from the windshield, perched on a wiper.

It was a very interesting encounter with these beautiful birds. However I did need to wash the car afterwards as the visitors had left a more than a few calling cards as a mementos.

I took off 4 hours from work between Jan 1 and May 8, and that was to get my 2nd COVID shot. To say I was in need of a vacation is an understatement. This was also our first camping trip of the year.

We left Friday and drove a couple of hours to the Lexington VA KOA and spent the night, just to squeeze in an extra night of camping into the trip. We had kindred spirits for neighbors that night.

On Saturday we made our way to Townsend VA, the quiet side of the Smokies, to the KOA there. It’s a nice KOA, if a bit tight. The bathhouse was clean with plenty of hot water, and they have the best campground wifi I’ve experienced. Even sold out over the weekend we could download movies on Netflix to watch later. And the location, less than a mile from the western entrance to GSMNP can’t be beat.

Sasquatch or Furry?

On Sunday we checked out the Cades Cove area while staying off the one-way loop road that was backed up to hell. We did a short hike in the campground and then later I did a longer hike on Middle Prong Trail while Michelle relaxed back at the campsite. We also did the scenic Foothills Parkway drive, taking a short hike to a lookout tower. As usual, we gave a few tours of the camper and met other kindred spirit small camper folks that were also camping near us.

The hike followed the river all the way, with multiple rapid and waterfalls along the way

Old Cadillac in the woods. It was almost certainly a Slick Black Cadillac back in the day

Monday was rainy and barely 50 degrees, so we drove up to Pigeon Forge to visit the Titanic Museum. It’s a great museum, and built mostly from one guy’s personal collection. It won’t surprise you to learn that the odds of surviving the Titanic disaster were directly proportional to the cost of your cabin on the boat.

Largest Lego Titanic ever built

Museum exterior

Pigeon Force is an amazing tourist trap, perfectly designed to separate money from people that think a Hatfield and McCoy dinner theater would be a cool way to spend money.

A master class in tourist traps

I am not one of those people, although I am deeply curious about just how bad the history is at one particular dinner show. But not curious enough to spend probably over $100 to be subjected to a mediocre meal and a bad Lost Cause theater production.

So now I’ve been to Pigeon Forge and I never have to go back.

On Monday evening we had our first meal in a restaurant in over a year. We went to a local steak and fish place aptly named the Trailhead Steak and Trout restaurant near the campground. With trout in the name I had to have the rainbow trout and it was excellent, as was Michelle's catfish. Eating in a restaurant was not nearly as weird as I thought it might be.

On Tuesday we went back to do the full Cades Cove tour, taking about 3 hours to make it around the 11-mile loop, with lots of stops to check out historic cabins and scenic views. I also learned that most people have never seen a bear outside a zoo. Twice we got stuck in big backups on the one-lane road as people just stopped in the middle of the road to gawk at bears. In one case the bear was a good 200 yards across a field, and you could barely see it without binoculars. I had binoculars so after parking off the road we watched the bear for a couple of minutes and shared the binoculars with nearby folks who were seeing their first bear ever.

Late Tuesday I did another solo hike while Michelle relaxed. (It’s a theme of our camping trips).

On Wednesday we moved to the Greenbriar campground near Gatlinburg. I’ll save that for the next post.

I took off 4 hours from work between Jan 1 and May 8, and that was to get my 2nd COVID shot. To say I was in need of a vacation is an understatement. This was also our first camping trip of the year.

We left Friday and drove a couple of hours to the Lexington VA KOA and spent the night, just to squeeze an extra night of camping into the trip. We had kindred spirits for neighbors that night.

On Saturday we made our way to Townsend TN, the quiet side of the Smokies, to the KOA there. It’s a nice KOA, if a bit tight. The bathhouse was clean with plenty of hot water, and they have the best campground wifi I’ve experienced. Even sold out over the weekend we could download movies on Netflix to watch later. And the location, less than a mile from the western entrance to GSMNP can’t be beat.

I was downloading from Netflix because the thumb drive I brought that was supposed to have movies, etc. to watch at night was instead a Linux boot drive. That's the second time I've brought a Linux boot drive instead of a media drive camping. I might have too many USB drives lying around my office.

Sasquatch or Furry?

On Sunday we checked out the Cades Cove area while staying off the one-way loop road that was backed up to hell. We did a short hike in the Cades Cove campground and then later I did a longer hike on Middle Prong Trail while Michelle relaxed back at the campsite. We also did the scenic Foothills Parkway drive, taking a short hike to a lookout tower. As usual, we gave a few tours of the camper and met other kindred spirit small camper folks that were also camping near us.

The hike followed the river all the way, with multiple rapid and waterfalls along the way

Old Cadillac in the woods. It was almost certainly a Slick Black Cadillac back in the day.

Monday was rainy and barely 50 degrees, so we drove up to Pigeon Forge to visit the Titanic Museum. It’s a great museum, and built mostly from one guy’s personal collection. It won’t surprise you to learn that the odds of surviving the Titanic disaster were directly proportional to the cost of your cabin on the boat.

Largest Lego Titanic ever built

Museum exterior

Pigeon Force is an amazing tourist trap, perfectly designed to separate money from people that think a Hatfield and McCoy dinner theater would be a cool way to spend money.

A master class in tourist traps

I am not one of those people, although I am deeply curious about just how bad the history is at one particular dinner show. But not curious enough to spend probably over $100 to find out.

So now I’ve been to Pigeon Forge and I never have to go back.

On Monday evening we had our first meal in a restaurant in over a year. We went to a local steak and fish place aptly named the Trailhead Steak and Trout restaurant near the campground. With trout in the name I had to have the rainbow trout and it was excellent, as was Michelle's catfish. Eating in a restaurant was not nearly as weird as I thought it might be.

On Tuesday we went back to do the full Cades Cove tour, taking about 3 hours to make it around the 11-mile loop, with lots of stops to check out historic cabins and scenic views. I also learned that most people have never seen a bear outside a zoo. Twice we got stuck in big backups on the one-lane road as people just stopped in the middle of the road to gawk at bears. In one case the bear was a good 200 yards across a field, and you could barely see it without binoculars. I had binoculars so after parking off the road we watched the bear for a couple of minutes and shared the binoculars with nearby folks who were seeing their first bear ever. I see bears all the time hiking in Shenandoah NP, just didn't occur to me that it's not a common thing for most folks.

The first stop on the drive is the oldest structure in the park, a cabin built in 1830. It's a 5 minute stroll across a flat field. 95% of the visitors don't bother to stop. It was the same at every possible stop in the park. Why visit a National Park if you don't want to get out of the car and actually visit the National Park?

Late Tuesday I did another solo hike while Michelle relaxed. (It’s a theme of our camping trips).

On Wednesday we moved to the Greenbriar campground near Gatlinburg. I’ll save that for the next post.