October 17, 2009 – Shorts and Fires

Just an observation, but Carol and I do not seem as hearty as our campground neighbors. Several of them keep a campfire going from daybreak to bedtime. With the fire going, they will sit or stand around the fire in their shorts and jackets. Understand also, it’s raining here. The attitude seems to be: yeah, I got me a 30 foot trailer with all the bells and whistles, but I’m camping, so here I am in the rain with a fire and I’m not goin’ in till I have to!

Yesterday, we ventured into Maryville to see the vet. When that chore was completed, we drove into town and found the fall festival. There were a lot of vendors with their tents and wares. The usually “stuff” that you see at every “festival”. I had found a parking spot and we, with Spice on lead, went to see what was what. It wasn’t crowded as it was Friday, early afternoon. Carol checked out several of the stalls as we easily moved through the area. Several people stopped to pet Spice. One official looking woman asked Carol if Spice was a service dog. It seems that dogs were not allowed. There weren’t any signs or indications that we could find issuing the prohibition, but having been asked to leave, we complied. Maybe it is the rain, but I haven’t seen any thing positive about this area.

We grabbed a bite to eat and then tried to find a visitors’ center in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We wanted to get a map of the hiking trails hoping the sun would be out today (news flash – it didn’t happen). After fifteen minutes and seven miles of bumper to bumper traffic and somewhat unsure of where we were, I bailed. There was a turnout, so I took advantage of it. We didn’t have a detailed map and the best we could discern was there are two visitors’ centers: one in Cades Cove, about 15 miles south of where we enter the park; and at Gatlinburg, about 15 miles north of the entrance. Having seen an information station in Townsend, we elected to retreat and regroup.

Back in Townsend, the information station had all that we wanted. While Carol did a little shopping, I spoke with the ranger. He said it has been an incredibly busy year with virtually no let up. The visitor traffic certainly didn’t give any indication of any economic slump. And I’m thinking, why live with this big park in your back yard, if you can only use it with a couple thousand of your best friends? One of the problems is the terrain of the park limits access points. With limited access and limited trails, it just winds up congested with people. Yosemite in the spring and summer is a probable comparison. Having acquired the much desired trail map, we headed home for dinner, football/NASCAR and to listen to the rain.

This morning dawned cold, overcast and misting. After breakfast we took a four mile walk, but elected to just walk the trail into Townsend. It wasn’t exciting, but we didn’t have to fight traffic, automotive or pedestrian. We’ve decided, tomorrow we’re off to Atlanta. But we’re coming back to Virginia later this week.