Grand Ole Opry!

Because the newer Grand Ole Opry House was heavily damaged in the May 2010 flood, the radio show has been temporarily moved to the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Opry from 1943 to 1974. It's a beautiful historic building and also where Johnny & June performed!

What a great experience to be in the audience of the live radio show! And what spectacular entertainment!

The Tuesday Night lineup was: Riders In The SkyChris Young
Jimmy C. Newman
Mark Chestnut
During the intermission, we explored the Ryman Auditorium. There's some great memorabilia from Johnny & June. An extra treat!

Jeannie Seely
Montgomery Gentry

Charlie Daniels was incredible. A great performer and a true patriot.
Charlie Daniel brought down the house jamming on the fiddle in The Devil Went Down To Georgia.

Tourist Trap

Once upon a time, Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg were quaint country towns - the "Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains." Not so anymore. We spent over 1.5 hours driving the 11 miles from Sevierville into Pigeon Forge just getting to the RV Park (and as many leaving town yesterday). Traffic is bumper to bumper getting to the National Park. It's absolute insanity. While we're glad we saw the Smoky Mountains, we honestly couldn't recommend a visit to this area, especially during the summer. Check out the touristy ruin that's now the town of Pigeon Forge:
Pigeon Forge is the Miniature Golf Capital of the World, with more than a dozen options on the main drag.
There's no end to the choices of dollar sucking junk "entertainment."
Choose from at least 5 cart tracks.
Another Mini Golf.
Kiddie rides galore! What parent could say NO to little Johnny?
Chotchskies galore. (For those who aren't familiar with that word, it means "a small piece of worthless crap, a decoratve knick knack with little or no purpose.")
Good to know you can be saved at the Three Bears General Store!





I guess all of this was a great job creator for local folks who lived near these mountains in poverty. But UGH, the blight....

Hiking & Cycling in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Our first hike in the Smokies was actually on the North Carolina side of the park. Here's the view from the base of Clingman's Dome. From here we did a 4-mile hike out to "Andrew's Bald."


The lookout tower on Clingman's Dome. 20+ years ago, when the air was still sort of clean, you could see for 100 miles. Now the visibility is down to about 50-60.

We rode from Townsend, TN into the park and up to Cades Cove. The scenic loop is closed to cars until 10am (and otherwise has bumper to bumper traffic in the summer). There were so many cyclists on the 11-mile loop! It was awesome!




Our last hike was a 5-miler to Alum Caves Bluff. We followed along the creek and then turned into the forest. Glad we started early, because it was HOT!




We really enjoyed the Smokies; but if we ever come again, it will be in the cooler months of Autumn. We'd love to see the fall colors!

Dollywood! Pigeon Forge, TN

We came to Tennessee to see the Great Smoky Mountains National Park... But what's a trip to the Smokies without a visit to Dollywood??? Since we so rarely do touristy things, we were surprised that the Tennessee Moon Guide listed Dollywood as a must-do. Honestly? It was a BLAST! Way more fun and a much better value than the Disney parks we visited last month in Florida. So if you're ever down this way, be sure and visit, y'all!


A very unique and challenging attraction:

Very interesting food selections...
Super fun rides!
Lots of wonderful crafts shops, including candles (below), woodworking, leather, candies and blown glass.
Brian relives his youth...

Road Trip to kick off Summer Vacation 2010

We had to take a road trip to start our road trip... To Middlebury, Indiana to pick up our RV which was back in its birthplace for repairs. (Thanks to Showhauler for the awesome customer service.)

We left Utah on Thursday, and took the 15 to the I-70, then headed east. The I-70 is amazing from Utah to Denver; then BAM! Nothing but farms all the way across Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

It took us four full days of driving, plus a teeny bit on Monday to get to Indiana where at last, we got to sleep in our own bed! Yippee! Here's a bit of what we saw on the road:

Endless beautiful rest areas/scenic overlooks on the 70.
A bike path followed this part of the 70 for a really long way.
This is just wrong.
Chicago skyline.
The Bean. Chicago.
Cycling the quiet country roads around Middlebury, Indiana.
Amish Country traffic.
Next stop: Floyds Knob, Indiana (across the river from Louisville, KY) to spend the 4th of July weekend with Brian's family, including his folks who are driving down from New Jersey.