We pulled out of Ringgold on September 9th, and headed for Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains. We were thrilled that Grandpa and Hazel wanted to go on with us! Shortly into our drive, we were witnesses to a roll-over accident, that only by the grace and providence of God, didn't involve us as well.
We were on I-75 heading north, when a PT Cruiser in the far left, south bound lane, came careening through the median, crossed over the three north bound lanes, rolled and hit the embankment, all just several hundred yards ahead of us. We quickly pulled over to lend assistance. Thankfully, the three passengers of the vehicle had crawled out on their own. An RN was the first car on the scene and had already assessed the injuries, and all appeared to be non-life threatening.
Thankful for our safety, we got back on the freeway and headed north again. As we came upon our exit in Sevierville/Pigeon Forge, it was backed up about a half mile onto the highway. After about 30 minutes of inching (literally!) our way along, we made it to the exit intersection, where we discovered the reason for the backup. A Class C motor home had caught on fire and had been virtually destroyed right there at the intersection. The fire trucks were still there spraying it down.
Thankful AGAIN for our safety, we headed for the River Plantation campground in Sevierville. We spent three nights there and did a little bit sight seeing while we were there. It was a beautiful, well kept campground, and they put Grandpa and Hazel in the lot right next to ours, which was wonderful.
On Monday, we ventured down the main strip of town and were a little overwhelmed with all the tourist attractions. Tom's goal was to leave town without attending any kind of a show, and it was a rainy day, so we chose to do something low key. We visited the Amazon Rain Forest which turned out to be very fun and educational, as well.
We listened to a presentation given by one of the staff there who had a variety of animals and creepy things that he allowed us to touch. I was very disappointed that none of the men folk in my party were willing to let the tarantula crawl on their hand. They were, however, willing to hold the python.
We were on I-75 heading north, when a PT Cruiser in the far left, south bound lane, came careening through the median, crossed over the three north bound lanes, rolled and hit the embankment, all just several hundred yards ahead of us. We quickly pulled over to lend assistance. Thankfully, the three passengers of the vehicle had crawled out on their own. An RN was the first car on the scene and had already assessed the injuries, and all appeared to be non-life threatening.
Thankful for our safety, we got back on the freeway and headed north again. As we came upon our exit in Sevierville/Pigeon Forge, it was backed up about a half mile onto the highway. After about 30 minutes of inching (literally!) our way along, we made it to the exit intersection, where we discovered the reason for the backup. A Class C motor home had caught on fire and had been virtually destroyed right there at the intersection. The fire trucks were still there spraying it down.
Thankful AGAIN for our safety, we headed for the River Plantation campground in Sevierville. We spent three nights there and did a little bit sight seeing while we were there. It was a beautiful, well kept campground, and they put Grandpa and Hazel in the lot right next to ours, which was wonderful.
On Monday, we ventured down the main strip of town and were a little overwhelmed with all the tourist attractions. Tom's goal was to leave town without attending any kind of a show, and it was a rainy day, so we chose to do something low key. We visited the Amazon Rain Forest which turned out to be very fun and educational, as well.
We listened to a presentation given by one of the staff there who had a variety of animals and creepy things that he allowed us to touch. I was very disappointed that none of the men folk in my party were willing to let the tarantula crawl on their hand. They were, however, willing to hold the python.
I held the python around my neck as well, but for prideful reasons, I won't be showing it here.
Much to the kids' delight, we were there to observe feeding time. Here is a picture of the nice, juicy rats that were fed to the snakes.
We were hoping this guy would be really hungry, but he didn't seem to be too interested. We followed the guy around that was doing the feeding, and were rewarded for our persistence when one of the snakes eagerly snatched a rat from the staff member's hand.
Here are our campsites -- ours on the right, Grandpa and Hazel on the left.On Tuesday, we hung around the campsite, while Christian attended his virtual classes all day.
On Wednesday, Grandpa and Hazel headed on north, and we drove over to the Smoky Mountain Parkway, and stopped off at Cades Cove. It was absolutely beautiful, and we wish that we had more time to spend here. There were many historical buildings that we toured along the route, and the scenery was like the picture above -- breathtaking!Thursday morning, we pulled out and headed back home. We can't wait to visit the Smoky Mountains again!
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