Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg

This is proving to be a very interesting Region and we are learning more about it each day here. It is truly a vacation destination - besides being Dolly Parton's hometown. Yes, Dollywood is located here too. On day 2 we took a morning drive down Highway 441 traveling from our location at River Plantation RV Park through Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg. What an amazing drive. As we drove down through Pigeon Forge, we started noticing the cars. For over 2 miles driving through the main drag of Pigeon Forge Old, Classic, Antique, you name it cars were lined up at just about every business.......

At one point we passed the Clampetts old heap driving down the road, complete with the chairs up top for Granny and Ellie Mae. Couldn't be sure if it was Jethro driving....... And then we were through Pigeon Forge and on our way to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg.

Parking at the Welcome Center

Downtown Gatlinburg- what a beautiful town and area

This next picture has a story associated with it......

Parkway Liquor Store

And here goes the story. When we arrived at Sevierville, we noted that we needed to replenish our supply of wine (for the Happy Hours, of course). So off to Walmart we went. Not. Grocery stores in Tennessee only sell Beer and mixers. No wine, no liquor. So, we did what we would normally do - pull out the iphone and google package stores in Sevierville. Guess what? The NEAREST package store(the only stores that sell liquor and wine) was in Gatlinburg - 10 miles away. Must be a religion thing.  So, off to Gatlinburg, to find the Package Store. And just as I/We suspected, the same wine we bought at Walmart in every other state was all of a sudden $5.00 per container more. At this point we weren't sure if it was about religion or about the money. Anyways, we got our stuff, paid and were back on our way. Gatlinburg BTW is really a nice looking town - touristy like Pigeon Forge, but still nice. Try to imagine Disney World and you'll get the idea. Sadly to say, we didn't make it to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co for lunch.

Note the houses and condo's on hillside. Was like this all around this area.

With our business done in Gatlinburg, we headed back towards Pigeon Forge. While stopped at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center, I spoke with one of the Rangers and he asked if we were in the area for the car show. I replied no, and asked him about the show. He said this was one of 3 major car shows held. People and cars come from everywhere for it. What we saw coming through today(thursday) was nothing - on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we 'd be lucky to even get through Pigeon Forge - constant parades of cars going up and down the street. And we saw more when we went back through.......

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

Main drag- Pigeon Forge Car Show

For almost 2 miles - on both sides of the 4 lane divided highway road there were nothing but cars. Old cars, classic cars, trucks, you name it. It is a 3 day + show. Cars are bought, sold, traded along with parts associated with restoring an old car. It is definitely an event.

Previously I likened the area to Disney World. I don't think that I was far off the mark......

Upside down house...along 441 south of Sevierville

Hatfields & McCoys Dinner Show. And yes, we were taking all these pics as we drove down the road.

Yes, that is a gorilla.

Oh, yes. We were down here for the SKP Rally.

Mobile Suites Units on display. We were ready to take the Tri-Axle home with us(it had a room off of the living room all set up for at least 2 sewing machines).

Happy Hour Thursday afternoon. Amazing the stories that you hear. The couple facing us just got finished telling us story of how they got locked INSIDE their Coach.

After breakfast Friday morning

 The breakfast Friday morning was provided by SkyMed - part of the price they pay for being able to put on a presentation. When the presentation was done, they had a drawing for 10 - 1 week vacations. And guess who won one? We never win anything, but today we apparently did. So now we have to look up the details and see how much this free vacation is going to cost us.

A selfie?

Most of the people we've met here are from the East(East half of the US). We sat with a couple from Missouri, a couple from Hickory, NC and another from Florida. Interesting mix. Did meet up with Cynthia - the one I met in Tucson and who suggested we come to this event. Also volunteered to help out Jim and Lisa Koca with the Smartweigh Program weighing vehicles on Tuesday.

All in all, it has been fun so far. This is really a nice park, the group seems nice(like all SKP's are), and last night I got a hold of a sticker that I have been looking for: Home is Where You Park It. Also picked up an SKPACRE shirt for my collection.

The rainy, cloudy weather has been hanging in there. Hopefully it breaks before we leave. Would really be nice to see the sun again.

The Road Home 2015 - West Memphis to Sevierville, TN

Did it ever rain in West Memphis on 4/13! It was so bad, we actually got a flash flood warning on iPhone. To make matters worse, about 9:00 we heard some noise outside and it was our neighbors hooking up and leaving. Definitely not a good sign. I looked around and the river did not appear to be rising and nobody else was apparently leaving, so we decided to tough it out. Besides - where were we going to go? Well, we made it through the night, despite all the rain. Reports had as much as 4" falling in our immediate area and while there were definitely some flooded areas near us, we were ok.

Our spot- nice long pull throughs

We got up to the sounds of a pair of Killdear outside our trailer and a barge heading upstream. Got ready to head out.

How they could push that volume against that current and still control everything. Unbelievable!

As we were getting ready to head out we made a change in plans. Instead of driving from West Memphis and staying over for the night in the Nashville area we decided to drive straight through to Sevierville, a trip of just around 435 miles. We got an early start and the plan was to break up the driving - every 2 hrs or so, make a rest area stop. Stay awake and alert being the plan.

First Rest Stop of the day- about 138 miles in to the days trip

Nice clean rest area

And perks for the Troopers. Assigned parking right up front.

Traveling we noted:  Tennessee is bright and green. Most of the trees are leaved out. The Dogwood & Redbud are in bloom. White Narcissus dot the highway banks. In the Smokey Mtns the yellow dandelions are visited by bumblebees. And Robins are everywhere. Beautiful hillside fields are populated with black angus beef cattle.

As we approached Nashville we started seeing I 40 road signs that were kind of different and neat:

"Exit to text it"

"Buckleup Buttercup, arrive alive"----this one appeared about every 2-3 miles or so all the way through Nashville.

Not too bad getting through Nashville, although heavy traffic is not one of my favorite things. But we made it. Mary was glad she wasn't driving.  Knoxville was a little more of the same. Trying at times. You just never know with the crazy drivers on the road these days and especially watching these fools that are always in a hurry. For us, traveling eastbound on I 40 was a good thing today. We did not experience one slowdown or backup all day. Not so for those heading westbound as we counted at least 3 major traffic jams where traffic was backed up for miles and barely moving. And then we cleared Knoxville and took the exit for Sevierville and soon we were checking in at River Plantation RV Resort. And then we were setting up at our site.

First try - after a long day of driving

Re-positioned next day.

Beautiful park. Pretty much full. Had a visitor right after we managed to get settled and unhooked. Big Class A at end of our row were from VT, East Burke. She had to come down and say hello. She and her husband were on their way back to Vt from Florida and this was a stop they made every year. Enjoyable talking with her- they too were worried about mud season. Time for a good nights sleep - after a cold beer. Or two. Definitely a long day. A good nights sleep is in order. Tomorrow we are off to Walmart for some supplies before getting things kicked off with Happy Hour with SKPACRE group.

The Road Home 2015 - West Memphis, AR

Well, we hit the road early today, trying to miss all the anticipated heavy rain and thunder storms predicted for the area. Just started to rain lightly as we left. Intermittent rain for most of the morning, but nothing serious. Along the way we went by or through or around Lake Dardenelle. Name familiar as Bass has held some Fishing Tournaments here. Will have to check it out. Our first stop of the morning was for gas in Maumelle, AR.....gas prices still holding at reasonable $2.19 per gallon......

I 40 on / off

We continued on I 40 heading towards Little Rock. Once past the Little Rock exits, I started noticing Bass Boats. Evidently the West Coast guys(Arizona, California) were heading home from the just concluded tournament on Lake Guntersville, AL. The first rig I saw had the Gander Mtn colors of Dean Rojas. Next we saw Brent Ehler and then Skeet Reese. Three other rigs passed us, but I was unable to identify them. Interesting.
Another 1 hr of driving and it was time for a break, so we took advantage of one of Arkansas beautiful rest areas......

Rest area along I 40 east of Little Rock

After 273 miles of driving we exited I 40 at exit 280 in West Memphis, and headed to Tom Sawyer's RV Park. Definitely as nice as I have had described to me. We have a paved spot right on the Mississippi River.

Airstream looking good.

Mary and Molly decided to go for a combination walk / sniff......

Yes, that is the Mississippi right in our back yard!

They were not kidding when they said the water can overflow the banks here.....

The sign says it all. That must have been a lot of water!!!!!!!

We are here for just one night. Definitely have to think about coming back here for a little more time. I know we would both love to experience Beal Street. A nights rest and then on the road again tomorrow am. Destination tomorrow is somewhere east of Nashville so that we'll have just a short hop in to Sevierville on Wednesday morning.

The Road Home 2015- Oklahoma to Arkansas

On the morning of 4/12/2015, we packed up and left our nice spot in the Walmart Parking lot in El Reno, OK, got back on I 40 heading east. 15 miles up the road we come to the town of Yukon. A big sign greets us with the fact that it is the home town of Garth Brooks. This would be the first of many informative signs that we would come across this morning. A little farther down the road was Oklahoma City and a Bass Pro Shops location and me being me, just couldn't drive by without stopping. Unfortunately we found it located in a really downtown setting and not one I wanted to fool around with since I was pulling a trailer. So, we erred on the side of caution and remained on I 40 and continued on. Disappointment first thing.

As we drove we continued seeing signs pointing out things of interest about particular towns, as for example, Henryetta, OK announced itself as the birthplace of Troy Aikman. Oologam as the birthplace of Wil Rogers. Pretty interesting stuff. But the thing that we really noticed was the constant reference to Indian tribes, as in: Leaving Cheyenne Arapaho Nation. And the more we traveled the more different tribes/lands we came across.

• Cherokee
• Seminole
• Kickapoo
• Sac
• Fox
• Shawnee
• Choctaw
• Creek(Muscogee)
• Patawatomi
• Arapaho
• Chickasaw

We both got curious and Mary fired up the Hot Spot, took out her iPad and started doing some research and what she found was interesting, to say the least.

Signs referencing the Trail of Tears  were seen in many places, most notably National Parks located along our way. What she found in her research is best described by clicking on the link to the Trail of Tears above, but in short, all of this was the result of the Indian Relocation Act of 1830 (which actually continued on into the early 1900's) where thousands of Native Americans were forcefully relocated to accomodate the land hungry, expanding United States. A pretty sad story and one we should all be ashamed of.

And then we left Oklahoma. We enjoyed our drive through it. Many beautiful sights and spots, as in farms, farm lands, cattle, horses.  Sorry there are no pictures. About 12:15 we crossed over in to Arkansas and settled in at Overland RV Park in Fort Smith/Van Buren area. We had covered just over 210 miles today. Convenient park, just a couple of blocks from I 40. Nothing to brag about, but it was home for a night.

Overland RV Park Fort Smith/Van Buren, AR

Monday, 4/13 we pack up and get back on I 40 and head to West Memphis and Tom Sawyer RV Park. Should be a trip of about 271 miles. I called ahead and reserved a spot and we have one right on the Mississippi River. Should be interesting as I have heard and read a lot of good things about the park.

The Road Back Home: Deming, NM to El Reno, OK

Deming, NM and Dream Catcher RV Park were next on our list. We stayed there April 4 & 5. While there we didn't do much- another Walmart run for supplies being the major event. First day there we attended the parks Happy Hour and met a bunch of new people - including a couple from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont! Incredible what a small world it is. We also met Bruce & Linda from Michigan and everywhere. What an enjoyable pair. This is their rig:

I found out in talking to them that their rig, a Prevost, was manufactured in 1990. They are the 4th owners. 

Such a pleasure meeting and talking to them. They were at Escapade and we missed them. They are also members of Freethinkers BOF. We have made a promise to keep in touch via RVillage and for sure to meet up at next Escapade in Essex Jct, VT in 2016.

Sorry to see Bruce & Linda leave. They were headed out to Alamagordo and then north to Santa Fe

And then it was time to leave our nice spot here......

Our travels the morning of the 6th, took us through Hatch, NM - Chile Capitol of the World.

Our rig parked out in front of Hatch Chile Express- where we loaded up on souvenirs. Again. 

Absolutely captured my attention. RV Sales lot next door to Chile Express. I am sure there is a story in there some place.

Left Hatch and got on I 25 North to Caballo Lake State Park. Just about a 25 mile drive from Hatch. We arrived mid morning and got settled in to our spot in Palomino # 5

Palomino # 5 - Next to us were Bob & Barb & Belle from Alberta and Jerry from Las Cruces.

This was my first real opportunity to go fishing and so, with fishing license obtained on last Walmart run in Deming, I was ready.

View of the boat launch at Caballo Lake SP

Boat rig parking area

Place I went fishing - our of the wind

Beautiful lake. Unfortunately, no fish. But as the saying goes: A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work

We made friends with our neighbors, Bob & Barb & Belle Abel from Alberta. Sorry to have to leave. We did exchange contact information and promised to keep in touch.

We really enjoyed their company! And this is the GREAT thing about RVing- the many NEW friends we've made along the way.

Interesting site. The rig that took Jerry's place......

Airstream Class A with a Slide

And then it was time to leave and begin the trip home.....today was April 10

All hooked up and ready to go

Our plans for the days trip included getting on I 25 and heading north to Albuquerque(but not before another Walmart stop - this one in Truth or Consequences). When we got to Albuquerque we got on I 40. This route would be our "home" for the next 1400 +/- miles.  Plan was to make it as far as Tucumcari where we would stay over for the night. Trip to Tucumcari 335 miles.

Mountain Rd RV Park, Tucumcari, NM

View from our spot back towards I 40 and Love's Travel Center

Discovered after getting settled and changing our location in RVillage that the place we got gas this day, was the same town that Bruce and Linda were using for a base as they explored Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Left here on the 11th of April with a destination in mind of somewhere just west of Oklahoma City.
It wasn't long before we had crossed over in to Texas and from the Texas border to the vicinity of Amarillo you could not believe the number of windmills that we saw. The number was incredible. And not just for a few miles. I'm talking like for 75 miles or more. Windmills everywhere. Must be a Boone Picket thing.
At a gas stop in the vicinity of Claude, TX we did some refining of our days plans and targeted an area for a possible layover for the night. While stopped and having lunch, had opportunity to take a picture of this neat rig parked next to us.....

Apologies, pic taken through screen door. Just before another rig backed in next to it.

The big rig that was backing in next to this one was driven by a lady - who was holding a cat! We later saw this same rig at another stop about a hundred miles down the road and discovered that the driver was part of a team - 2 ladies driving this huge Peterbilt with a 53' trailer. Plus the cat. Interesting.

Forgot to mention - after entering Texas from New Mexico, we were advised that we had also just entered Central Time Zone. Another hour gone. Oh well. We drove through Amarillo around 11:00 Mountain Time, 12:00 Central Time. We were now headed for Oklahoma. About 20 miles in from the Welcome to Oklahoma sign, we underwent a change in the topography of the land that just blew the two of us away. For 4 going on 5 months now, the land has been brown(sand). All of a sudden everything was green. And I mean green. It took your breath away. And then we started seeing fields that were yellow. And I mean yellow. Like in French's mustard yellow. Hundreds of acres of mustard plants. About this time, we pulled off the road and zeroed in on place to stay for the night. Utilizing internet and ipad and mobile hotspot and All Stays ap on iphone, we found a Walmart about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City that allowed overnight camping. About 1/2 hour later we pulled off I 40 in El Reno, OK, found the Walmart a short 1/4 mile away and, after asking permission from manager to park for the night, found our spot and settled in.

Home is where you park it.

Fortunately for us, there were a number of fast food places adjacent to the Walmart parking lot, and so, after enjoying a cold beer, headed over to KFC for the nights supper.

Sunday April 12 rolls around and now time to pack up and find I 40 again. Our destination today is an area around Van Buren, AR. Should be a short trip today- about 240 miles or so. We'll find an RV park there and settle in to hopefully catch the last day of the Masters on TV.