Brake Down on the Road

This past Thursday we left Nashville headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  That area of the country is beautiful, but the traffic is insane.  It's like Branson on steroids.  We were only there a day and a half so we had to cram it all in a short time.  Our campground was off the beaten track, and very hard to find.  The roads are not on GPS or Google Maps, but a call to the office got us there in no time.

First we headed to the downtown area and got on the skylift to see the area.

View from the top.

The next day we headed into Smoky Mountain National Park - the most frequented NP in the country, and the only free one.  After stopping to get a t-shirt and map of the park, we headed 25 miles into the park to drive the Cades Cove Tour which is an 11-mile one way loop with lots to look at along the way.  Sadly, the only wildlife we saw in the NP was three turkeys, and one deer.  I had hoped for a bear or two, but they were nowhere to be found.  The Cades Cove area was established in the 1830s, and by 1900 housed 125 families.   Several churches, a mill, and cabins still remain.

 The Methodist church

The Grain Mill

We stopped at some little BBQ joint (which was very delicious) and found this next door.  No, we did not pay $3 to go inside, even though it is the "only salt and pepper shaker museum in the world!"

The next morning we started our two day trip to get to Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The first 136 miles went just fine, until we got on a five mile downhill stretch through the Appalachian Mountains at a 6% downgrade.  The truck brakes started smoking and making this terrible smell.  Mark called a Ford dealer 30 miles down the road who agreed to get us in and out and on our way.  The people at the dealer were great.  They told us where to unhook the trailer, told us to bring Butch into the waiting room, offered snacks and a car to use if we wanted to leave for lunch.  

 Just what we needed while waiting for almost four hours.

This display was full of Twinkies and Ding Dongs before we got there.  Between us and another lady who stuffed her purse with them, we managed to eat most of them.

We made it to Virginia Beach Friday afternoon.  We have a great campsite backed up to the woods.  

Yesterday we headed up to the Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, and the Yorktown Victory Center.  While it was supposed to be only an hour away, it took almost two.  Traffic in this part of the country is no fun.  We crept for 25 miles on I-64 at no more than 25 mph!

 Replica of one of three ships from England that arrived in Jamestowne in 1607.

There was a great museum, but no pictures were allowed.  Our next stop was the Yorktown Victory Center.  There we found a re-creation of a Continental Army encampment.

 Six men slept in one of these tents.  

Thomas Jefferson hanging out.

 We found this in the cooler at the gas station.  

 Today we checked out the boardwalk.  It's 3 miles long and loaded with hotels, restaurants, and gift shops.

 It was supposed to rain most of the day (even though it never did), so I guess no one showed up this morning.

The water was warm and even though the sand is brown, it is a nice beach.

Great mural on the side of a building by the waterfront.

After doing laundry and grocery shopping today - it's back to being tourists tomorrow.