My Journey Into The Sun: My New Journey

Day 3 (End) - Tuesday, May 2, 2023

I was able to get Red Rover loaded. I'm sure I'll be making adjustments as time goes on, but for now, it works. Bali was no help at all.

Tomorrow, we leave to go to Bryson City, NC for camping.

Day 4 - Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The morning started with Bali walking me up at 6AM. To the little dog park we went.

Church in Asheville that looks like a castle.

Stopped at a cute rest stop so we could stretch out legs. Bali approved.

It was a beautiful drive!

This is Emert's Cove Covered Bridge in Pittman Center, TN. It's named after Frederick Emert, the first settler in 1790.

Made it to the campground and got set up. It was windy and a bit chilly. I had electric and there were nice hot showers and a restroom a short jaunt up a hill. Laundry room was there as well, but I didn't need it. There were a few other campers there in RV's parked along the stream. After having dinner, Bali and I snuggled into bed. It got down to 36 degrees. I had the windows cracked and had a fan running for circulation, but stayed warm in my t-shirt and shorts under my blankets. Bali cuddled with me. One thing I did learn is that I still have too much stuff. LOL!

Day 5 - Thursday, May 4, 2023

Woke up early and decided to go for a drive. Drove the Blue Ridge Parkway into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. It was a beautiful morning drive and saw some wildlife as well.

The first area we hit was Cherokee, NC. What a nice town! In researching places to stay, I chose the campground as there is no boondocking in Cherokee Forest unless you are a native. They had these bear statues everywhere and I got a few pics of some of them.

Driving through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is just beautiful. No other way to say it...

Lots of elk out having their breakfast. Give them room!

The waterfalls along the road are awesome!

Newfoundland Gap

Made it into Gatlinburg. Good memories here. Gatlinburg is like Monterey's Cannery Row on steroids.

I hadn't eaten yet, so decided to stop for breakfast. I stopped at Smoky's Pancake Cabin, so I had to have pancakes. I could have done without the powdered sugar, but they were pretty good. And they bring you your own carafe of coffee. The bathroom was pretty unique!

After eating, it was time for Bali to have her fun. We went to the PetSafe Unleashed Dog Park in Sevierville, TN. Very nice city park with a large and small side park for the dogs.

Schipperke Bear Butt!

From there we went to the donation center to drop off some more stuff. One thing was Bali's crate. As much as I hated to do it, it was necessary. So there was more rearranging after that to ensure that she rides as safe as possible. We took a short nap in the car before driving back to the campground.