Thursday, April 25

One of the best things about camping in a national park is being close to the action at the start of the day. When most people are driving in from hotels in neighboring towns, we’re able to get a head start and see some of the notable sights when they’re less crowded.

Last night, we camped at Cades Cove campground in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park so we were only a few minutes away from the beginning of an 11-mile, one-way loop that surrounds the area. Cades Cove is a valley surrounded by mountains that offers some of the best opportunities for spotting wildlife in the park. And since this driving loop is one of the main activities within the park, the road can get busy during peak months and on the weekends.

Already at 7:00am, there were several cars beginning the loop at the same time we were. There were plenty of turn-outs along the way and places to stop and sightsee — old log cabins and churches mostly. We slowly cruised the loop and spotted turkeys and deer in the fields, but we didn’t stop to look around at the landmarks or do any hiking. Since we’d left our campsite shortly after we woke up to beat the crowds, we hadn’t had breakfast yet and we were all getting hungry.

After the Cades Cove loop, we drove back to the campground to pay for our campsite. The campground ranger station was closed yesterday when we arrived and there were no envelopes to leave our payment. Unfortunately, the office was still closed this morning so I made an envelope out of a piece of paper and tape, and we left our $25 campsite payment in the drop-box with a note. I hope that was sufficient!

Tory was terribly congested this morning, and just didn’t look good. As we made our way to the Sugarlands Visitor’s Center on the north side of the park, she rushed back to the bathroom and threw up. Wondering what’s worse than throwing up? Being sick in a moving RV. The poor thing was bracing herself against the walls to keep her balance. I helped her as best I could. After that, we pulled over in a turn-out and made breakfast. I think she threw up because she’d had some cold medicine without eating. And once Tory got some food in her belly, she seemed to feel much better.

After breakfast, we continued on our way toward the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Gatlinburg, TN. The kids both completed their Junior Ranger packets, and wanted to earn a Great Smoky Mountains National Park badge. The visitor center parking lot was packed, so we had to park a mile down the road. On our walk from the RV, we passed right through an old cemetery dating back to the late 1800’s. Imagining the life some of those early settlers lived in the Smoky Mountains continues to amaze me.

Inside the visitor center, the four of us completed a scavenger hunt in the museum as the final Junior Ranger badge requirement. Typically, you’re supposed to attend a ranger talk, but they don’t have them during the off-season. We also watched a 15-minute video about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the theatre. I like these short videos because it’s a easy way to learn about the history of the parks we visit.

The kids were sworn in as GSMNP Junior Rangers by Park Ranger Katie who was very sweet with the kids and told them as we left, “Maybe you’ll become a park ranger like me one day.”

Next we drove to the nearby town of Gatlinburg, TN. This is where most tourists stay when they visit the park. It was quite the happening place! There were all kinds of restaurants, souvenir shops, and amusement park attractions. That’s not really our cup of tea, so Andi and I were glad we camped in the park instead. We stopped at a local park in Gatlinburg to have lunch and let the kids play on the playground, and then we continued on our way toward Hot Springs, NC where we planned to stay for the night.

A friend of Andi’s recommended a short hike called Max Patch along the way. The two-mile loop on a bald, grassy mountain offered 360-views of the mountains and Pisgah National Forest below. Andi and I have read many books about Appalachian Trail thru-hikers that we both really wanted to hike a small part of the trail ourselves. Max Patch seemed like the perfect opportunity. We followed our GPS through the mountains on a winding two-lane road. Several times, the map told told us to turn up or down steep gravel roads that we weren’t confident our RV could handle! I happened to be driving through this part, and thankfully Andi agreed to take over because it was stressful. With Andi behind the wheel, we slowly crawled down the gravel road until we saw signs for the Pisgah National Forest and eventually the Max Patch trailhead.

It was a short, steep climb to the top of the hill, and WOW — totally worth the trouble finding this trail! The views were easily some of the best we’d seen thus far.

After our hike, we drove for 45 minutes further to Hot Springs, NC. The town of Hot Springs, located in Western Northern Carolina, is rich with history and is also a welcomed sight for many thru-hikers coming from the Appalachian Trail. The entire town seemed to cater to these hikers with laundry services, food specials and events just for them.

We pulled into Hot Springs Resort & Spa, which also had a campground, to see if they had any available spots. They had lots — the entire campground was practically empty — so we paid and selected a site by the French Broad River. Andi was revving to go & excited to walk into town to get a feel for it. I, on the other hand, was tired and one look at Tory told me she needed to rest tonight. So, Andi and Aden went into town for dinner while Tory and I stayed back at the RV. Andi said later they had a great time talking with all the hikers who were resting up in town for the night. Meanwhile, I showered, cleaned the RV, and blogged while Tory laid in bed and watched the iPad. In the end, everyone got what they needed.

Tomorrow, we’ll head onto a place that’s been on our bucket list for a while — Asheville, NC.