Whittier NC-Smoky Mountains N.P South entrance.

Technorati Tags: Smoky Mountains N.P,Blue Ridge NC

22Sep-25Sep

We chose Whittier NC as our base for the next 4 days because of its perfect location for day trips in South Smoky Mountains N.P area including the Blue Ridge.

Fort Wilderness C.G is not something to write back home if you get my drift, but the location and the price (20$ for PA members, including full Hook-ups&Wi-Fi) made work for us, especially when we were mostly touring and hiking around.

Rody &Ruth our good friends from Phoenix Arizona joined us at this point with their beautiful new Laredo 36’ 5W,as they wanted to be with us as much as possible before we fly back home they made the trip from Arizona in TWO DAYS…..and arrived around 10PM to the C.G.

Dinner was ready for them and we did some catch up before the hit the sack.

From the next morning it was an ongoing party, fun and good time.

We shared meals, evening entertainment, hikes, scenic drives and enjoyed each other’s company.

One day we took off to visit the small colourful town of Cherokee, with its Indian history and colourful dancer, then drove to Deep Creek and hiked 3 waterfalls all in 4mile loop.

Another day we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway loop stopping at many beautiful lookouts, visiting Mirror Falls and Sliding Rock.

We could stay another week or month in this area and still not see it all but we are moving to the North Entrance of the Smokey’s hopping to see the Autumn colors …..

Murphy NC

Technorati Tags: Cherahala Skyway,Tellico Plains NC

 

20-21 Sep

If you like to camp surrounded by nature, with a running brook, full hook-ups, private bathrooms /toilets and close to Americas Byway Cherohala Skyway (part of it is in TN and part in NC)then look for Crawford’s Campground & Cabin Rental in Murphy NC ,13$ for Passport America members.

The owner is very helpful and welcoming, he directed us to a close by beautiful waterfall and viewpoints that only few people know about, without his hand sketch map we would never find the place, there are no signs anywhere, at one point we asked a local directions just to make sure that we are on the right trek not realizing that we are just a mile away and the person did not know what we are talking about, just to show you what kind of a “secret” this place is.

If any of you wants directions to a great natural waterfall and a view point with 360 degrees of outstanding view in this area, just ask and I will mail you directions.

It was a great day, the weather was good and the vision from the top of the Cherohala Skyway (5600'Ft.) was as far as the horizon, the bakery in Tellico Plains TN (Junction of Hwy 68&Hwy165) served delicious homemade bread sandwiches and we felt like flying through some kind of unreal world-as some might say it was too good to be true and if you get lost in your travels this is the place to get lost, even the GPS got lost…

I cannot put in words (especially with my English)what we felt seeing and going through this unspoiled beautiful part of the country, so take a look -one pictures is more than a 1000 words and even then it cannot transmit the whole picture, but this is the best I can do.

 

Chattanooga TN

 

16Sep-19Sep

We chose to stay in Camping World C.G which is close to downtown and the other attractions we wanted to visit.

The C.G is nothing fancy but has full hook-ups, cable TV, pool, WiFi (from the CW sales waiting lounge), the sites are long and levelled but close one to another, the C.G was not full and there enough space between the trailers.

Chattanooga is nestled between the mountains: Signal Mountain, Lookout Mountain, Racoon Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

The Tennessee River runs through Chattanooga, 3 bridges connect both sides of the city; one of them is the longest pedestrian bridge.

There are several view points from the surrounding mountains into the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River and the downtown area.

Add to this a lovely Downtown area with many restaurants, shops, ChooChoo Old Train Station, Bluff View Art District and free summer concerts along the river and you have a good excuse to stop for few days.

16 Sep

After settling in the C.G we wondered around the CW shop and took a look at some new RV that were for sale and then used the lounge to get online and check our e-mails.

17 Sep

*A day in Downtown that included:

*Walk along the river and the pedestrian bridge.

*We took the free shuttle to Choo Choo Old Train Station and a visited the Toy Train Museum.

*Lunch in Sticky Fingers a local BBQ dinner(Ribs,Chicken)-great food.

*Drive to the Signal Point that has great view to the Tennessee River.

*Concert in the park along the river, listening to music and watching boats sale by.

By 1030PM we were back and as you can imagine had no problems sleeping through the night……

18Sep

The farmers market was a real treat, local restaurants had a completion going on ,for 8$ you got to taste 8 samples from deferent restaurants and then voted for the one you liked the most, there was live music, fresh produce ,beer, wine and many other vendors.

We got ourselves some good fresh vegetables, goat cheese (which we love) and some herbs.

On the way back we popped into a Wal-Mart to get some presents for the kids and grandkids.

All this shopping activity made us thirsty and tired and at 5PM we headed home to cool ourselves in the AC.

The CW was closed so NO WiFi today….

19 Sep

Today was our “Tourist “ day, we drove to Lookout Mountain to visit Ruby Falls ,the tallest and deepest underground waterfall, it is 1120 feet underground (do not worry there is an elevator)and fall from 260 feet high,the tour is an hour and beside the falls many stalagmite /stalactites’ can be seen.

Then we drove to Rock City (crossed to GA without noticing) and walked the 1700 feet above sea level place to see SEVEN States from the observation point. The place is a beautiful botanical and geological wonder between natural rocks. Some of the paths are between “crakes” in the rocks so one might want to skip a meal before heading there.

We crossed back to Tennessee to a battle field at the Point Park where at 1863 Federal and Confederate armies clashed in some of the Civil War’s hardest fighting; it also has a fantastic view point on Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.

Just heard a short joke “How do you call a fish without an eye?”FSHHHH…(a little stupid ah..but funny)

That’s it for this beautiful area, moving tomorrow to Murphy NC.

Technorati Tags: Chattanooga TN

Pikesville Tennessee

 

14 Sep-15 Sep

Our next stop was in a great small beautiful Mountain Glenn RV park next to Fall Creek Falls S.P.

The place is very well maintained,nice pull through sites and outstanding bathrooms (5 star hotel)..

The owner was very nice and helpful,we stayed in the game room watching cable TV while the washing and drying machine “worked “ on our laundry.

In the evening we built a fire and grilled some eggplant on it.

The following morning we woke up to a gloomy rainy day,but this did not stop us from getting our hiking gear together and hitting the Fall Creek Falls S.P just 20 miles down the road.

There are some beautiful hike in this huge park but due to the weather we did only 2 short ones to falls,hanging bridge and view points.

The scenery was just fantastic and I made a note to come for another visit.

Technorati Tags: Fall Creek falls S.P

 

Central Hill Lake TN

Technorati Tags: Central hill lake TN,Virgin falls TN,Burgess Falls S.P,Rock Island S.P TN

10Sep-13Sep

We took a 100Km ride East towards Central Hill Lake COE C.G, as all COE C.G this too is located on a beautiful lake and has good size of sites with water & electrical hook-ups.

Next to the C.G there is a large Marina filled with large and beautiful boathouses including one that belongs to Al Gore.

The C.G RV sites are built in levels because of the sloops and this gives ones that are not on the water still be able to have a water view.

As we came in we meet this great couple named Eric and Ronda that came down for a day, we had only a short time together but managed to “solve” most of the world’s problems….the ones that we still did not solve we left till we meet again.

11Sep

On this beautiful day we took a ride down to Rock Island S.P (N 35.80472 W-85.63028) to hike and see the Twin Falls, first we drove to the lookout where we could see the huge size of this fantastic falls and although it was the end of summer the falls were strong and mighty.

After that we drove to other side of the river and hiked the Great falls (2Miles)at its lower part close to the river, all the way we walked in water and could see the falls starting way high above us till the vale small waterfalls just close to us, it was an unusual magnificent sight.

We took a picnic break and continued to Burgess Falls S.P (N36.04359 W-85.59833) although we felt that after the last fall’s it was imposable to take at the same day.

But the Burgess Falls were another pleasant surprise; the falls were massive, high and wide, only if some could be diverted to dry areas…..the hike was easy and a round trip was around 1.5Mile long.

12Sep

We took a DAY OFF relaxing around the beautiful lake, at noon we drove down to the Marina and got connected to the WiFi to check our mail.

13Sep

We took of early to Virgin Falls Designated State Natural Area just 50 miles from the C.G, on the way we stopped in Sparta information center to get a hiking map of the trail and continued to the trailhead.

The loop is 8 miles long passing Big Branch Falls, Big Laurel Falls and Virgin falls, some parts were quite rough but rewording at the end.

As it was the end of summer we did not see much water on the way to Virgin Falls and even thought to back up instead going all the way (Virgin Falls is at the end of the trail and the last fall)but something told us to go on and we are happy we did it (see pictures).

I must mention that the trail marking is very poor and in one case misleading, we “lost” our way few times and hikes extra unnecessary miles till we found out that we are on the wrong trek; even the map did not help.

At the falls we meet Chris & Mike, the only couple that was hiking this long trail; it was nice to do all the way back to the parking lot with them together, we do hope to meet them again when we will be in their area.

It was dark when got back “home” and felt like we were after a boot camp….but a nice one….

Nashville Area TN

5Sep-9Sep

Technorati Tags: Nashville,J.Percy lake

The drive from Grand Rivers Land between the Lakes KY to J.Percy Priest lake Core of Engineer C.G near Nashville took around 3 hours with no outstanding events.

The C.G can accommodate any size of RV; some sites are close to the water, all have electrical and water hook-ups, the sites are specious and mostly levelled, there is a nice clean beach with children playground and most important just 20 minutes from downtown Nashville.

We experienced the most swift change in the weather, it jumped from 100’s to the 60’s in one day, it was cold, rainy and nasty..So we spent the rest of the day in the trailer sipping soup….

6 Sep

It rained all night and did not look promising this morning, but this did not stop us from driving to Nashville down town to service the truck in Nashville Ford service center then we parking the truck next to the information center (15$....) and walking the streets that are full with bars, eateries with music .

We visited 2 museums, eat and listened to a 3^rd class country music singer in a bar and after we got soaked to our bones it was time to head back “home” to our lovely trailer parked on Priest Lake.

7 Sep

There was some improvement in the weather conditions, it stopped raining but it was still chilly.

We took off to Franklin a beautiful town with interesting downtown area, heading back to the truck we noticed a fuel leak and headed back to Ford, after 2 hours and some apologies we were off again towards the famous National Byway Natchez Trail, it was a beautiful ride with some look outs and short hike to Jackson Falls (very weak stream at this time of the year).

At 6:30 PM we hit the famous establishment named Loveless Barn on Hwy 100, the place was sold out for the Country Music show that was to start at 7PM so we waited next to the ticket office hoping for some cancelations, surely enough we got 2 tickets and went into the large barn finding out that there were no sitting places available, but it was our “Green Light Day “and we found 2 seats marked “RESERVED” not taken till the show started, after getting some shoulder gestures from people around we took the seats and enjoyed 2 ½ hours of FANTASTIC country music show.

What a Day…

8Sep

It was cloudy but without wind and around the 70’s so we decided to take a leisurely scenic drive to Murfreesboro to visit the Cannonsburgh Village that has on the premises gristmill, school house, doctor’s office, general store and others, then we continued to Arrington Vineyards and tasted some good wines with fancy names.

After a short rest we drove to Nolensville ,a small village with some antique shops and great local BBQ where we struggled to clean a plate loaded with a full rack of baby ribs,sauce,French fries and beer….wooow it was GOOD.

The side roads we took throughout this drive were all beautiful and swung through lashing green valleys and hills, we were amazed to see the most huge beautiful houses in the area estimated value between 700 thousand and 1 million $....

At 6PM arriving back” home” we found the crane waiting for us….

9Sep

Nashville downtown, music,food and shopping all day long.

Moving tomorrow West to another COE C.G on Hill Lake

Grand Rivers-Land between the Lakes KY

30 August-4 September.

We found a great spot in a Corps of Engineer Canal C.G in Grand Rivers at the North entrance to LBL.

The C.G has 110 sites, some pull through, some with full hook ups and some only water/electricity connections, regular price 20$ and 10$ for Golden Age Pass (so there are some advantages for being elderly….)

Grand Rivers is an ideal destination for anyone that likes the outdoors, boating, hiking, wants to see good theatre show ,eat well or just taking it easy taking scenic drives along the lakes.

Grand Rivers has a population of 350 but hosts the famous Pettis Village including a restaurant that serves the best huge 2” thick Pork Chops it also has great shows in the local theatre called Badgett Playhouse *, we went to both.

As it was Labour long week end there were many things going around: Fests, Parade and Concerts so we did a schedule to be able to see them all.

As you can see Grand Rivers is small but has all you need to enjoy the outdoors, Theatre, Gourmet food and most important people that let you feel at home when you are away from home.

At the center of LBL there is a prairie were Elks and Bison’s roam and this is surly on our list, so as you can see our hands are full, NO DAY OFF SINCE WE RETAIRED….

31 Aug

Information Center-Kim the lady that is running the center was kind enough to direct us to all the interesting places we should visit and attend she also invited us into the aircondioned center and let us use the WiFi (it was like 100F outside), later we found out that she told Bill Minihan the owner of the Budgett Playhouse that we will be coming to the Patty Clien’s show *(see 2 September to find out about the surprise).

*Bought Tickets to the Budgett Playhouse.

*Groceries supply

*Pettis Village

* Jetty to see the sunset.

Beautiful sunset from the Jetty in Grand Rivers.

*Pettis restaurant (2” thick pork chops) it was so large we had to share one Pork Chop plate for both of us… -EXCELENT, Put this on your bucket list as a MUST EAT…

Pettis Restaurant in Grand Rivers KY 2” Pork Chop.

1 September

Grand Loop from Grand Rivers to Cadiz-Bison Elk Prairie-Grand Rivers, with multiply stops and side trips.

Maybe it was too hot but we managed to see only few Elks and one Bison even though we made more than one run through the loop.

Elk in Land between the Lakes prairie.

2 September

Paducah KY-The town is located Just 30 minutes west from Grand Rivers where the Tennessee River joins the Ohio River

In the beautiful downtown area near the river we found an old Bakery (had breakfast there),antique shops, impressive old buildings and fantastic Murals telling the history of the town painted on the wall that protects the city from flooding.

In uptown artists from all over North America found a friendly place to show their arts and by that attract tourist to this area.

Badgett Playhouse Grand Rivers-KY

Shula in front the BADGETT THEATERE IN GRAND RIVERS.

We have purchased tickets to Patsy Cline’s show in advance (the great singer that died in a plane crash when she was only 30 years old) and I am glad we did that as the Theatre was completely full .

Before the show started together with some advertisements there were titles running on the screen welcoming new people that joined the theatre Season pass and Patron’s pass ,following these titles suddenly we see a title saying “Welcome to Danny and Ursula from Israel” beside the mistake in my wife’s name we did not believe our eyes, we did not give this information to the cashier while buying the tickets????

As if this is not enough just before the show started Bill (the owner) said a few words about the future theatre shows and plans and then said “we welcome our friends from Israel Danny and Ursula, let’s give them a hand. Please show yourselves”…so here we are rising while audience is clapping hands-Wow that was something we have never experienced before but surly appreciated it very much.

At the interval people came over and showed interest on our travels, we felt welcomed and among friends-Thank you all.

We grew up on Patsy Cline’s songs and when I closed my eyes I could swear that I am actually listening to her and not to Erica (Complement..) that is blessed with an outstanding voice, It is a MUST ++ DO NOT MISS.

Erica the magnificent in action…..

Bill and Sara invited us for tomorrows show and gave us the best sits in the theatre, what a couple….they both are very talented and a part of the cast ,Sara not only dances ,sings and acts but she also is the chorographer and does the all the costumes herself…(wonder women).

3 September

We started the day by visiting the Grand Rivers artist Fair where 90 venders showed their merchandise, it was organized very well; unfortunately it was too hot and humid so people stayed only for a limited time.

At 7PM we drove down to the Budgett Theatre to see Variety show, music, memories and more, it was 2hours of Branson style great entertainment that we enjoyed very much.

We said goodbyes to Sara and Bill, exchanged E-mails hoping to see them again in the future.

In January 2012 they will adding a new addition to their family nest- Mazal Tov(Good Luck in Hebrew).

Bill & Sara Minihan (the owners),Shula ,Erica (a great singer with a divine voice).

4 September.

A kind of “a day off” just before we hit the road to Nashville.

Getting some supplies, checking E-mail, visiting the city Dam and taking it easy.

For the last few day the weather was around the 90’s and it was tough to stay out of the air-condition but today finally it became cooler-what a relief.

All in all we enjoyed very much these last 5 days in Grand Rivers and the Land between the Lakes, it is surely one of the most beautiful places in Kentucky.