Travel is Like A New Car

Posted on March 22, 2014March 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Have you ever bought a new car and then once you start driving it around you see the same car everywhere? You’d swear that you’d only seen 1 baby blue Prius in all the time you’ve been driving until you bought one. Now no matter where you look you spot another baby blue Prius.

Well I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon with vacation planning. I remember the first time I went to Sedona, Arizona. That trip was a “leftover”. I needed to use my time share points or lose them and time was running out. Everything I tried to get was booked. Then I looked for vacancies and Sedona not only popped up but it was on sale. It cost me half the points it normally would so I was able to squeeze in Sedona and Florida for the price of one.

About a week after I booked Sedona my Intervale International Magazine came with featured locations. Right there on the cover was Sedona! Red Rock Country! And it was the feature story inside.

A couple of weeks later I was reading another magazine and the travel section in that one also featured Sedona.

When we planned our Alaska vacation the same thing happened. I ran across articles about Alaska everywhere even when I wasn’t looking for something.

Now I just booked my vacation to Tennessee and along comes my magazine Travel 50 & Over. I love this magazine. The cover didn’t give it away but inside I was reading the article about 50 Fantastic Hikes and there it was, Trillium Gap Trail, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, 3 miles.! Yes! I had read about this trail in my research. There’s a waterfall on it and the trail goes right behind the falls. It is one of the trails I want to try if my hip is feeling up to it.

So it’s starting again. I wonder how many more times Tennessee is going to come to my attention before I leave for vacation!? I love these surprise tidbits of encouragement.

The Real Reason To Go To Gatlinburg

Posted on March 14, 2014March 14, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I touched on this yesterday in my post about Cade’s Cove. When all the moonshine and whiskey, train rides and Dollywood are said and done, the real reason I want to go to Gatlinburg is the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

The Park Services page turned out to be an awesome resource for planning my visit. Since I’ve been struggling with arthritis and recovering from my spill in San Diego, I don’t know how much stamina I’ll have for hikes. I hope to be able to do some but it’s too soon to tell. My right hip still acts up quite a lot. Just in case hiking is not an option the website lists the auto tours.

An auto tour of the park offers a chance to see panoramic vistas, cascading mountain rivers, weathered historic buildings, and majestic forests stretching to the horizon.

We know there’s one though Cades Cove but there’s a whole list of others:

Cataloochee Valley
Newfound Gap Road
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Upper Tremont Road

In addition, the book Smokies Road Guide covers main thoroughfares and scenic backroads in the park. This book and the self-guiding auto tour booklets listed above are available at park visitor centers and online. Self-guiding tour booklets are also available from dispensers at the start of the roads they cover.

I have my National Parks Pass and my “Passport books” to get stamps but there’s no entrance fee to the park anyway! Yup one of the most visited parks in the US is free.

I’m heading to the park in the spring. Anytime is beautiful in this park but the Great Smokey National Park is knick named the Wildflower National Park. Spring and summer are renown for spectacular displays of wildflowers along roads and trails.

And along with the wildflowers are wildlife. The Site offers tips for wildlife viewing. Some are standard like view early or late in the day but I especially liked this advice: Viewing wildlife in the Smokies can be challenging because most of the park is covered by dense forest. Open areas like Cataloochee and Cades Cove offer some of the best opportunities to see white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoon, turkeys, woodchucks, and other animals. The narrow, winding road of Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail encourages motorists to travel at a leisurely pace and sometimes yields sightings of bear and other wildlife.

I’m so ready to go check this out! I’m polishing and cleaning the camera, lenses and filter. I hope I can get some photos that come close to the beautiful ones I get to see when I search online.

Cades Cove Is #1 on my list

Posted on March 13, 2014March 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains , part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain.

There are loads of hiking trails from short and easy to long and difficult but they also have loop roads that allow automotive sight seeing. One of the most popular and certainly on my list is Cades Cove, a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. It offers some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in the park. Large numbers of white-tailed deer are frequently seen, and sightings of black bear, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other animals are also possible.

For hundreds of years Cherokee Indians hunted in Cades Cove but archeologists have found no evidence of major settlements. The first Europeans settled in the cove sometime between 1818 and 1821. By 1830 the population of the area had already swelled to 271. Cades Cove offers the widest variety of historic buildings of any area in the national park. Scattered along the loop road are three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures.

An 11-mile, one-way loop road circles the cove, offering motorists the opportunity to sightsee at a leisurely pace. Allow at least two to four hours to tour Cades Cove, longer if you walk some of the area’s trails.

A visitor center (open daily), restrooms, and the Cable Mill historic area are located half-way around the loop road.

Numerous trails originate in the cove, including the five-mile roundtrip trail to Abrams Falls and the short Cades Cove Nature Trail. Longer hikes to Thunderhead Mountain and Rocky Top (made famous by the popular song) also begin in the cove.

I think it’s obvious why this is number one on my list when it comes to the sights to see in the Great Smokey Mountains! ( warning earworm alert)

Rocky Top you’ll always be

Home sweet home to me

Good Ole Rocky Top

Rocky Top Tennessee

(Excerpted from Trip Advisor)

Gatlinburg Planning

Posted on March 11, 2014March 11, 2014 by Dusty Roads

That was a short break from planning but I must say a lot of it’s done now. I don’t play golf anymore which is too bad because I’ll be staying at Bent Creek Golf Village.

Winding through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, discover the Gary Player par 72 golf course at Bent Creek Golf Village. This three-time Masters and British Open winner designed what one magazine rated as one of the “Top Fifty Golf Courses in the South.” Discover the breathtaking blue mist of the surrounding mountains while relaxing in your own well-appointed accommodations. At Bent Creek Golf Village you can enjoy the splendor of every season and the adventure that awaits you in nearby Gatlinburg.

I have a 1 bedroom DELUXE. Didn’t realize that I booked a DELUXE accommodation. I just took the one that met my schedule. I’ll have a washer and dryer in the suite so I can pack light and wash often. 🙂 Queen bed, queen sleeper sofa, full kitchen, living/dining area, whirlpool jet tub, fireplace, washer/dryer, two TVs, DVD/VCP, iPod clock radio, hairdryer and screened-in porch.

According to the events calendar I’ll be visiting during the Smokey Mountain Spring Fest; A countywide celebration of the season featuring special events, local craft shows, and much more.

Just in case I get bored on Fridays and Saturdays in May, visitors can meet characters, hear mountain music and learn about life long ago in the Smokies on the streets of Gatlinburg. Storytellers, musicians and cloggers perform along the strip of downtown Gatlinburg.

But the main reason for the visit is the Natural beauty.

Majestic waterfalls and hemlock-covered forests glisten beneath the breathtaking sunrises and legendary blue mist of the Great Smoky Mountains.

I plan to take lots of pictures.

Approved!

Posted on March 6, 2014March 6, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Hurray It’s Approved! My boss approved my vacation time so it’s official, I can really count on heading to Tennessee in May.

So far I ‘ve got a at least 1 day in Dollywood with a ride on the Dollywood Express, a day exploring the trolley routes of downtown Gatlinburg and a day sampling moonshine and whiskey.

Along with the liquid treats my cousin recommended an restaurant called The Greenbrier Restaurant . http://www.greenbrierrestaurant.com/ It’s billed as a romantic, fine dining establishment.

Well since I’ll be alone we can skip the romance but I like the fine dining description and I loved the menu. Two of my very favorite things are on it. I could make a meal of just the appetizers, My favorite: Escargot Ala Bourguignon French selects served in mushroom caps and simmering garlic butter. I’ve never had them served in mushroom caps but I like mushrooms so should be yummy.

The main course is bound to be just as good : Lobster Tail

One Tail or Two ? Steamed and served with lemon wedges and drawn butter.

Who would think that someone from Massachusetts would always be on the lookout for lobster tails when I’m surrounded by Maine lobster all the time. Well, they are not the same and (I’ll probably have to hide out after this comment) I like the tails better than Maine Lobster. There I said it. My New England Yankee card will probably be revoked. I don’t dislike Maine Lobster I just prefer the Langoustines , those big , juicy tails usually served on the shell. They are a different animal and more common in the south. When I was growing up in upstate New York the frozen variety was more common than the live Maine lobsters. I imagine that’s changed now. Every high end restaurant seems to have a lobster tank.

Now I’m hungry and it isn’t even noon yet!

Anyway the same cousin that tipped me to the restaurant also gave me a link to a train ride out of Chattanooga. http://www.tvrail.com/pages/etowah-train-rides-train-excursions-in-Tennessee Known as the Hiwassee River rail Adventure it sounds perfect. The ride is described as the historic Hiwassee River Rail Adventure scenic rail excursion through the unspoiled Cherokee National Forest, along beautiful and scenic Hiwassee River, and through the secluded Hiwassee River Gorge. It leaves from Etowah. My only decision is do I do the short or long version?