We left Kentucky Horse Park for what we thought was a quick trip down I-75 to the Escapees Park, Raccoon Valley, in Heiskell, TN, just north of Knoxville. Then we hit the construction backup and the last 50 miles of the 168 mile trip went very slowly. We got the last space that would hold our motorhome and it was a tight fit. We could see Terry and Nick Russell's bus from the front of our space. Here is our space and their bus:
We had good visits with Terry and Nick and others. We went to Pigeon Forge one day and went to a craft fair in Gatlinburg. Here is a picture of the Gatlinburg lift:
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg were not our style and were very crowded. Obviously others disagreed, but we didn't leave anything in either place we need to come back for.
Another day we drove up to Cumberland Gap and learned about its history and got a more human view of Daniel Boone. Here are pictures of the area by the visitors center in fall colors:
Here is a picture of the view from the top and some kids playing in the old fort:
Cumberland Gap is in two states:
Yes, we were not in Tennessee for this day trip but you could see Tennessee from some viewpoints.
Another day we came into Great Smoky Mountains via Townsend. It was a bit cold, but we still played follow-the-leader in packs of cars through the park. Here are some of the homesteads:
We did see fall colors:
We also saw some deer close by and a bear a long ways off, so sorry for the grainy picture:
Then we drove out through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, slowly due to traffic. Maybe next time we will try a less popular time to be in the National Park.
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