Smokey Mountains

Map route

After a day of relaxing we were recharged to drive east to the Smokey Mountains. We stopped at a flea market and met some interesting people who kept asking why we were all dressed up. We continued driving along to Smokey Mt. Nat'l Park, we drove through a section of the park then stopped at the visitor center to get information on the park. We saw tons of elk and the ranger brought out an elk antler that they had to cut off when an elk rammed a car. We even got to hold the huge antlers. The park is so beautiful, bright green trees everywhere and little streams that the road winds around. We left the park because it was getting dark and stayed at an RV park in the woods down the street. The campsite was secluded and we could see tons of fireflies around the grass.

Alicia holding an elk antler

Natalie holding an elk antler



A little hiking trail at Smokey Mt. Nat'l Park

We got up and then drove to Smokey Mt. Nat'l park. We tried to drive down the Roaring Fork Motor Road but motor homes aren't allowed. We hiked to Laurel falls, a big hike for a small waterfall. We continued on the trail past the swarms of people and got to see some old growth trees. Of all of the old growth on the east coast 90% of it is in this national park. We drove through the park and to Clingman's Dome, an observatory structure that allows you to see across the park. This particular day was foggy and we couldn't see very far. We crossed the state line from Tennessee to North Carolina and left the park. We stayed in the parking lot for Harrah's in Cherokee, NC. We ate dinner at the casino and got our ID checked 3 separate times, they are pretty serious about under age gambling..



Clingman's Dome



Nick on the stateline

Nick and Natalie making their way up Clingman's Dome



Nick on the hike to Laurel Falls

In the morning we went moccasin shopping and spent the day trying to find the best deal. We found some feathers to make our headdress for Burning Man and Natalie and Nick each got a real fox face and tail. After getting our native goods we headed onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, it's a scenic byway that passes from North Carolin into Virginia and stretches for over 450 miles. The parkway is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. The trees are green and thick and the ground is dotted with wildflowers. After being on the parkway for 10 minutes I saw a bobcat run across the road. This bobcat was a reddish brown color which made me think it was a fox at first, but his bobbed tail gave him away. We stopped at various overlooks that showed the lush valley and rolling hills below. At one overlook I saw a black rat snake while taking picture of flowers and found a dead butterfly in perfect condition. We enjoyed the live butterflies that surrounded the wildflowers then drove on. Nick and I hiked Devil's Courthouse- a cliff that houses a cave, the natives believed the cave is where the devil hold court. We didn't find the cave but we did hike to the top of the cliff and overlooked our tiny motor home below and saw the mountain ranges from the surrounding states. We passed through Ashville, NC where we ate dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place. The pizza was amazing, and the restaurant even more amazing. We sat on the outside patio that had bowling balls built into the brick walls. As we were finishing eating it started to sprinkle and we tried to hurry along so we could close the open vents in the motor home. Before we left the pizza place the sprinkle turned into a full on down pour. Natalie put her new moccasins in a bag and ran back to the motor home barefoot. By the time we got back to the motor home we were soaked and so was some things in the motor home. We did our best to dry up and then we drove along the highway and found a picnic area where we stayed the night.


Alicia- Blue Ridge Parkway

Butterfly on Blue Ridge Pkwy

When we woke up the sun was coming out so I laid out our damp shoes to dry. After we were ready to go we continued on the parkway, we stopped at a visitor center and started to hike Craggy Gardens. It was supposed to be a 10 minute hike but we came to a split in the trail and decided to head to the falls instead. The trail wound down the mountain over stumps and rocks. After hiking for quite some time we ran into a couple who told us the falls was an 8 mile hike and that it was going to rain soon. We turned back and it started to rain, thankfully not as hard as it did in Ashville. We drove to Crabtree Falls- a 2 mile relatively dry hike to an amazing waterfall. The waterfall was huge and definitely worth the hike. We headed back to the motor home and drove to the Mineral Museum where we learned about the stones that are found along the Blue Ridge. We went to Linnville falls and hiked to the overlook. We were at the top of a cliff overlooking a mountain bowl that a large waterfall collected into. All kinds of trees and plants were growing out of the cliff side creating a very beautiful picture. We slogged back up the trail then down another trail that took us to the base of the cliff and to a small sandy beach. If it hadn't been so late and overcast we definitely would have swam in the pool. After playing around the water we hiked back up and parked near the Linnville River for the night.

Natalie, Nick, and Alicia at Crabtree Falls

Alicia at Linnville Falls

In the morning Nick and I hiked more around Linnville Falls and then we drove on along the parkway. We stopped at an RV park/ water park in Hillsville, Virginia for the night. We stopped in early and spent a couple hours catching up on laundry and got pizza from the snack bar. This campground was insane! It was probably the entertainment for the whole county. They had 2 swimming pools, 1 had an obstacle course on it and the other had some small slides. There was 2 big water slides that you rode in a tube down the hill and then climbed back up the stairs to do it again. There was a catch and release lake with paddle boats and mini golf course along with an arcade, pool, and horseshoes. For $10 someone could use the park for the day. On Friday nights they do outdoor movie night with a big projection screen and Saturday nights they have karaoke in their hall. There wasn't much more we could ask for.

Linnville Falls day 2

We woke up early and got the motor home ready to go then hit the pool. We rode the 2 water slides- the cobra and the black mamba, then we swam in the pool and did the obstacle course. After swimming for a while we laid out then got ready to go. We drove to Washington D.C, and walked through the National Mall. There we saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the US Capitol, and the White House. You never realize how large these structure are until you are right next to them. We decided we were going to drive to Philadelphia for the night and take a bus to New York in the morning so we tried to leave Washington D.C. and it was crazy! We turned down a street and got a ways down to an underpass where the clearance was 11'- our motor home is 11'6". There was no where to turn around and there was a huge line of traffic behind us. With our hazards on we slowly backed up about 1/8 a mile until we got to an intersection where we could turn around. We finally got to the hwy we needed to and drove towards Pennsylvania. It was getting late so we parked at a rest stop for the night. Tomorrow we will be in New York.

Alicia with the Washington Memorial

Nick at the White House

Natalie with Lincoln Memorial

Quote:
      "If you want to fly, you need to give up what weighs you down"