Simply the best

Hello my faithful crew. We had another great day watching elk. After my last post, the herd we were photographing, the big bull, came up real close to the truck. You could hear him eating, it was really cool. G took pics, even of him crossing the road.

 

 

Let's not forget the ladies.

 

 

And these really cool shots. Elk are closer than they appear.

 

 

 

Yesterday we went to Cataloochee to see the elk herd. They are all radio-collared. The group we got all these pics of migrated off of that group. We only saw 7 of them yesterday. The old village at Cataloochee is cute but doesn't have much to offer except a nail-biting, white-knuckled ride to get there. I was a little queasy when we got back. Luckily it passed after we hit flat roads the rest of the way. The 5th wheels that make that trip are seasoned travelers and know what they're doing in order to get up there.

 

We did some waterfall hiking yesterday after the elk excursion. Those pics will come later. Today we did laundry and visited the Oconaluftee Indian Village. It was very educational and interesting. Their language has 85 syllables, and a character in their alphabet for each syllable (not like our 26). Their schools teach their young ones NC standards and Cherokee standards. Cool! Pics to follow later for that, too.

 

On our travels yesterday, we found out how resourceful these Appalachian Americans really are. For instance, you can get Frog Jam, Moonshine Jelly, and Rat Cheese. Here's your sign. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elk Land

For all of you who followed along last year's trip, we are now following that schedule:  up early (before sunrise) to view wildlife, back at the camper after noon. Right now we are at Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee, NC) side of the park and viewing 5 elk in the field:  2 bulls and 3 females. There are about 140 total elk in the park (transplanted in 2001 from extinction in the park). Saw them with the headlights first and waited for the sun to come up over the mountains. Unfortunately, early morning pics don't look too hot with the camera, so we wait. Here are some to get you started. I'll have better ones at the next post.

 

 

Another thing I'm finding fascinating are the birds. I got started last year with our triple-park excursion, listening to the different calls. I know most of the ones that hang out at the house. It is really cool to see and listen to other species. They are really spectacular. I need to get a book to log the ones I've seen. Right now I am logging the colors and their songs so I can check with the brochure I have back at the camper.  So while we wait for wildlife (remember, it's not Disney so they don't show up on cue), I bird.

 

This is our campsite. We are about 50 steps by the river (Oconaluftee River). We slept with the windows open listening to it last night. The weather is very pleasant, and the campground is very clean. Not a lot of people here right now. We are here till the end of the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

We are completely off the grid here. In fact, the park ranger laughed when we asked where to wifi. We have no TV stations, no radio stations, no cell phone service at the campsite. Cherokee is 15 minutes from the site, so there is civilization nearby. Yesterday, we needed to go to the store, so G sent me to a gas station to ask for one (the lady in the black box disappointed us). He said to make sure I got the name of the store (I guess in case it was a local grocery). So I asked the manager where it was and he told me the directions. And then I said, "By the way, what's the name of the grocery store?" He answered in a condescending tone, "Food Lion."  Here's your sign.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Step Into the Past

Yesterday we were greeted with a rainy start to the day but it rewarded us with sunny skies and beautiful weather around 10ish. We went back to Cades Cove to check out the mountain village there and the buildings. We walked around and checked it out. Of course, being a weekend, it was dreadfully crowded, but that's okay. We saw the local wildlife:  a bear and her two cubs (another "bear jam") and two snakes at an old house. There was a blacksmithy, working grist mill, and other outbuildings. We saw two cantilever barns (two overhangs on the side and space in the middle you can drive through). Apparently, that was pretty reasonable and proper here in the early 1900s. I thought it was really cool that you could wake up every day and go to sleep seeing that wonderful view. But I wondered, if they had to work all the time, did they ever really enjoy it?  Anyway, here are some of the pics we took. The bear and her cubs were pretty far away (they don't like you to get closer than 500 feet of the bear) so all you see are black shapes. Tomorrow we head to Smokemont. Maybe we'll see some elk (yes, elk in NC--who knew?). Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy day?

Rainy day? That's okay. We will ride around all day. While we were checking out this side of the park, we saw a black bear, wild turkeys, and deer. There is a little community up the road called Cades Cove. It was once a thriving "village" with over 750 people in the early 20th century. It was too wet to get out and check out the buildings. We are here a few more days and will probably see it then.

 

 

 

 

There is a roaring river near our campsite, about 100 yards. You can hear it (when it's not raining). Next time we will make our reservations well in advance in order to secure a waterfront site. But it is still pretty where we are. The air is fresh and clean (all that oxygen--thanks, trees). It is very cool, too. Lows are in the 60s and highs are close to 80. Hopefully the rain lets up soon.

 

We are pretty much off the grid here. We get two radio stations (a country/western and praise/worship) and no TV and no cell phone service. The park is free, and it is well-maintained (except the latrines). Must be a sequestration thing. But we are enjoying ourselves immensely.

 

G took some waterfall pics and this wild turkey this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is the reason they call it the Smokies. Too beautiful for words. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Another day in paradise

We enjoyed our day off yesterday. We had some pleasant temps and the sun came and went. No problem. We drove around Marion and walked about in downtown, took some pics. Then we checked out the other campgrounds. They have a tent site (Camp C) that has elevated wooden platforms for the tents. The ground is really steep, so that's probably why they did that. It looks like you're sleeping in the trees. Here are some pics from downtown Marion. This is the train station. One minute after we left, the train came. Phooey!

 

 

On the sidewalk are these plaques of historic Marion. I took pics of a few. Neat!

 

 

 

This is the Smyth County Courthouse. Very becoming!

 

 

This dog was in the window of one of the shops. I thought it was stuffed (it was laying next to an antique bed) until it moved. Too cute!

 

 

One of the antique stores had a set of rulers in it. Maybe they are made of hickory and I can use them for some "Appalachia Discipline."

 

 

They have an historic General Francis Marion hotel and Lincoln Theater. They also have Amish gifts in their antique stores. But my favorite was at the Mercantile and Spirit Shoppe. Check out the second pic. Pure Mountain Spirits, baby! I love this state!

 

 

 

Back at the homestead, we were greeted with more visitors. There were four more groups that joined our humble setting yesterday. One of them was wearing a wife-beater shirt (all you rednecks should know what I'm talking about), and he had his wife set up the tents while he minded the barefoot young'uns.  Later, the whole family went to WalMart and picked up a watermelon. While looking for sticks to make a fire (or Smores) Big Daddy killed a snake with a big stick (after stepping on it with his shoe). Sorry, no pics available for that. Good thing this isn't bear country; they left half the watermelon and their sodas on the picnic table overnight. Real slick, dude.

So, what do you do when your trailer gets stuck? You call the rescue squad (park rangers with a tractor). Yeah, boy! The turn to get into the campground is a little tight, so this guy had fallen into the side ditch. He bent his outer set of stairs pretty good. The tractor took it all the way to the site and backed it in nice and pretty. I was having great respect for them until they put up their string of lights on the awning. G and I said that we don't need to do that or set up froo-froo things. The airstream stands alone.  Enjoy!

 

 

Just chillin

Hi there!

We are just chilling today, maybe drive around this quaint little town. The weather is less than favorable for hiking (it rained last night for awhile and it is cloudy today with a 50% chance of showers). Yesterday, on the way to post, we caught sight of some healthy deer (see pic). Our hike was about 2 hours, but it was really pretty. We hiked around the lake; it was 5.7 miles and a lot of it was dark and very quiet. It was really peaceful. The pics are of the wildlife that we saw and the lake. A lot of our fellow campers left yesterday, so it's just ourselves and two other folks. It was really cute to see three boys try and catch minnows in the stream behind our camper. They make it refreshing to see that children can still have fun for simple things instead of electronics. Later~

 

 

 

Hello World!

Hi all! We have arrived here at Hungry Mother State Park. We left early Friday morning and got here just after lunch. We have a primo spot (shaded, and near a little creek--waterfront property). It doesn't get any better than this. It is a beautiful park. We will be hiking later today. Here is a pic of our setup.

 

The weather here is divine (highs in the 70s with low humidity) and the restaurant is top notch. I get coffee the way I like it in the mornings, along with this delicious breakfast burrito by a 5-star chef.

 

 

 

We spent yesterday simply exploring this cute little area, and the quaint historic town of Marion. This was on a recommendation from one of G's peeps (thanks, Al). It is really a lovely place. There's even a mercantile store. Civilization (Target, BedBath, etc) is over 30 miles away near the border of TN, but there is a WalMart nearby (not the SuperCenter) but it is close. It's still really quaint.

 

So we spent the afternoon hanging out and watching the local campers (a favorite pastime). G saw 2 deer and a fox cross the road up ahead. This guy gets the Darwin award. He was splitting wood using a hatchet and another log. Brilliant!

 

 

So that is all for now. We will be in touch. Enjoy!