We finally turned off of I-40 onto Route ?? I don’t remember the number, but we were on a two-lane, well-maintained road. Okay, stop right there. Another aspect of the roads back east is they don’t believe in shoulders or sidewalks for that matter. But they do believe in very deep ditches. One bad slip and you would need a tow truck. I bet they make bank out there from all the out-of-town tourists.
Anyway, we are driving down this country road with small businesses here and there, but no KOA sign to be seen. I check the clock, I think we’re going to make it. Finally, after 30 miles we see it and it’s 5:15. We turn in and yup there’s a gate. What Van and I couldn’t understand was why they had one. I mean it was out in the country for goodness sakes. Only locals and KOA campers travel this road. But I must admit it was a beautiful camp and we had planned to stay for a couple of days.
We weren’t too far from Pigeon Forge, ever hear of that town? Well in the back of my mind it sounded Civil Warish so I was expecting a quaint little town with cool shops and such. The flyer the KOA gave us talked about an old mill that was turned into a restaurant so that was where we headed for lunch the next day.
Oh MY GOSH! The town was a kid’s dream and a parent’s nightmare. It was like Disneyland on Steroids. Every kind of attraction you could imagine from Museums like the Country Star Wax Museum, The Titanic, Alcatraz, Indoor sky diving, Indy car race track, every kind of designed miniature golf, House of Mirrors, house of horrors oh and can’t forget Dollywood just to name a few. Thank goodness it wasn’t summertime, but even in April you slow poked it to each stoplight, and it went on and on for miles. We were definitely rubber-neckers!
We couldn’t wait to get out of the rat race, but we needed to locate a grocery store. Even with the GPS, it was hard to find, I mean these people need to eat too. Finally tucked way back from the main drag we found it. We got our food and high-tailed it back to the peace and quiet of our trailer.
Unfortunately, the next day was cold and rainy, so we spent our time doing laundry LOL. During the break in the weather, Van did get to take a long walk with Cali.
Another interesting fact, the further East you go the more trees there are. What a difference in landscape traveling down I-40. You have Arizona desert to Oklahoma wheat fields to Tennessee forests. The highways are dense and lined with them, you almost feel claustrophobic. Then it opens up for a brief moment and all you want to do is take a deep breath. Green that’s the word, everything was green.
On Sunday we left our beautiful green KOA park. Our GPS told us to turn right. We did but unfortunately, my time is up. I’ll have to continue the saga next time.
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