Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 5

Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip 

Day 5  WEDNESDAY

(me at Laurel Falls)

I got up to light rain - again!  Ugh.  I fired up my Jetboil and made oatmeal and coffee for breakfast and then headed out.  My sister had suggested that I go do Laurel Falls first because it was an easy, paved trail and a good way to ease into hiking the Smokies.  I wanted to get to the Laurel Falls trailhead before the parking lot filled up so I arrived before 8:00 and there were already 6 cars there ahead of me.   I pulled on a long underwear shirt and my rain jacket and headed out.

Once I was on the trail the canopy of trees protected me from most of the rain.    I’d read that you should plan to spend around 2 hours there and back so I surprised myself my making it to the falls in about 45 minutes.  

   I sat down to take a break and enjoy the view and since I was thirsty I started rummaging thru my backpack for my water bottle.  Hmmm…..  bear spray on my hip – check.  Camera around my neck – check.  Hiking stick and snack bar – check.  Water bottle??  Nowhere to be found.  I was so darn worried about having everything else that I walked off and left the water bottle laying in the back of the car.  What an idiot.   Lesson learned!   The falls were flowing pretty good.  Be careful where you step tho - I saw one woman fall flat on her ass when she walked over a wet spot.

I snapped a bunch of pictures and headed down to my car.   I made the trip back in 40 minutes in spite of the trail being extremely crowded by that time.   I doubt I walked 50 feet the entire way back without running into hikers headed up.   By then the parking lot was completely full with more cars spilling out along the side of the road.  I was so glad I got there early.   

My sister had also told me that she heard that Cades Cove is now closed to car traffic all day on Wednesdays instead of the previous 10:00 am deadline, so I stopped at the visitor station and confirmed that with a ranger.   I was glad my sister mentioned it or I would have made the trip for nothing.   Looks like Cades Cove was being pushed back to another day.  

I decided to head into Gatlinburg and walk around for a few hours.   I paid $ 15.00 for an all day parking spot and took off down the main drag.  There are so many stores and restaurants to check out and there were a lot of people there.   I headed over to The Donut Friar and got myself a delicious raspberry filled powdered donut and a cup of coffee.  

I sat and people watched for awhile before heading over to the Skylift.  I wanted to do the Pedestrian Bridge at the top because there’s a glass section you can walk on.   I thought that sounded kind of cool so I’m happy I did it.  

It was extremely windy at the top but the rain had stopped and I got some good, but cloudy, pictures of the Smokys in the distance.  

This is the ride back down.....

I did a couple geocaches and then stopped at Ole Smoky Moonshine and did a Moonshine tasting.   

That was fun!   I tried several different flavors, including Apple Pie, Blackberry, Watermelon, Grape, and a few others.  I purchased 3 jars of Apple Pie, no not all for myself, 2 were gifts and also bought myself a sweatshirt.  

The rain had started up again and since it was already past 2:00 I decided to drive over to the Hungry Bear for a BBQ Brisket sandwich for a late lunch.  I didn’t realize how hungry I was!  

I decided that I had had enough for one day so I went back to the campground, cleaned up my car, and then sat in my tent for awhile and watched the rain fall.   Enough already with the rain!!!  I debated pulling my bedding out of the car and moving into the tent to sleep, but decided against it.   It was just too comfy in the car and the tent was serving well as a catch all for my cooking equipment and wet towels.

I spent the rest of the evening just reading and catching up on email and facebook before going to bed by 9:30.  I planned on getting up early and heading to Clingmans Dome  in the morning - finally!

 

Turkey Egg Breakfast Burrito

 My daughter raises chickens and turkeys so I have a steady supply of farm fresh eggs.  I never know what kind I'm going to get but I'm always excited to see the different colors her chickens produce.  Aren't they pretty?

Their turkeys recently started laying eggs so yesterday she gave me one to cook for breakfast.  Check this out. It's huge and I love the specked coloring...

I had big plans for this beauty in my frying pan and decided to make a scrambled egg breakfast burrito.  Did you know that turkey eggs are extremely strong?  They don't crack as easily as a chicken egg does.  It actually took a bit of pull to release the egg.  It looks exactly like a chicken egg once you crack it, only larger.  I added a little bit of fresh milk from JD Country Milk out of Russellville, Ky.  Have you ever had milk in a bottle?  It's amazing.  It's non -homogenized and SO fresh!  And there is always a nice clump of cream in the neck of the bottle when you first open it.  Anyway, I added a little milk, salt and pepper and scrambled that baby right up.  

I like my tortilla's lightly fried in olive oil so they are a little crispy.  I put the scrambled egg on the tortilla, added some shredded cheese and a couple shakes of Cholula Green Pepper hot sauce and it was done!  I folded it in half and ate -  Delicious!!

If you ever get a chance to try a turkey egg, give it a go! 

Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 4

 

Day 4  TUESDAY

Tuesday morning I woke up to thunderstorms so I just rolled out of my sleeping bag, wiggled into my clothes, brushed my teeth and left the campgrounds.  I was very excited to be heading to the Smoky Mountains.  I stopped at McDonalds, ordered breakfast and got onto the expressway, which was bumper to bumper at 7:30 in the morning due to road construction.   It was an easy drive to the Smokys even tho it was a torrential downpour the...  entire..... way....   

As I drove through Sevierville Tennessee, I decided to make a stop at The Apple Barn Village and check it out.  I pulled on my raincoat and rain pants and headed out into the rain.  Oh that was my kind of place!  They have The Apple Barn Cider Mill and General Store, The Apple Barn Winery, The Apple Valley Creamery, The Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant, The Applewood Farmhouse Grill, and The Christmas and Candle Shop.  I spent some time checking out all the stores before ducking into the Applewood Farmhouse Grill for an early lunch.    

I had chicken tenders with a side of mashed potatoes and fried Okra.  With your meal you also get a bowl of soup, fried apple fritters with apple butter which were out of this world delicious and a glass of Applewood Julep, which was just ok.   It was way more food that I could eat at one time so I took the rest with me to eat later for dinner. 

Since it was still raining, I decided to drive to the Smoky Mountains Sugarlands Visitor Center and pick up some maps and guidebooks.  I also got myself a tee shirt and a patch for my jacket while I was there.   

I took a slow drive thru Gatlinburg so I could get a feel for the place and then headed over the Greenbriar Campground, my home base for the next few days.   Check in was quick and easy and I headed over to my campsite, not sure what I should do.   It was still pouring out and according to the weather map it wasn’t going to let up until around 9:00 pm.   At this point I had to make a decision.  I had too much stuff loaded in the back of my car to sleep comfortably, so I had to put the tent up either to store gear in or to sleep in.  I climbed back into my rainsuit and quickly set up the tent, threw some gear inside and then went back to the car.  It’s amazing to me how quickly a car gets cluttered when you’re camping.  I’m a pretty organized person and I was still misplacing stuff, so I spent some time cleaning up and organizing.  I spread my wet clothes over the front seats to dry and settled down in the back on my blankets to do some reading.   At 3:30 there was a break in the rain so I went to check on my tent and I was happy to see it was dry inside.  The campsite was a nice size and close to the road, but I liked it because I was an end spot so I only had one neighbor directly behind me, with a road on 2 sides and my parking space on the other.

I went and took a shower and ate my lunch leftovers in the tent for an early dinner.   I had set up my cot in the tent so I could lay out there and read.  I decided to just sleep in my car that night since it was supposed to start raining again, and continue raining most of the next day.  Cripes.  Enough with the rain already!   I was in a turmoil trying to decide what to do on Wednesday.  I was planning to go to Clingmans Dome which I could still do in the rain but I really wanted to enjoy the views from the top.    I decided to wait and see what the weather was doing in the morning and then decide.  It was another quiet evening of reading and then I turned in early.

Tomorrow – Laurel Falls, Gatlinburg and The Sky Bridge!!

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Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 3

 

Day 3 MONDAY

(Me checking out the view of 7 states in the distance)

Last evening around 7:00 pm I got word that thunderstorms were moving in shortly and would be lasting for 24-48 hours.   Crap!  What to do??  I don’t mind sleeping in my tent when it rains, but I had one more day in Chattanooga and I really didn’t want to be packing up a bunch of wet stuff on Tuesday when I headed to the Smoky Mountains.  So I decided to break camp quick and just sleep in the car.  That turned out to be a smart choice and 30 minutes later everything was stowed away and the rain started.   After a good nights sleep I woke up Monday morning and waited for the rain to let up a little, pulled on my raincoat and went outside to fire up my Jetboil.  I heated enough water to make instant oatmeal and 2 cups of coffee for breakfast.  

I laid around in the back of the car until 10:30 just reading and then brushed my teeth, got dressed and headed over to Rock City.  

Rock City is also on Lookout Mountain so I enjoyed driving up the winding roads again.  I had pre-purchased tickets for 1:00 and since I was there early and it wasn’t crowded, they let me in at noon.  What a break!   Plus, the rain stopped so I spent the next hour or two walking thru the gardens and the Fairyland.   The whole place is awesome and I loved it.   Lots of great passageways, nooks and crannies...

 

Mushroom Rock...

I'm not sure if they let you walk on the swing-a-long bridge or not.  The trail to it was closed.  Darn it!

Rock City is sort of a combination of Starved Rock State Park, meets The Botanical Gardens, meets Disney’s “It’s a Small World.”   It was so much fun walking thru the place.  Health precautions were in place and everyone was required to wear masks and try to keep 6 ft. apart which wasn’t a problem since there wasn’t a lot of people there.  The walk way thru Rock City is one way and once you complete the tour you are welcome to go through again for free if you like.   I loved all the rocks and cliffs, waterfalls, cute little passageways, and there were gnomes everywhere.  Soft music is piped in and it was so serene and relaxing.    

Check out this view.  That's an eagle statue, I didn't catch a real one in flight...

One area overlooks a view of 7 states....

Afterwards I went through the gift shops and bought myself a huge slice of chocolate pecan fudge and a gnome.  Plus a Rock City patch for my jacket.   

I stopped and did a quick geocache on my way back to the campground.  Rock City was rocking fun and I highly recommend it!  Once I got back to the campground, I decided to empty and re-organize my car since it looked like I’d be spending another night sleeping in the back.  Rain was forecast to start back up again around dinner time so I quickly heated up some spaghetti with Italian sausage to eat.  Dinner was followed by a shower and then settling in for a quiet evening just reading while rain tapped against the windows.  Ahhhh....this is the life!

Next post:  The Smoky Mountains!!

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