November 28, 2007

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! We did! And
I also am sending only part 1 here, after being
gently told that I took after my mom in the gab
department!!!! Thanks Uncle Hank!!!

Let's see, last time I wrote we were in
Cherokee, NC....

Nov 6 - we drove through the Great Smoky
Mountain National Park, which is a narrow,
winding road about 35 miles long. It starts in
Cherokee, and ends in Gatlinburg,
Tennessee. I was a little freaked in Gatlinburg,
because we had just spent many days basically in
the middle of nowhere, and we end up on this 6
lane road going through the midle of town. That
part was ok, the part that I had trouble with was
the shops and stores all around me - Eddie Bauer,
EMS, Cabellas, all the other outfitters, a
restaurant for any foodie, all kinds of toy
sellers, everything from a pacifier to a bungee
jump - row after row. people who were walking
around town had a look on their faces, I have to
be in the next store in exactly 2.3 minutes, and
when I am there I will buy $45.19 worth of
product look.

So, of course, I took a wrong turn, I was so busy
staring.....it is not a good idea to take a wrong
turn in a 35ft long vehicle conglomeration
....especially if you have no clue where the road
goes, or when there might next be a place to turn
around. All was well, however, and we found a
very convenient gas station.

From there we kept driving through Pigeon Forge,
TN, where Dolly Parton opened a theme
park, Dollyworld, which I couldnt convince Ken to
visit ( thank goodness!) - and the streets are 8
lanes wide with ALL neon signs, donut shops,
go-kart rentals, helicopter rides,flapjack
houses, and so much more that I guess we are not
supposed to live without. I really just wanted to
back to the middle of nowhere. Ken was saying
that as a teen, he had gone on a family vacation
to the Smokey Mtns/ Gatlinburg area, and it was
so completely changed that he couldnt believe
where he was.

We stopped for the night in Nashville, Tennessee
- the first RV park we went to was full , so we
ended up at a Yogi Bear Campground, which we have
been avoiding all along (-:

The next morning we found out that the Country
Music Awards were that night, Nov 7, in
Nashville, and the managers of the park got us
tickets in the nosebleed section! So we went to
the awards ceremony, mostly because we could, and
because apparently I have raised some kids who
either love country music or have a significant
other who loves country music....
Anyway, it was on television - we waved at
everyone, but dont know who might have watched???

While we were at the Yogi Bear campground Allie
got a pair of sunglasses, and she had her
picture taken with them on!! We got an extra pair
too, that Ken and I put on for fun....

We left Nashville on Nov 8....

More in "flat Allie 2"

Love, Mindy, Ken and Allie