Smoky Dollywood Long Weekend?

After Mary Jane finished two days at a yearbook workshop in Chattanooga on June 22 and 23, we headed over to Elkmont campground in the Great Smoky Mtn National Park for a long weekend. This pileated woodpecker welcomed us! After dropping the trailer and watching this woodpecker awhile, we took the Gatlinburg Trail hike 2 miles into town, and did our window-shopping before hiking back to the Sugarland Visitor Center where the trail began.

We enjoyed a campfire briefly and gorgeous sunset Friday night before MJ conked. Randy struggled to sleep since it's primitive camping with no electric hook-ups and it was a "warmish" trailer. (It's the first time that sleep deprivation the night before benefited me - the heat couldn't keep me awake!)

Sabbath morning cars weren't allowed in Cades Cove till 10, so we rode our bikes around the 11-mile loop, along with a LOT of other bikers. We didn't stop to even take any pictures even once since I was determined to get off the loop before the cars caught up to us. We started biking about 9:20 and finished it at 10:20 before any cars caught us. It's so much nicer having the entire lane to bike in rather than hugging the edge to avoid getting run over like the last time we biked it!

This picture tells how fast we pedaled! He did NOT want me to take this picture, but he did agree today to let me post it. It's the only evidence we have that we biked.

After our picnic lunch, we hiked 4.6 miles on the Middle Prong Trail along a beautiful stream.

I loved seeing all the rhododendron in bloom!

The white in the woods is rhododendron

Sun. morning we pulled the trailer to this Pigeon Forge private campground where we had water and electric and went to Dollywood for our first time.

We caught three shows Sun. evening, and then used our pass again Monday to see the rest of the shows. Our favorites were Kingdom Heirs and Dreamland Diner.

We took the trolley from our campground to Dollywood. It saved us the $8 parking fee and only cost us $4 round trip, plus they drop you off right at the gate. The second day we decided to drive to the trolley transfer station (Patriot Park by the Old Mill Inn) and then take the trolley - there was less waiting that way and no trolley transfer. We also decided to upgrade to a season pass so we are looking forward to going back at least 3 times before 2011 ends so we can see the new programming as the seasons/themes change. We've decided we will camp at a private campground with hook-ups and just do day trips into the park in hot weather in the future! It was fun shopping at the outlets before we headed home Tuesday afternoon.

Our First Weekend with Claire

Watching the sky Sabbath morning

What a front!


Ryan played in the Hendersonville Tournament

Looking a little dozey - what a sleeper she is!

Grandpa - you don't say!

Happy after her bath

Claire holding her hand of cards at an early age!

She enjoys her tummy time!

Time with Grandpa on Father's Day

Finishing our Ticket to Ride game before our Olive Garden trip.

The Wood Chopper

Randy has been cutting away at this huge oak that came down next door in our April 27 tornadoes. Today he brought four pick-up loads home but left the huge chunks that he'll have to split before he can bring them home.

It's been hot weather for wood cutting, so he's done it in the early mornings before the worst of the heat was on. So we have quite the pile in our back yard now waiting to be split and stacked.

Surprise Visit with Heidi and Claytor Lake too!

We stayed at Heidi's new place south of Baltimore Sunday night and enjoyed a walk down to the river right behind her condo.

She said kids are there jumping off the dock and swimming all the time. There's a nice sandy beach to enjoy too.

She and the neighbors all have lovely decks and yards backing up onto the river.

We stopped at an old favorite haunt Claytor Lake State Park Mon. night
(or we would have arrived home after midnight).
A cool way to tow your boat to the lake, eh? I'd love to own this - I think. . .

The gazebo where we saw several weddings during the four summers we boated there.

The campground where we enjoyed our RV for weeks on end from '93 to '97.

A trail we enjoyed hiking during those summers.

And this is the 6-year old SleepInn at the Dublin exit where we stayed very comfortably. It's right next to the old Claytor Lake Inn. The coupon we picked up at a rest area for $25 off the regular room rate made it very affordable! We enjoyed pizza at Cici's in Harrisonburg along the way - we learned that Mr. Gatti's was shut down several years ago.