Another fairly easy ride from Asheville to Smokey Mountain National Park. But we had to make some changes en-route. The campground inside the Park has no hookups at all, and I just learned Rick’s 5th wheel didn’t have a generator big enough to run the air conditioning. With two dogs, it would have been nerve racking. So being the tour director I am, we found a park just outside the Park with full hookups. Turned out to be awesome. We had a wooded area behind us so the dogs had some area to run off leash. And we all appreciated the air conditioning – still warm (80’s and 90’s with high humidity).
We drove into Smoky Mountain National Park where we were originally going to stay, just to see what we were missing. It is a good thing that we changed our plan. Road construction was underway on the road to the campground. The lanes are super narrow, and the sites we would have had were small. Being where we are is a good thing!
Gatlinburg has an 8 mile artist loop – many wood workers, leather shops, glass artists and many new restaurants. We found a great old log cabin place and had one of the best burgers we have ever had. So nice to sit on the patio (before the heat and humidity really kicked in), enjoy a meal with family and friends, and talk story with the owners,
Smokey Mountain National Park is known for the many miles of hiking trails. But honestly, with the 90 degree temps and 80 to 90 % humidity, it just took the wind out of our sails. But Rick and Jill took it all in stride and took their dogs for walks at least twice a day. Moki and Murphy seemed to enjoy the exploration! They sure showed me up for the wus I am.
This was a nice stop for us. Lots to do and yet had time to get to all the tasks we needed to do. Our camp ground was great – very friendly people and having the full hook ups were sweet. As usual, time flew by and we were soon getting ready for our next stop on our adventure. Although still very warm and humid, we were able to sit outside (OK we did get eaten alive) to have a campfire – was wonderful to hang with my brother & Jill again!