Gatlinburg ... a Practically Unplanned Adventure! June 27 - July 5, 2009
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PrincessSharon · 08-13-2009, 09:59 AM

Glad you enjoyed your time at the zoo. The townhouse really looks nice! I've stayed at my parents' timeshare a few times, so I know what you mean about those "owners update" meetings. They can be relentless.

pamcarey · 08-13-2009, 01:13 PM

What a nice townhouse! Looks like you'll have plenty of space to spread out. And how great that you didn't hit any traffic getting into Pigeon Forge.

MGW · 08-13-2009, 02:01 PM

Just read through the whole report, first of all, thanks for sharing!

My parents got rid of their RCI timeshare several years ago, the maintenance fees were getting outrageous! They finally traded theirs for land in Florida, which they have actually seen with their own eyes and is not a swamp, but actaully in a nice resort being developed!

Let's see what do I need to comment on:

The Parkway looks lovely, what a great trip you had. And the hotel was quite the bargain!

Crossville, TN - my family stayed there when we went to the summer olympics in Atlanta in 1996. (In our timeshare before we traded it.) Yes, it was a 3 hour drive to Atlanta each day, but there was no way to get any closer! There are some great outlets in the area that I remember shopping in.

Knoxville, TN - went to the World's Fair there in 1984, remember the golden globe well. And the zoo looks really nice.

Did you get off at the I 40 exit where the Tenn. Smokies play? That is a beautiful baseball stadium!

Loved the WonderWorks museum! Hope you get to go!

OK, on with the updates!

christiejay · 08-13-2009, 02:21 PM

Thanks to everybody - we LOVED our townhouse. Last time the 1-bedroom condo unit was so cramped, mainly because we had to put Joshua on the sleeper sofa. So the extra bedroom made a lot of difference. I will state that they are going to need to get new furniture soon, as a lot of the dresser drawers didn't close properly. But other than that everything was fine. I was just glad we didn't have any maintenance problems to have to deal with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGW

Just read through the whole report, first of all, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for joining us!

Quote:

My parents got rid of their RCI timeshare several years ago, the maintenance fees were getting outrageous!

That is the worst part.

You pay a huge chunk of money to join, but then have to pay more and more every year due to rising costs. I understand that from one perspective, but it hurts to have to keep adjusting your family budget every year!

Quote:

The Parkway looks lovely, what a great trip you had. And the hotel was quite the bargain!

You never know what you're going to get when you book a bargain, that's why I only try to do it for a 1-night stay, so we're not stuck with it. This time it worked out nicely.

Quote:

Did you get off at the I 40 exit where the Tenn. Smokies play? That is a beautiful baseball stadium!

Yes, that's the same exit. Back in '04 the National Park welcome center was actually at the stadium, so we went as far as the parking lot, although of course we didn't go inside the ballpark. My dad loves to go up there to Bass Pro Shops every time they visit. I had wanted to go back and check out some of the shops and maybe eat in Sevierville, but I couldn't talk Jay into driving out that far, since we were staying in Gatlinburg.

Quote:

Loved the WonderWorks museum! Hope you get to go!

Alas, we never did.

Trying to keep this a budget trip really affected our choices on this trip. I had checked it out online - all the different kinds of things they had in there sounded really neat. I tried to talk it up to Jay beforehand, but I could tell he wasn't that into it. I could have paid for it with the money I had saved for the trip, but I ultimately decided to focus on things Joshua could count for cub scouts, and also I didn't want to spend all "my" money, I wanted to leave some in savings to fly to WDW in 2011. Hopefully next time we can get there.

christiejay · 08-13-2009, 02:37 PM

Day 3 - Monday, June 29

We woke up early this morning and started getting ready for our first day in the National Park. I soon discovered that Joshua was not going to cooperate in this effort very much, as it took a lot of talking to get him up and moving each morning. Overall, we all seemed to be moving pretty slow, so I can't blame it all on Joshua! We ate a quick breakfast, and I started getting together the things we would need for our outing: fanny pack with snacks, hiking book, and field guides inside and 2 ice-water-filled bottles on the outside, small cooler with sandwiches and drinks for lunch, first aid kit (just in case) and our hiking sticks. We left the resort at 7:35, a little later than I'd hoped. But because this was such an unplanned trip, I didn't have a specific departure time written down for each morning, so I can't say that we left late.

We drove through Gatlinburg with no traffic, remembering from last time to drive in the left-hand lane to avoid the delivery trucks parked in the right-hand lane.

We had to stop at the entrance to the National Park for the traditional family portrait. I know the new signs look nice, but I really miss the old design.

After taking our picture, (Jay had his camera on his tripod on the automatic timer) we drove to the parking lot at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Our first trail of the day was a portion of the Old Sugarlands Trail - I wanted to hike far enough to check out the old cemetery mentioned in my hiking book. When we got out of the truck I noticed this turkey near the road, but we were too far away to get a good shot.

We started out by walking past the restroom building to the side of the visitor center, on a path that eventually goes in front of the Park Headquarters building. Along the way I noticed this plaque on one of the rocks by the trail.

Here is the headquarters building - I love the way it looks.

Now we crossed the maintenance road and went up to the main road, backtracked across a bridge, and crossed the road to get to the trailhead. Have I mentioned the weather? Upper 50's/Lower 60's. Very nice hiking weather.

These first few pictures didn't turn out too clear. I was trying to get a good shot of the stone wall behind the trees. My hiking book stated that it was the site of a quarry at one time.

During this first part of the hike we were walking next to the river.

We reached a small clearing and I was able to turn around and get a picture of the stone behind the trees.

Rhododendron, the main flower we saw during our hikes:

The trail was very nice and at this point we were the only ones out:

Continued in next post ...

christiejay · 08-13-2009, 02:52 PM

... continued from previous post ...

You could start to see a little of the mountains through the trees, although I don't think you can tell very well in this picture:

More scenery along the trail:

At this point we were walking along the site of the old highway so it was flat and wide. Here is a survey marker on the side of a small bridge over a stream.

Climbing over a fallen tree:

Now we reached an old school site, as well as where the trail branched off to the cemetery. The problem was, we walked the wrong way for a little while because the description of this area was kind of confusing. We realized our mistake and backtracked to the other trail.

This tree had fallen, and a huge quartz was still stuck in the mass of soil around the roots.

Well, we walked for a long way on this path - Jay estimates it was almost a quarter of a mile. We saw no sign of an old cemetery, and there were parts of the trail where it was getting very grown up with plants. My book didn't say how far it was to the cemetery along this side trail, but I had assumed it would be fairly close. So either we didn't walk far enough or we just missed it completely. So we turned around and went back. Just past the junction I had a good angle to get this picture of the row of trees:

I think perhaps it could have been marking a property boundary.

That's all the pictures I took. I had put my camera away for the return hike, since I had taken so many pics on the way in. And wouldn't you know it, a mother deer and fawn crossed the path not too far ahead of us! But naturally by the time I got my camera out they had already disappeared into the trees.

Here are a few pictures that Jay took throughout the trail:

This is what the surface of the trail looked like for a while:

Along the way back we passed a couple of other groups out for a stroll. (I felt that the portion of this trail that we walked was good for a family with young children, or anybody who wants to hike but is not that experienced, or not in very good shape. The point we chose to turn around at is the point where is starts to get steeper. My hiking book, as well as other sources, shows an elevation chart for each trail in the park. That's one of the criteria I looked at in determining whether a particular trail would be good for us.) In what seemed like no time at all, we made our way back to the Sugarlands Visitor Center.

Up Next: Is it possible to be in love with a trail?

lauren-roxy · 08-13-2009, 04:22 PM

Great update and wonderful nature photos!!

Hugmonster · 08-13-2009, 04:27 PM

Great pictures. Sounds like a very relaxing trip.

mcc0313 · 08-13-2009, 05:32 PM

Just got to catch up Christine - what a wonderful day at the zoo, I love all the pictures. Looks like everyone had a great time. What a beautiful looking townhouse, a nice amount of room and looks definitely relaxing. Can't wait to hear all about your first day in the park.

Katara81 · 08-13-2009, 05:39 PM

Your townhouse was really nice! What great weather you had for hiking. Great pics too.

*Groans* On that pic looking up the Gatlinburg strip, I can faintly see the sign of the Pancake Pantry.

One of my favorite restaurants anywhere....been dieting all day, and I could really go for some Buckwheat Cakes about now.

christiejay · 08-13-2009, 06:19 PM

Thanks everybody!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katara81

*Groans* On that pic looking up the Gatlinburg strip, I can faintly see the sign of the Pancake Pantry.

One of my favorite restaurants anywhere....been dieting all day, and I could really go for some Buckwheat Cakes about now.

We have never eaten here, but have always heard wonderful things about the place. I am AMAZED at how long the line is to get in there every day! So I know the food has to be good.

**Colexis Mom** · 08-13-2009, 08:23 PM

Great pictures Christie! The trail looks very nice!

GoofEme · 08-13-2009, 08:45 PM

I'm enjoying your TR! We live about 2 hours from P. Forge and Gatlinburg and it is so good to see your pictures and see from a visitors eyes part of what I consider home. You make me want to take a day trip soon.

christiejay · 08-13-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures Christie! The trail looks very nice!

Thanks. It was a good trail, but my favorite is the one coming up in the next update.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoofEme

I'm enjoying your TR! We live about 2 hours from P. Forge and Gatlinburg and it is so good to see your pictures and see from a visitors eyes part of what I consider home. You make me want to take a day trip soon.

Thanks, and welcome to the adventure! You'll have to help keep me honest in my reporting.

Although we really don't have anything bad to say about the area.

rhinohunter · 08-13-2009, 11:23 PM

Very nice condo at the timeshare. The one we stayed in in mid July was one of the original timeshares in Pigeon Forge and was small and very dated. We were traveling with our son and his wife so there were seven of us. This meant that we needed two 2 bedroom condos. A three bedroom unit would have been good but we couldn't find one on the exchange list. You have taken some very nice nature pix. I know I am rushing you; but, were you able to go see any of the shows at the theaters along the strip in Pigeon Forge?