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What we're doing...
Thursday, 6/16/2022 – It’s been a couple of enjoyable weeks since our last update. In addition to visiting Ruby Falls in Chattanooga we also decided to visit Rock City Gardens, a beautiful area with a 4,100-foot walking trail showcasing soaring rock formations, caves and lush woodland gardens that includes a 100-foot waterfall that cascades down the mountain. It also provides some great views including a birds-eye view from high atop Lookout Mountain where you can see seven different states. While in Chattanooga we also spent some time exploring several civil war areas including Point Park, a ten-acre memorial park that overlooks the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and the city of Chattanooga.
Our next stop took us to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We decided to stop here because we wanted to visit the Smokey Mountains National Park. We were surprised to find that Pigeon Forge itself is quite the tourist attraction, aka tourist trap. It appears the area sprung up when Dolly Parton developed her theme park Dollywood. If you want to drive go carts, ride amusements, play mini golf, take in a show, eat out or anything else that you or the kids might want to do, they’ve got it in Pigeon Forge.
We decided to spend the first day exploring a portion of Smoky Mountain National Park that was noted for having a lot of bears. During our 3- or 4-hour drive through the park we saw several groups of black bears and many cubs. One mother bear was out with her three cubs. They liked to stay low in the meadows, but we had several good opportunities to see them in their own habitat. We also decided to take a hike, so we selected the Laurel Falls Trail, a 2 ½ mile trail that included a view of some fairly nice falls. The trails weren’t too crowded, but it turned out to be quite busy at the falls themselves. It still turned out to be a very nice hike.
We couldn’t leave Pigeon Forge without a little fun so on our final night there we headed out to the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s Dinner Feud where we became part of the longest running feud in history and helped the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s try to settle their differences mountain-style. We enjoyed a great dinner along with singin’, dancin’, and lots of laughs.
By this point we still were concerned with our tire and jack situation but once again we headed off with no problems. After a one night stop at an overpriced campground in Statesville, North Carolina with an unlevel site we won’t forget we continued on and arrived at the North Carolina Fairgrounds Campground for a 5 night stay to visit our daughter and her family. This is a first come first serve campground we’ve been to twice before without any problems. This time however we thought we had a problem. A horse show was going on and it appeared every single site was taken. With no other campground anywhere near us we thought we were in trouble. Out of pure luck, site number 1, a lovely level spot right there at the entrance became vacant as someone was just hitching up to leave. I’ve never blocked and grabbed a spot so fast, but I made the call to the ranger, and it was ours. Even he was surprised we had found a spot, especially as he says, site 1. We watched many people arrive after us only to end up leaving without a spot. So glad we got an early start that day.
Over the next 4 days we enjoyed the company of our daughter Melissa, her husband and three of our grandkids aged 6 to 11. We spent time at the pool, played some board games, spent time outdoors playing catch with footballs and baseballs, watched a dance recital, enjoyed a championship little league game and basically did whatever the kids wanted. We don’t get to see them very often, but we just love enjoying the time we do have together.
Yesterday we arrived in Dumfries, Virginia for a 4-night stay. Today we spent the day visiting the Manassas National Battlefield where we watched a film describing the battles and we toured the area. We don’t have any definite additional plans yet but we’re hoping to visit Mount Vernon and take a few hikes right here by our campground in Prince William Forest Park.
Our next stop took us to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We decided to stop here because we wanted to visit the Smokey Mountains National Park. We were surprised to find that Pigeon Forge itself is quite the tourist attraction, aka tourist trap. It appears the area sprung up when Dolly Parton developed her theme park Dollywood. If you want to drive go carts, ride amusements, play mini golf, take in a show, eat out or anything else that you or the kids might want to do, they’ve got it in Pigeon Forge.
We decided to spend the first day exploring a portion of Smoky Mountain National Park that was noted for having a lot of bears. During our 3- or 4-hour drive through the park we saw several groups of black bears and many cubs. One mother bear was out with her three cubs. They liked to stay low in the meadows, but we had several good opportunities to see them in their own habitat. We also decided to take a hike, so we selected the Laurel Falls Trail, a 2 ½ mile trail that included a view of some fairly nice falls. The trails weren’t too crowded, but it turned out to be quite busy at the falls themselves. It still turned out to be a very nice hike.
We couldn’t leave Pigeon Forge without a little fun so on our final night there we headed out to the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s Dinner Feud where we became part of the longest running feud in history and helped the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s try to settle their differences mountain-style. We enjoyed a great dinner along with singin’, dancin’, and lots of laughs.
By this point we still were concerned with our tire and jack situation but once again we headed off with no problems. After a one night stop at an overpriced campground in Statesville, North Carolina with an unlevel site we won’t forget we continued on and arrived at the North Carolina Fairgrounds Campground for a 5 night stay to visit our daughter and her family. This is a first come first serve campground we’ve been to twice before without any problems. This time however we thought we had a problem. A horse show was going on and it appeared every single site was taken. With no other campground anywhere near us we thought we were in trouble. Out of pure luck, site number 1, a lovely level spot right there at the entrance became vacant as someone was just hitching up to leave. I’ve never blocked and grabbed a spot so fast, but I made the call to the ranger, and it was ours. Even he was surprised we had found a spot, especially as he says, site 1. We watched many people arrive after us only to end up leaving without a spot. So glad we got an early start that day.
Over the next 4 days we enjoyed the company of our daughter Melissa, her husband and three of our grandkids aged 6 to 11. We spent time at the pool, played some board games, spent time outdoors playing catch with footballs and baseballs, watched a dance recital, enjoyed a championship little league game and basically did whatever the kids wanted. We don’t get to see them very often, but we just love enjoying the time we do have together.
Yesterday we arrived in Dumfries, Virginia for a 4-night stay. Today we spent the day visiting the Manassas National Battlefield where we watched a film describing the battles and we toured the area. We don’t have any definite additional plans yet but we’re hoping to visit Mount Vernon and take a few hikes right here by our campground in Prince William Forest Park.
Weather Forecast for Dumfries, Virginia
Weather Forecast for Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Next destinations...
Next destinations...
Family in Uxbridge Massachusetts, Lake George and Niagara Falls in New York, Lake Erie in Ontario, Nebraska, Kansas & Rocky Mountain National Park, Black Canyon National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado followed by Durango in Colorado, Taos in New Mexico and Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas.
Recent Updates:
02/24/2022 We've posted a new photo album containing pictures from our 2021 road trip. These include some of the beaches we visited along with photos from our family reunions.
02/23/2022 We've posted a new blog entry today containing all of our log entries for 2021. Follow along as you revisit where we went, who we saw and how we were feeling along the way.
02/24/2022 We've posted a new photo album containing pictures from our 2021 road trip. These include some of the beaches we visited along with photos from our family reunions.
02/23/2022 We've posted a new blog entry today containing all of our log entries for 2021. Follow along as you revisit where we went, who we saw and how we were feeling along the way.
