Tennessee

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Welcome to Tennessee - we are right over the Mississippi River	Pyramid Center - Memphis	See, Fred is too on this trip.
Laurel Creek, right next to the road for 30 miles	Fred did not have his rod but still had to get in the water	The Primitive Baptist Church built in 1827
The Methodist Church, built in the early 1820s for $115 in 115 days	View across Cades Cove - the day was cloudy	The highest peak is 6,593 ft. - Mt. Le Conte

June 22 - We traveled to Yuma, TN.  All of the areas in Arkansas and Tennessee that we traversed were full of beautiful trees, right up to the highway.  We were scheduled to stay two nights but the RV park was a dump so we decided to just stay one night and move on to the Smokey Mountain area in eastern Tennessee.  They were having a music festival that was sponsored by two motorcycle groups and there were Harleys everywhere and people that looked the part of bikers.  We went to sleep to the loud bass of the music.

June 22 - Heading to the Great Smokey Mountains we traveled through Nashville and then to Knoxville.  As we began to get into the mountains we were amazed at the total coverage of trees, pine and hardwoods.  We had lunch in a neat roadside park under trees and enjoyed a cool, dry wind.  The weather was changing and you could see the clouds building behind us.  As we got to the park area, the clouds began to rain so we got to park and unhook in a good rain.  After the rain stopped we took the dogs out and the smell was wonderful, a mixture of new rain and pine trees.  This park is huge park built right back into the woods.  There is everything here from large RV's to individual tents back in the wooded areas.  This area is full of country western theatres and other theme parks.  We are going to see Louise Mandrell on Tuesday night and then to the Comedy Barn on Wednesday night.  Both of these shows were great.

June 24 - We headed into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. This park is the only national park that does not charge admission.  It was formed by the government buying the land needed with the final funds being donated by a Rockefeller foundation with the provision that the park should always be free. 

We visited an area called Cades Cove and learned that a "cove" is a mountain valley.  This area is bounded by Gatlinburg on one edge and Pigeon Forge on the other.  The area was first inhabited in the early 1820's and was home to about 685 people at one time just before the Civil War.  With a sizable population, it was home to three churches, the Primitive Baptist Church, the Missionary Baptist Church and the Methodist Church.  The Missionary Baptist Church was formed when a few people were asked to leave the Primitive Baptist Church because the majority of the Primitive congregation did not believe in missionary work so they left and started their own church.  We stopped at one old cemetery and there was one grave with my Mom's maiden name, Abbott.  The husband and wife were born in the middle 1860's and she lived to be 38 and he lived to be 86.  There are several homes preserved in the cove(valley), one that includes a working mill run by the creek water.  The road into this area follows Laurel Creek the whole way.  We stopped and waded a little, but really needed my fly rod.  The woods are so thick that you could only see a few feet off the road and we saw lots of lightin bugs as it got dark.  In Gatlinburg we ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse, it reminded us of home  so we stopped.

June 25 - We did some usual sightseeing during the day including a tour of the Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg.  We stopped at pottery places and found bowls for Emtpy Bowl.  We met the father and son who made the bowls.  We attended the Louise Mandrell show in the evening.  Louise, at 48 this coming July 13, is quite a dancer, performer and entertainer.  She and her group put on a wonderfully entertaining and humorous show.

June 26 - We drove back to Gatlinburg to do some more touristy stuff.  We decided to ride the sky lift to the top of a small mountain.  Beautiful scenery and a lovely view of the valley.  We even had our pictures taken on the lift.  I don't think we have laughed so hard in a long time as we laughed at The Comedy Barn that evening.  This proved to be a good, wholesome evening of music and comedy.  Very entertaining!

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