Knoxville, State Parks, McMinnville and Heading Back to Nashville

Today was our last full day in Tennessee and we were going to make the most of it.  We got up just as early as the first couple days.  This time we were going to gain an hour as we moved west back towards Nashville and we kept that in mind while we stopped at our sites.

Mom wanted to go back to Pigeon Forge so we got all of our stuff together and crammed it into the trunk.  I have been told by several people, since we've been here, that we needed to eat at one of the most famous southern breakfast places...the Waffle House.  Luckily, we didn't have to go that far.  There was one we could see from our hotel across the street.

We drove over, parked and found ourselves a booth.  The menu was straight forward.

Mom and I ordered the breakfast scramble, Erika got the waffles and I also got an OJ.  The food was pretty good and I can see why this place is pretty popular.  We paid and went back out to the car.  I asked mom what specifically did she want to go see in Pigeon Forge.  She said the buildings we missed yesterday.  Okay, so we would be stopping at random places between Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, gotcha.

We got onto the freeway and back onto the Winfield Dunn Parkway, the frickin' long road again, so mom could visit the list of places she saw yesterday.  First, we stopped in Sevierville to check out Dolly Parton's statue.  This part of town at this time of the day was pretty dead.  We were the only ones near City Hall.  We parked right across the street from the statue.  I read the cache page and had to figure out what the hint was trying to tell me.  I saw the sign they spoke of, grabbed the cache from its hiding spot and brought it back for a photo op at the statue.

Mom really wanted to see Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show but it didn't open until much later.  We would have to actually do this some other time...maybe.  We drove over to the location and remembered that the Titanic museum was also nearby.  We spent time at the hillbilly building first.  There, we saw a ton of Canadian geese just walking around but mom was there to take pictures of the tractors and farm animals.  She got lucky though.  A few minutes later some actors (dressed as hillbillies) in a beat up old truck drove by and handed her a flier for that night's upcoming show.  She was so excited.  Erika and I walked around the front to enjoy the various chickens, goats, pigs and ducks.  Mom soon followed us.  We spent probably a half hour talking and making fun of the farm animals before we got back in the car and drove over to the Titanic museum.  I knew we didn't have time to go inside but I did want a picture of me with the building because it was cool.

Another place on our list to go see was the Old Mill.  I remember seeing these bags of flour in our house when I was a kid.  Once you see the logo you kinda remember it forever.  I didn't realize it was literally in town.  I thought it was outside of town a ways.  Trying to park was insane but once we did we went inside and looked at all the variations of flour, pancake mix, jellies and other miscellaneous items.

We went outside and took a picture of the mill itself and its waterwheel. Then we walked around the rest of the block just to see what was around.  Erika and I went into a leather store and she bought some moccasins.  Mom found us shortly after.  She was taking pictures.

Before we went back to the car we found a public bathroom just so we didn't have to stop anywhere in Knoxville.

We took the really long road back to the freeway.  I set the Nuvi for the Sunsphere because I wanted to see it before we left Knoxville.  The Tennessee Volunteers were getting ready for their game but it was in Charlotte against the West Virginia Mountaineers so the school opened up places for people to watch the game that could not attend.  Tennessee ended up losing to West Virginia 40-14.  We listened to it on the radio as we drove west.

One of the main things mom wanted to do while we were in Tennessee was to see some of the state parks with waterfalls in them.  I made a list of ones that were popular and got their addresses to make it easier when we were looking at the map (mostly so we didn't back track.)  Our first state park of the day was Fall Creek Falls.  It was going to be about a 2 hour drive along I-40 towards Cookeville.  As we drove we enjoyed the scenery.  We crossed into the central time zone (we gained an hour) between Rockwood and Crossville.  We got off of I-40 and took some side highways toward Spencer, the closest town near the state park.

Fall Creek Falls is one of Tennessee's largest and most visited state parks.  The park encompasses more than 26,000 acres sprawled across the eastern top of the rugged Cumberland Plateau.  Laced with cascades, gorges, waterfalls, streams and lush stands of virgin hardwood timber, the park beacons those who enjoy nature at her finest.  Fall Creek Falls, at 256 feet, is one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States.  Other waterfalls within the park include Piney Falls, Cane Creek Falls and Cane Creek Cascades.  In 1937, the federal government began purchasing the badly eroded land around Fall Creek Falls.  The following year, the Works Project Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began restoring the forest and constructing park facilities.  A few years later in 1944, the National Park Service transferred ownership of the park to the State of Tennessee.

We got there and the park was so large we had no idea where to go.  It was a good thing I grabbed a map so we could figure out where we wanted to go.  We ended up parking at the wrong end of the trail and so we parked in this open gravel lot and walked up to the falls.  It was a longer walk than we thought.  Once we got there I felt dumb because there was a parking lot like right there.  Oh well we got some walking in after being in the car for so long.

I think we came at the wrong part of the year because the waterfall was not that watery.  The landscape was pretty cool though.  I tried to see if I could do the earthcache here but it required us to walk down to the bottom which we didn't have enough time for so I didn't do it.  There was a brief thunderstorm and some light rain while we were there at the edge looking in.

We left the state park for the next one but I put in a detour to McMinnville mostly because I had to.  In 2007 I lived in McMinnville, Oregon where I worked with the athletic department at Linfield College.  First it was an internship so I could get my diploma but then it turned into a six month job.  I saw that we weren't that far from McMinnville, TN and I just had to go so I could say I've been to both.

We got into town and I tried looking for the first cache that popped up near us on the app.  I got out and unfortunately I could not find it.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed this older gentleman walking towards us.  The introvert me wanted to run to the car and drive away really fast but the oh, maybe he needs help kicked in.  He did need help.  He couldn't get his truck started and he asked if he could get a jump.  I said sure.  We drove the car over and helped him get his truck started.  We told him our car was a rental and we were from Washington State on vacation.  He asked us what we've seen so far and we told him.  A few minutes later we got his truck started and he thanked us.  That was our yearly pay it forward.

I plugged in the coords for the next state park, Rock Island.

It is a 870-acre park located on the headwaters of the Caney Fork, Collins and Rocky Rivers.  The park features scenic overlooks, waterfalls, deep pools and limestone paths perfect for hiking, swimming, fishing, kayaking and exploring.  It also features a natural sand beach and boating access on Center Hill Lake.  The park was named for an island in the Caney Fork River.  A textile mill operated here in the 1890s.  In 1917, a hydroelectric plant and dam here built by the Tennessee Electric Power Company, just downstream from the Caney Fork and the Collins Rivers, creating Great Falls Lake.  The plant's village and Rock Island thrived during this time, for employees and as a resort.  The community water supply, resembling a castle (Spring Castle), is now a charming park feature.  The Tennessee Valley Authority took over operations in the 1940s, and in 1966 leased property to the State of Tennessee for park development.  Since then, Rock Island had been a leading recreation area.

We parked in the very small parking lot and Erika again, opted to stay in the car.  We really didn't have a whole lot of time to hike to the main waterfall so we enjoyed the smaller ones near the overlook.  There were a bunch of people down below jumping off the small cliffs into the pools of water.  If we weren't crunched on time I would have gone down and done the same.  This is a very unique area and I am glad Tennessee takes care of their state parks.

Our last state park in Tennessee was Burgess Falls.  We weren't going to have enough time for any more today unfortunately.  We were running out of time and we needed to get some dinner in us before heading to the hotel.  I put the address into the Nuvi and headed about 20 miles north near Sparta, TN.  It took us down small country roads and highways.  We got to see a lot of small towns along the way.  We reached the turn and followed the road to the parking lot.  There were quite a few people here.  Again, Erika decided to stay in the car.

Burgess Falls State Park, located on the Falling Water River, is noted for its natural beauty and four waterfalls that cascade down from over 250 feet in elevation.  The last of these falls is the most spectacular, plunging more than 130 feet into the gorge.  While the park is popular for its waterfalls and wildlife, the open air Native Butterfly Garden, adjacent to the upper parking area, is easily accessed and provides striking seasonal native wildflower displays.  The area was originally populated by Native Americans of the Cherokee, Creek and Chickasaw tribes.  These tribes used the land as a hunting ground until the late 19th century when a gristmill and a sawmill began operating on the river.  The Falling Water River was used to generate hydroelectric power for the city of Cookeville from 1928-1944.  In 1973, the territory became a designated Tennessee State Natural Area, protecting the diverse forest and aquatic habitats.

We found the trailhead and followed the trail along the river.  We saw several people along the way.  There were a lot of great views and places to stop to take pictures of.

The trail was a 1.5 mile round trip hike to the overlook of the falls and back.  There was a short down and back to the top of the falls.

After we spent time at the overlook enjoying the falls mom wanted to walk down to the top of the falls.  This trail was pretty steep and uneven.  Nothing mom and I couldn't do.  When we got down there we actually could walk out near the waterfall.  They did have a park ranger down at the bottom to make sure people don't get too close.  We hung out for a while before heading back up the hill and back to the parking lot.  Tennessee had some great waterfalls.

When we got back Erika wasn't in the car...she had the keys.  We walked towards the bathrooms and didn't find her there.  She was sitting on one of the curbs listening to music.  She said she needed some fresh air.  We all got back in the car and got back onto I-40 towards Nashville.  We were hungry so mom asked what we should have.  I suggested Texas Road House because I have never been to one and the closest one to us at home is in Kennewick.  I have been near it but have never had enough time to go in and eat.  We found the closest one to us and it was in Hendersonville, just northeast of Nashville.

It was in a mall complex and it had just got done raining.  It was very humid outside.  We went in and it would be a short wait.  When they got us back they gave us some waters, fresh bread and this awesome cinnamon honey butter.  I'm not really into butter that much but this butter was awesome!  I could not get enough of it!  We looked at the menus and we all got the smallest cut of steak and a baked potato with whatever toppings we wanted on it.  It was delicious and hit the spot after a really long day.

I just had to get a cache in Kentucky.  It was 30 miles away and I could not think of another time in the near future that I would be this close to a new state.  I asked mom and Erika if we could go get Kentucky before we go to the hotel.  They said sure.  It was a quick drive to the border.  We got off of Hwy 65 and got on a side road that was under construction.  Luckily, it was quick.  We parked in the lot next to an outdoor theater.  I could not tell what was actually playing on the screen.  The cache, 31 W Drive In the 21st Century (GC5R6P2), was on the theater's property and I had to find it, sign my name, take a picture and put it back as fast as I could without everyone watching the movie seeing me.  I'm pretty sure people saw me.  I got my first Kentucky cache!

We got back in the car and headed to our hotel.  This time our hotel was near the airport so we didn't have to drive so far in the morning.  We got there about 8 p.m., mom checked us in, we parked the car, grabbed our stuff and headed up the elevator to our room.  I got cleaned up, we repacked our suitcases and relaxed a bit before going to bed.  We had a really early day of traveling ahead of us.  I shared a double bed with mom again.  This time she didn't kick me in the middle of the night.

Next Adventure:  Heading Back to Seattle via San Francisco

South Pittsburg, First Alabama Cache, Great Smoky Mountains, First North Carolina Cache and Gatlinburg

The alarm went off really early.  We got up, got cleaned up a little and packed up our stuff.  We had another long day ahead of us.  We grabbed our luggage and headed downstairs.  We grabbed some of the free breakfast before we left.  It wasn't all that exciting but we didn't have to spend any money on food...which was nice.

I really wanted to get an Alabama cache since we were so close to the border.  Plus, we kinda wanted to see where they made the cast iron Lodge pans.  The time zone line is right in the middle of the state of Tennessee so we kept going from central time to eastern time back into central time.  We had to pay attention so we knew how long to stay in a certain place.  We drove the 30 miles to South Pittsburg, TN.  I had the address in the Nuvi on where to go.  South Pittsburg is a small town on the Tennessee/Alabama border.  It is home to the National Cornbread Festival held every year during the last full weekend in April.  We got to the Lodge store too early so we drove around looking for a few caches to find while we waited.

I started with our Alabama cache first.  It was less than two miles away in Bridgeport, AL. We drove down Hwy 72 paralleling the Tennessee River.  There was a small pullout where I parked the car.  There was a white marker welcoming you to Alabama.  Alabama Trail of Tears Historical Marker (GC6GPE5) was a pill bottle in the bushes just left of the marker.  It wasn't hard to find.  I got back in the car, got back onto the highway and made a U-turn to head back to South Pittsburg.

I set the coords on the Nuvi to IRON Man (GC271TF) near the Lodge store.  Again, no one wanted to get out so I found it by myself.  The cache was boring but the location was pretty cool.  The man was made out of Lodge products.  I signed my name, took the necessary photo and went back to the car.

We've wasted enough time now to where we can get into the store.  Erika decided to stay in the car again since she was sleeping.  Mom and I headed in to see what kinds of things they had and if we could learn anything about the cast iron industry.

We learned that the only tours of the Lodge factory was in April during the Cornbread Festival and sadly it was August.  Mom did buy a cast iron Lodge skillet and I bought a yellow reusable shopping bag because it was cool.  We used the restroom before we left.  We decided we were done with the small town and headed back to Chattanooga to go see the Chattanooga Choo Choo.  Mom got the address for me and off we went.

We found Terminal Station, which was owned and operated by Southern Railway and in 1989 turned into the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  A famous song, Chattanooga Choo Choo, was written in 1941 about the train going through Chattanooga.  I got as close to it as I could but I had to stay in the car so we didn't have to pay for parking.  I let mom out while I sat in the gravel parking lot eating my leftover chicken from last night.  Erika was still asleep in the back.  Mom was gone for about 20 minutes.

Mom came back and she said she talked to someone inside the hotel that there is a parking garage you can go up to and get a great view of the city.  We looked for a free place to park and left Erika inside the car.  We walked to the parking garage and went up the elevator.  When we got on top of the parking garage you could see a 360 degree view of Chattanooga.  We were up there for about a half hour checking out the sites.

We walked back admiring some of the murals along the way.  I wanted to get the webcam, I See You (GCPB7G), inside the convention center before we left town.  I plugged the coords into the Nuvi and off we went.  We were not that far away from the center.  When we finally got there, avoiding as much traffic as we could, I had to find a place to park for a few minutes and got inside.  Unfortunately, mom and Erika would have to stay in the car while I ran in so we didn't have to pay to park.

I found the website I needed to screen shot my photo once I found the spot I had to stand in.  I found myself on the website and took a few pictures just in case something went wrong.  Before I left I looked at my saved screen shots to see if one turned out.  All of them did so off to the car I went.  We put Knoxville into the Nuvi and to I-75 we went!

Erika was finally up for the day and chatted with us as we made our way east towards Knoxville.  I checked to see how much gas I had and we should make a stop soon to fill up.  I asked mom to check my gas buddy app to see what gas stations were ahead of us and which one was the cheapest.  We found a Love's just a head of us in McDonald, a small town east of Cleveland, TN.  We got off at exit 33 and filled up.  Erika got out and grabbed a sandwich from the Subway and I grabbed a few Pepsi's and a Milky Way.

We got back onto I-75 and watched the landscape go by as we made our way east to Knoxville.  Of course there were the dumb stupid drivers we had to avoid here and there.  We arrived just after noon.  We took the I-40 junction and got off of the interstate towards Sevierville and Pigeon Forge.  We found the exit and got onto the Winfield Dunn Parkway towards Gatlinburg.  This was a very long road and it seemed to go forever.  I didn't realize this road was this busy!  We pictured something completely different than what was in front of us.  We thought this area was a small historical town...we were way wrong.  Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg were basically the Las Vegas strip of Tennessee!  There were buildings, stores, people, restaurants, traffic, traffic lights and to top it off it started raining really hard.  We decided to go to the Smoky Mountains first.  We just followed the road towards the Sugarlands Visitor's Center.

We actually waited in the car until the rain calmed down a bit or we would have been pummeled or possibly drowned.  We all ran in really quickly to find out where we needed to go and to get a few maps.  We all used the restroom and browsed the gift store for a while.  We thought it if we stayed in there for a bit the rain would subside.  All three of us got a few things while we were there.  I got a few postcards (I send them to my pen pal in Germany), a magnet and a plush possum because I could.  We talked to the clerk about how awesome it was that there was no national park fee.  Here's why:

"The reasons for free entry to the national park date back at least to the 1930s.  The land that is today Great Smoky Mountains National Park was one privately owned.  The states of Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as local communities, paid to construct Newfound Gap Road (US-441.)  When the state of Tennessee transferred ownership of Newfound Gap Road to the federal government, it stipulated that "no toll or license fee shall ever be imposed..." to travel the road.

At that time, Newfound Gap Road was one of the major routes crossing the southern Appalachian Mountains.  It's likely the state was concerned with maintaining free, easy interstate transportation for its citizens.  North Carolina transferred its roads through abandonment, so no restrictions were imposed.

Action by the Tennessee legislature would be required to lift this deed restriction if Great Smoky Mountains National Park ever wished to charge an entrance fee."

We headed out to the car and started up the grade toward the Newfound Gap.  There were lots of people going to and from.  When we finally did get to up to the Gap, we also noticed that we were straddling the Tennessee and North Carolina state line.  We would have to visit it on the way back down.  We continued on to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies and in the state of Tennessee.

We saw a wild turkey on our way to the parking lot.  It's been a while since I've seen a wild turkey wandering around.  It was kinda cool.

We finally got to the lot and found a place to park.  We grabbed the stuff we might need for our half mile up and our half mile back.  Mom brought her backpack and we crammed some snacks and water inside of it.  We started up the nicely manicured, paved, slightly uphill trail.  We had to stop a few times because the elevation got to us.

As we reached the top we saw signs for the Appalachian Trail and now I can say I've walked part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Appalachian Trail, two of the longest trails in the US.

We saw Clingman's Dome and made our way up the ramp to the top.  There were a lot of people up there.

We got a few pictures and answered the questions for the cache, Top of the Smokies Virtual Picture Cache (GC84C0).  We were very happy some of the clouds cleared away so we could actually see some of the landscape.  We stayed up there for about 20 minutes enjoying the view before we made our way down.

We took pictures of some of the butterflies and birds as we made our way back down to the car.  I checked to see if there were any other caches along the way.  There were two earthcaches but I only did one of them.  We got down to the bottom of the trail and while mom and Erika wandered around I did the earthcache, NP Smoky Mountains - Clingman's Dome Concretions (GC6TRMK) which talked about the large boulder anomalies.  I answered all the questions and took a picture of myself near ground zero.

We got back to the car and mom said, "let's go to North Carolina!"  We looked at the map and the nearest down was not too far away.  We plugged Cherokee, NC into the Nuvi and headed down the Smoky Mountains.  Cherokee is a small census-designated place in western North Carolina full of Native American culture.  We grabbed See the Dancing Water (GCY5P9) as we entered town.  It was my first North Carolina cache but the cache wasn't that exciting so I got a picture of the location instead.

We drove around the small town before mom saw a store she wanted to go into.  We parked the car and noticed a man was dressed in full Native American garb chanting and banging a drum.  We hung out for a while listening to it.  Mom talked to him for a few minutes and then we went inside the store to see what was inside.  Lots of jewelry, leather, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other miscellaneous items.  Mom got grandma a shirt and Erika bought a dream catcher.

We got back in the car and headed back up into the Smokies but we took a small detour to Mingus Mill.  We were the only ones there and had no idea where we were suppose to go after we parked.  We found this old road and followed it for a short time and then decided to walk back and take the other trail.  The mill was pretty cool.  We read the informational board to find out more about it.  Of course we took a few dozen pictures as well.  I also did the virtual 1886 Turbine (GCGYMA) while we were here.  It asked us questions about the mill and the stones.

We used the restroom before we headed back up to the Newfound Gap.

When we got there, we almost missed it.  I made a wacky turn and parked in the lot.  We enjoyed the view and straddled the TN/NC border.

We got a few pictures and I did some more reflecting.  I thought about Grammie again and how I missed her terribly.  Losing a family member definitely gives you perspective on life.  It makes you question everything that you've been doing and things that you might do in the future.  These past six months were really hard for me and I wished everything would have turned out differently.  I would trade my job if it would bring Grammie back to us.

We got back in the car and headed into Gatlinburg where we feverishly tried to find a parking spot in the sea of cars and people.  We found a cheap lot near Gatlinburg's version of the "Space Needle."  We paid our money, put the ticket in the window and grabbed everything we though we might need for dinner and some walking around.

While mom was looking for some things to see, do and eat before our trip, she saw a place called the Mellow Mushroom and she really liked the sign.

When we drove through here earlier we made note of what part of town it was in.  We did pretty good.  We didn't have to walk that far.  We walked inside and were ushered to the second floor.  Apparently, the lower part of this building was Dude's Daiquiris.  The three of us sat in a giant booth.  The waiter took our drink order and we scoured the menu.  I am pretty content with boring cheese, pepperoni and olives pizza.  Mom was there with me and Erika really didn't care because she was hungry.  We got our side salad before our pizza and the three of us destroyed it.

Our food arrived and we inhaled it.  It was so good and it hit the spot after a really long day.  Mom took a few pictures of the place.  You almost needed to be high to hang out here.  The décor reminded me of the 60's and 70's.

We paid for our meal and headed out to the chaos.  We walked around some of the shops in town.  I ended up getting a few postcards and other stuff for some of my peeps.  We found this awesome shirt for Doug and it was only three bucks!  It basically said something about his girlfriend being 100% redneck or southern or something like that.  We thought it was funny so Erika bought it for him.

We walked back to the car and we though since we were in the area to go see where Dollywood was.  We took some back roads from Gatlinburg according to Nuvi's directions.  When we got there I didn't realize it was a theme park.  Since it was now closed for the evening we just took a picture in front of the sign just to say we've been there...kinda.

We looked up the closest Walmart and there was one just down the road from us.  It was also insane.  So many people wandering around.  I mostly went for some cheap souvenirs and birthday gifts for the people back home and to say we went to a Walmart in Tennessee.

We were getting tired and decided to head back to the freeway to find out hotel.  I put the address into the Nuvi and for some reason we were having a hard time finding the hotel.  I turned around a few times looking for the hotel sign.  We finally found it after about ten minutes and some careful looking.  The address was not correct.  Mom got out and checked us in while Erika and I parked the car.

We grabbed our stuff out of the car and went to our room.  This time we had two double beds and I shared with mom.  I got cleaned up, we relaxed a bit and went to sleep.  We had another long day ahead of us.  Over the course of the night mom got a Charlie horse and kicked me.  She woke me up and after about 20 minutes of stretching it out she went back to bed.

Next Adventure:  Knoxville, State Parks, McMinnville and Heading Back to Nashville