After spending the night in Kentucky, it was off to Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains. I was very curious about this park because 1) I wanted to know what made these mountains so great, and 2) I want to know why they are still smoking after all that has been written about it. It turns out that the Great Smoky Mountains are great because they are big, although not as big as the Rocky Mountains which should accurately be named the Greater Rocky Mountains. And they are still smoking because they tried both hypnosis and the patch and nothing seemed to work.
My lodging for the next several days is in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, so named because there used to be a big forge here where they smelted down pigeons and turned them into grits. Pigeon Forge is also the home of Dollywood, the amusement park owned by Dolly Parton. I am not planning on visiting Dollywood while I am here because I am not a big fan of either amusement parks or country music, but there is always the The Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, The Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Theater, or the Moonshine Distillery. The real reason I came here to ride my motorcycle on the scenic roads, and boy did I find some.
The main road through the park is Newfound Gap Road and it was under construction causing major delays so I took another road and visited Cades Cove. The road to Cades Cove would give any roller coaster at Dollywood a run for their money and had the added value of imminent death or disaster on its numerous turns and switchbacks. To this you can add about half a billion tourists in cars, all trying to get a look at the black bears that populate the park. Unfortunately, the bears only work up until Labor Day and then take time off to relax. Many of them go to Dollywood.
My friends and I are staying in a huge luxurious cabin with an excellent view of the mountains and with the aid of binoculars, I can see into the cabin of the people next door. It was a good lesson in wildlife.
I also went hiking today on some of the many lovely trails. There are signs along the trails warning you that bears could be hiding anywhere and can pop out at any time and demand your money. I feel like I’m back home. Fortunately,I didn’t see any bears on my hike but just to be safe, I followed a group of rather large people who just had lunch at Aunt Grannie’s Chick’n Coop, figuring that the bears would find them a much tastier repast.
After a full day of adventure I parked my bike and reveled in the silence that comes when you turn off a Harley. (Tomorrow, more fun.)
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