October 15, 2009 – So you think it will Rain, Again

After listening to it rain off and on all night, we awoke to another day of dismal skies. On her way to the shower, Carol checked with the office if we might stay another night. While we might be able to stay, we would have to move locations. Another town, another “fall festival” fills up the campgrounds for the weekend. Armed with that knowledge, I made the decision to just move farther west. We wanted to see eastern Tennessee, so why not now. A call to the KOA outside Maryville got us a reservation, albeit, possibly the last spot. Not a good omen. Oh, and did I mention that it cost more then double what we’ve been paying. So we were off on another rainy drive.

Everything was going well. We were making decent time on the I-40 through the mountains. There was a WalMart with cheap gas, which is always good. Lunch at Ruby Tuesdays was excellent. We took a two lane off of I-40 over through historic Dandridge, TN., which is home to Ball Jars and Bush Baked Beans. I really wanted to get a picture at Bush’s, but it was wet with no place to stop. We did out twists and turns and rolled into Sevierville (Severe ville). A left turn put us on a four lane, down town street that was in full congestion. We inched through each stoplight in an effort to not “block the box”. Whatever could cause this amount of traffic? It just seemed endless.

As we moved away from the “Historic Downtown Sevierville” there was no let up in the traffic. No, it wasn’t rush hour, it was early afternoon. Sloth-like in our travels we crawled onward toward Pigeon Forge. Here we realized the problem. Pigeon Forge is to Tennessee as Las Vegas is to, well, Las Vegas. Where Sevierville has the Muscle Car Museum and the Tennessee Museum of Aviation, Pigeon Forge is home to: Black Bear Jamboree Dinner and Show; the upside down Wonder Works building; the Police Museum featuring Buford Pusser’s 1974 Corvette; the Comedy Barn Theater; the Dinosaur Walk; and nearby Dollywood. And then there are the smaller attractions like the NASCAR race park, the mini-golf courses, souvenirs and home made fudge shops. Don’t forget all of the hotel/motels and the restaurants. As we crept towards WalMart, we could see traffic three abreast and ten deep trying to exit the parking lot. What a zoo! After a plethora of stoplights and untold minutes of just idling, we finally escaped. And I was thinking we might relocate here.

The farther we got from “Dollywood”, the better the driving got. The KOA is just outside of Townsend on the edge of Great Smokey Mountain National Park. In the site, we fixed dinner and then sat back to listen to the rain.