Thank you for following along with our adventures! Let us know if you have a favorite spot you would like to suggest we search out on our travels through this great country of ours.
All the best,
Tammy & Judy
Blog Layout
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Our visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was absolutely breathtaking!
We originally only had four days scheduled here (which isn't enough), but we were going to get two days of rain from hurricane Zeta, so we added two more days to our stay, for a total of six. We made the best of our six day stay and packed in as much as we could.
As soon as we got set up in our campground in Wears Valley, we headed right down the road to check out the Foothills Parkway.
The Parkway was our first experience seeing these awesome mountains and spectacular views at about 2,200 feet. The overlooks gave us a good taste of what we would see over the next few days.
Cades Cove
We definitely wanted to do the Cades Cove Loop. It is an 11 mile loop road circling the cove where you can pull off at many different sightseeing spots. There are areas where you can walk trails or spots you can stop and see right from your car. I would suggest you stop and get the inexpensive guide brochure to help you know where all of the "attractions" are. We unfortunately, didn't do that and I quickly wished we had.
We got to see some of the old buildings in the Cove. This church was close to the beginning of the tour.
I am always amazed when I see old structures like this, that they are actually still standing and in fairly good condition. Almost all of the structures we saw within the park are balanced and leveled up on stacked ROCKS! Which it totally amazing to me.
Shortly after we passed the small little church, we came upon a fork in the road. We could go off to the left and continue the nice, easy drive of the Cades Cove Loop, OR, we could turn off to the right and go on the "unimproved" section of the area. Please, guess which way I turned? LOL!
Well, yes, I turned onto the "unimproved" area, because that's how I roll! Which gets me in trouble sometimes. Here are a couple of pictures from our drive, but as usual, I was not able to capture just how crazy the drive was because you couldn't really see the drop off on the edge of the road. Someday I'll learn how to capture that or get a camera that is capable (or maybe both!).
I did take a video, but I can't post it here for some reason. I'll try to work that out and post it later or at least a link to it somewhere.
This post may contain affiliate links to products and services we use and love.
Pigeon Forge
Since we were getting a lot of rain from the hurricane turned tropical storm, right in the middle of our visit, we decided to head into Pigeon Forge to see all of the weird and strange buildings. We passed them on our way to our campground and were totally shocked. I had no idea this existed.
The whole area is like an amusement park! There are rides, wax museums, shows, etc. We actually got to ride one of the mountain coasters before the rain moved in. It was a total blast!
You can definitely have two very different experiences in this area. You can surround yourself with nature in the beautiful National Park, or experience the bigger city fun in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Or maybe you can have the best of both worlds and do a mix of both!
Roaring Fork
We spent the majority of our time in the NP. After the rain cleared up, we decide to do the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This is a 5.5 mile, one-way road, loop. The old buildings you see on this loop are just incredible. Again, I am always speechless at how well these structures have held up over the years. They are basically all raw wood that is exposed constantly to the weather, yet here they stand 100+ years later.
When you walk into one of these buildings, you realize just how much shorter people were back then. I'm only 5'7" and the doorways weren't too much taller than me! And I mean, who wouldn't want to live in a version of that first little cabin?!
We also got to see a beautiful waterfall on this drive that was flowing pretty good because of the rain we received the previous two days. It was near the end of the loop.
Right in this same area of the park are two very popular trail heads that lead back to more beautiful falls. One is Rainbow Falls which is a 5.4 mile round trip hike and the other is Grotto Falls which is 3 miles round trip. We didn't do either of these, unfortunately, because of amount of rain we received, we were concerned about the condition of the trails and if they would be safe.
Newfound Gap & Clingman's Dome
I was very excited for this trip within the park! I had many people tell me it is a MUST see when we said we were heading to the NP.
When I started planning our route for the day, I was TOTALLY surprised when my maps app said it would take 2 hours to get there. I thought it was a mistake. Especially since it was only about 25-30 miles away, if I remember correctly. So, we headed into the park with a little over a half a tank of gas. Ooops! That is never a good idea! So I know now. LOL! We were about half way to the Dome and I started getting a little nervous about our gas level, so I turned around and got gas near the Gatlinburg entrance. We probably would have made it, but all I could think of, was being stuck on the side of one of those narrow roads, out of gas! The road to the Dome is fairly windy and pretty good uphill grades which can suck the gas quickly. As I know now, there are very few spots to duck out of the park to fill up. So my number one tip about the park is, don't enter without a full tank of gas!
Theses are a few pictures on our way up to the dome. The views are absolutely stunning and the drive was very pretty as well.
It took us about an hour (not counting turning around for gas) to get to Newfound Gap. The parking lot was very full, but we managed to find a spot so we could walk around a bit. It was fun to learn a bit of history about the Newfound Gap and what it meant to people in the 1800s.
Who's up for the 1972 mile hike to Maine on the Appalachian Trail? LOL! Maybe next year?
We got back in the car and headed towards Clingman's Dome! It was only a few miles away, so we thought we would be there fairly quick. Well, it took us an hour to go the last mile to get to the parking lot! People were parked all along both sides of the road. I was shocked at how close they park to the edge of the drop off. If you were a passenger, you would have to get out on the drivers side of the car! Yikes!
Once we got into the parking lot, we quickly realized why the Dome was so highly recommended. There really are no words to properly describe just how beautiful this view is. You are at about 6,640 feet above sea level and you are looking down over all of the surrounding mountain tops. It is the highest point in the NP and in Tennessee and the third highest point east of the Mississippi.
You feel serene and like you are on top of the world! You look around at the people around you, and they have the same amazed look on their faces. There is nothing like it!
You definitely knew you were up in the mountains because the temperature was almost 20 degrees colder than the lower areas of the park. I was happy we brought jackets. You also can feel the effects of the higher altitude. Just walking around I had a hard time breathing normally.
Cool fact: the cool, wet conditions on Clingmans Dome's summit make the spruce-fir forest that grows there a coniferous rain forest.
There is an awesome observation tower that you can walk to, but its not as easy as it may sound, especially with the altitude. It is a paved, half a mile path, but it is fairly steep. We settled for the stunning views from the parking lot!
Clingman's Dome is definitely a must see if you visit this National Park! But plan for it later in your trip, because the views here out do any others in the area.
Blue Ridge Parkway
We had planned on heading to North Carolina after leaving Tennessee, but we changed out plans to Georgia instead. I was a little bummed about that because we were going to miss seeing a couple of things, and one of them was the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We decided to take the hour and a half drive the entrance of the Parkway near Cherokee, NC. The drive getting there was so pretty through the park. The entrance to the Parkway is just past the Oconaluftee Visitors Center.
When we entered the parkway, we stopped to get a picture of the sign. I was turning around to go back to the Jeep when I saw a bunch of Elk crossing the road right behind us! How awesome!
We drove about 30 minutes down the Parkway, but now, we had our eyes peeled for Elk! You could hear their call every once in a while when we stopped. We were so excited to see more, we decide to turn around and head back to the area we saw them. We didn't have any luck, so we started heading back into the park. We made the turn off the Parkway heading towards the visitors center and the road was lined with cars. We weren't sure why until we got a little closer. The open field next to the visitors center was full of Elk grazing! It was an absolutely incredible site. I'm so glad we decide to turn around or we might have missed seeing them!
We didn't get to spend as much time here as we wanted, but the 6 days we had were spectacular. The beauty of this park can't be explained in words. We will definitely plan another trip to this gorgeous area!
**Disclosures: We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs. These programs are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and other affiliate sites to easily recommend products and services we use and love. It does not cost you anything extra to use these links. We appreciate your ongoing support.
Are you ready to hit the road full-time in an RV? Use these tips to simplify your life and make the process of purging your belongings easier. From setting up donation, selling, and giveaway boxes to getting rid of items that don't fit or are broken, we've got you covered. Plus, we've included advice on purging clothes, closets, the kitchen, and electronics, as well as tips on how to sell items and recycle responsibly. Follow these tips to make the process of purging for RV living as stress-free as possible.
How many times have you gone on an RV or camping trip and spent most of your time preparing and cleaning up after meals? I’ve been there too and while I have no problem thinking about food, I don’t want to spend my entire vacation preparing meals. I do a lot of cooking in our RV and learned a trick or two when it comes to preparing meals in a tiny kitchen. A few things I keep in mind when meal planning while RVing in remote areas are, keep it simple, the Instant Pot is my best friend, foil packet meals are also a huge help and not to plan any meals with exotic ingredients. Why? Because sometimes you find yourself in the mountains, shopping at an itty bitty grocery store and there’s a good chance they won’t have chia seeds or if they do, they will be super expensive. With that being said here are 30 easy RV meals that I hope will help you with your meal planning. And some of these might even work well as camping meals too.
We spent a little time in northern Alabama this past spring. We were totally shocked at some of the cool things we got to see while we were there. I can't wait to go back and visit again.
Our visits to some of Florida's beautiful springs
Incorporated in 1925, the city of Jupiter is in northern Palm Beach County, with just under 65,000 residents. Ranked as one of the country’s most pleasant and livable coastal towns by a well-known travel magazine, it’s full of beautiful beaches, cultural and natural attractions.
Savannah is one of my favorite cities, so far. I spent one afternoon there a few years ago, just on a whim, driving home from Florida. Ever since then, I have dreamed of the day I could go back and spend a little more time exploring. We were booked in Savannah for 7 days over Christmas. The weather was a little chilly and rainy, but we got 3 really nice days to get out and about and see as much as we could. On a side note, we stayed at a really nice RV park called Creekfire Motor Coach Resort. I wish I would have remembered to take picture of our spot and all the amenities, but of course, I thought about that as we were driving down the road leaving. It was a little more spacious than a normal RV parks, and there were a ton of amenities from tennis courts to large lawn chess set to a heated, winding pool and hot tub. The "office" was more like a lodge and was very inviting and cozy. We would definitely stay there again. We were also able to use our Passport America discount to make this stop pretty affordable. Forsyth Park On our first day out, we headed to Forsyth Park. We strolled through the 30 acre park located in the historic district of Savannah. It has a nice sized cafe with a large outdoor dining area, a few tennis courts, spacious open grassy area and a large play area for kids. I was excited to see the large fountain, added to the north end of the park in 1858. It was a little crowded with people taking pictures, but I was able to snap a couple pictures of my own without a bunch of people in them. There are also a couple of monuments in the park as well, The Confederate Monument and the Spanish-American War Memorial. The history in this area is just amazing.
Travel and vacations can get expensive. When you are in a new area, you want to see and do everything so you can experience every little thing the town has to offer. As we all know, that can add up quickly. I always start out by searching for the things we can do and experience in each area that are free. If we can fill up time with cool stuff to do and see that doesn't cost us anything, then we can really pick and choose what we want to spend our money on. Also, if you get to know the area a little better by experiencing the free stuff, you might run across things to do that you weren't even aware of. We had very limited time in Charleston, unfortunately, so we had one day to pack in as much as we could see. Here is our free tour of the charming city.....
We spent about two weeks on the eastern side of South Carolina and most of our adventures revolved around the beach, or close to it. Shocking, I know!
CAMPGROUND: Crossroads Coach Resort at the ROB WEBSITE: https://www.lakecityrv.com/ LOCATION: 243 S. Church Street, Lake City, SC 29560 DATE OF OUR VISIT: November, 2020 PROS: Full hook ups Accepts Passport America Brand new park Clean laundry facility with nice machines Wifi was good CONS: The train! Not much to do locally No campfires allowed ONSITE AMENITIES: Laundry Showers and bathrooms Picnic tables NIGHTLY COST: With PA, our average was $24 a night
As we quickly learned, good trip planning can make moving day relaxing and enjoyable or totally stressful. Driving a large RV is already a little more mentally stressful than a car, so you sure don't want to add to it by having issues with your route. These tools help us with our budget, route planning, fuel stops and overnight stays.
Follow Us
Stay in touch with us on social media and find out more about our adventures.
What state are we in?
