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Stop #4: Driving Thru the Smokies & Visiting Friends in Knoxville, Tennessee

From Smokemount Campground (North Carolina) to Knoxville, Tennessee


Travel Dates: 7/5/2020 to 7/6/2020

Drive Time: 1 hours 57 minutes covering 75 miles (120 km)




Todays drive was beautiful and by getting an early start to the day, I was able to stop at several of the viewpoints to take photos without having to deal with traffic and lots of people.



Mountain Viewpoint
Mountain viewpoint just after dawn

Continuing on, I followed the winding road up and over the mountain, traveling through a few tunnels along the way. Follow along in the video below.





I also found an empty trailhead parking area with a cool little trail away from everyone else on the way down the other side of the mountain and decided to check it out. I'm so glad I did!


Quiet Walkway Parking Area
Quiet Walkway Parking Area

This trail led to a hidden graveyard, but there weren’t any signs saying why it was there and some of the gravestones were broken and illegible, while others seemed to have been replaced within the last 10 years.



Old Cemetery: Quiet Walkway
Old Hidden Cemetery

Exiting the cemetery back onto the main trail I came across the most beautiful lush green area that stopped me in my tracks when I came across it. Breathing in, you could smell the green in the air and just pick up the sounds of water trickling by somewhere nearby.



Lush Green Area: Quiet Walkway
Beautiful Lush Green Area

I was a little concerned about my RV sticking out too far towards the road and knew more and more people would be coming down the mountain, so I decided to head back and continue on my way. The trail back to the parking area was a little steep, but not too bad.


 

Driving on into Pigeon Forge, I stopped to pick up more groceries and lots of ice for the cooler to keep everything cold. Then I drove on to my friends house in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was finally getting to see friends I hadn’t seen since they moved out of Florida several years before! I was also getting to see their little girl, Harley, which I hadn’t seen since she was a baby just learning to roll over and not even crawling yet. Entering the house, I found her running around before going back outside into the backyard. She was so big! First I took Darrell out to see the RV, and being that he was an airplane mechanic, asked him about my power issues. He ran back inside to grab some tools and we spent the next 45 minutes figuring out that all that needed to be done was flip the reset switch on the inverter hidden under a panel under the sink. Man! I could have had the issue fixed within minutes of seeing there was a problem and not had to throw away all the food. Lesson learned! This was good to know going forward, should it ever happen again or I ran into someone else who was dealing with this issue. We then brought Harley & Heather out to view the RV. Harley of course, wanted to go for a ride, lol.


That evening, we all went out for dinner, a treat for all of us, as none of us had gone to eat out at a restaurant in a long time due to Covid concerns and lockdown orders. For dinner I got some really good sushi, something I knew I wouldn't be having again for a long time so made sure to savor every bite!



Delicious Sushi from Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse
Delicious Sushi from Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse

The next morning they took me out once again for breakfast at a local diner, Scotties, and I am happy we got to spend a little more time together as I had no idea when I would be able to see them again. It was also fun because it was an old school small diner with large portions of food for a very reasonable price. I left very very full! We all did!



Small but classic American Diner
Small but classic American Diner

Saying goodbye was hard, but I am so happy I made sure to stop by and see them. What a great way to end my first week of RV travel as well. Especially since I wouldn't be meeting up with any other friends until I got to Reno, Nevada over a month from now.



Continue reading about my adventures here: Stop #5: Seven Points Campground

Start reading from the beginning here: Stop #1: Old Town, Florida

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