A Trip over the Mountains October 15, 2015

The weather has been really dreadful and our drive to Townsend, Tennessee was in a driving rain.  It didn't let up when we arrived and rained throughout the day and night.  This morning was a bit better and we decided to make the drive over the mountains to Cherokee to see if the fall color was a bit farther along at higher elevations.  I was worried as we started along the Little River Road.  The trees were already showing so much color that I thought we might have missed the peak.  We stopped several times to take photos of waterfalls and the color along the roadways.  When we got to the overlook near Gatlinburg we could see the fog settled into the valleys and stopped to admire the view.  I got my binoculars out to identify the numerous birds in the area.

As we climbed into the mountains toward Chimney Tops the trees became more and more colorful.  On the descent toward Cherokee we stopped at almost every pullover.

Well, that was certainly an optimistic post.  We never made it to the Maritimes.  Shortly before we planned to leave a small fitting on a pipe leading to the water heater burst in our attic.  We stopped the leak within 20 minutes but it managed to cause quite a bit of damage. Three months and many thousands of dollars later everything was repaired.  We sighed with relief and then, the next day, Breland woke up with a case of shingles.   Six weeks, two trips to the doctor and a long emergency room visit later he has recovered, with just a lingering itch and a slight weakness of the muscles on the right side of his abdomen.

We decided a short trip to the Smokies would be the farthest we could manage this year.  Our first stop on this trip was Lake Lurleen State Park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Lake Lurleen is about twenty miles off of the interstate highway but it is a very nice campground.  All of the sites are wooded, along the lake, and are level.  


We have always wanted to explore the area west of the Smokies so we spent the next five nights along Watts Bar Lake at the Hornsby Hollow campground.  The sites are inexpensive and each is on the water.  We had a site with excellent views of the water and changing fall colors.  The campground is a very well managed family campground and we would like to return for a longer time.


























Frozen Head State Park is an hour north of Hornsby Hollow.  I hiked up to the waterfalls while Breland concentrated on perfecting his photos of the creek. I love his photos.

Our plans for this travel year are to travel in the eastern United States and Canada.   The first trip was to Red Bay, Alabama to do a bit of RV maintenance and repairs, with a quick side trip to see the Smokies.  We had the windshield replaced, new jacks installed and awnings placed on the driver's side of the RV.  A bit of welding was done to repair something that was causing a clunking sound under the coach.  The work was done quickly and we are now on our way home.  Red Bay is a small town with very little to offer.  It is always enjoyable to meet the other Tiffin owners waiting for repairs.  We met several couples from Louisiana that were a pleasure to spend time with.  Anytime you get a few Louisiana people together you can count on laughter.