Smoky Mountains National Park

 Tuesday's road trip took us from Sylva NC to Cookeville TN, through the Smoky Mountains on the border of the two states. It was a perfect day for driving; cooler temperatures, less humidity and blue sky with some big white clouds.

sign outside the Visitors Entrance

mostly ignored by the people entering

We pulled off for 3 stops. The first was for a virtual geocache at Grist Mill, then at this stop (photo above) - the first with a distant view and the third stop at Newfound Gap.

it is green in this part of the country

I bet it is even more beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn color

Newfound Gap

It was at this pull-off parking area we realized there were many visitors in the park. I bet the parking lot had room for 100 vehicles and nearly everyone of them was occupied. We took some photos and answered the questions for the earth cache. When we left the lot, we realized there was some road construction ahead of us.

we were maybe 20 cars behind the pilot vehicle

we waited nearly 30 minutes

our next pull off was closed because of 

construction vehicle parking

(the road construction - grinding down for a new coating

was less than 0.5 miles)

when we were allowed to move forward

the line of waiting cars in the other lane was 3 miles long

My other wish once I knew the route of our road trip, was to drive through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Falls. I wasn't certain what I expected at either community, I just wanted to see for myself. OMG! The sidewalks through Gatlinburg were wall-to-wall people before noon. Driving the two miles through the town was like driving through Keystone SD in the height of summer tourist season times 50. We could not have stopped to shop even if we had wanted to do so. There are no photos as I was so busy looking at all the people and the touristy shops.

 

Pigeon Forge is about 5 miles further down Highway 441. It also had lots of people, but they were all parked at the HUGE parking lot for Dollywood, off the highway. We mostly saw the hotels and lodging for the visitors. The sidewalks were far less crowded than the neighboring community. We didn't stop here either, other than to grab some fast food and continue on down the road. Caches to get. Places to go. People to meet.

and earlier in the day...

a couple of wildflower photos

Now it is back to Nashville for our flight home on Thursday evening. It has been a good trip, but we are both ready to leave the busy highways and many people for South Dakota.