Cades Cove, Tennessee Smoky Mountains National Park 10/30 - 11/04/2021

                                            From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                                                            Tim and Linda Bunyan

Cades Cove, Tennessee - Smoky Mountains National Park 4 nights $62.00

We are thrilled we reserved, in advance, our campsite within Cades Cove at the National Park.  A broad valley surrounded by mountains in the Great Smokies.

2 million visitors annually come to enjoy the scenic beauty of Cades Cove and its many historic structures.

Log buildings: houses, churches, grist mills, and barns are preserved.

The first Europeans settled in the cove sometime between 1818 and 1821

The log cabin has weather-fighting chinking between logs.

This barn has been preserved by the National Park Service for visitors to understand the living conditions of the settlers.

Tim is here making mental notes on trusses and beams .....made of oak!

This structure is known as Becky Cable House it was built in 1890 with lumber from Cable Mill.  It is the first all-frame house in the Cove.  

The popular activity here includes hiking, biking, and touring the 11-mile Cades Cove loop road.  

We are excited to be here for a Bicycle Only Days on the Loop Road. 

 The first day we were on the road with vehicles.  The pace is a crawl, but those sightseers are happy to be able to enjoy the loop and the views.

Cades Cove allows visitors to get close to nature and feel part of it.

The Great Smoky Mountains are a paradise here at Cades Cove. 

 The trails are pine-oak with creeks and waterfalls accessible for being with nature.

                                                        

In honor of the Civilian Conservation Corps 1933-1942 whose hands built roads, trails, bridges, buildings, campgrounds, and picnic areas in Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.  

Oh, the lovely Great Smoke Mountains - a mountain range rising along the Tennessee - North Carolina border.  They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province.  The ever-present morning fog is renowned for the diversity of its plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and its history of

 Southern Appalachian mountain culture.

We have traveled 469 miles of the entire Blue Ridge Parkway over the past two weeks.

Asheville, North Carolina and Pigeon Forge at Bear Creek RV Park 10/26 - 10/30/2021 Travel Tour

                                            From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                                                              Tim and Linda Bunyan

In the beautiful Appalachian mountains, minutes away from the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Asheville at Bear Creek RV Park.  4nights - GoodSam $42.00/night.

After days on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, North Carolina, with a population of nearly 100,000 is a thriving mountain city with a funky and eclectic downtown.  It is raining this stay, so we take an off/on the trolley to see the town.   We ate at a local eatery serving cornbread and beans, country ham served with heart and soul...and flavor.  We experienced friendly and hospitable people this one day in town.

The city is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains with great views.....

...right from our campsite!  

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the Biltmore House, 

the largest privately owned home in the United States.  The family stopped living in the mansion in the 1950s.  It is still owned and run as a tourist attraction by the fourth generation of Vanderbilt descendants.  "Anderson Cooper does not have any ownership in, 

or get any special privileges at, Biltmore Estate". We took a drive 

to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge,

 mountain towns, and vacation areas in eastern Tennessee....home of Dollywood, country singer Dolly Parton's Appalachian-themed park. 

The rain remains.

Attractions in Pigeon Forge - sail on the Titanic!

Buildings are upside down and backward!  Fun experience, just need

Grand Daughter Rose here to share the enjoyment of the unusual attractions

Restaurants and museums.

Water Parks

 country music revues, Dixie Stampede, and museums.

In our quest for the best homemade ice cream, we came upon this most unusual parlor: The Buzzed Bull Creamery.  

Can be for children but more for adults as demonstrated at the front entry a premium liquid nitrogen making ice cream cool again.  

Specialties can be made into ice cream or milkshakes and 

can be made buzzed (over 21 alcohol-infused or non-buzzed!

Pick your Buzz mix-ins - Bourbon, Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, Spiced Rum, Rum, and Tequila.  Of course, Tim selected Spiced Rum with vanilla ice cream; I had vodka with chocolate ice cream.

Rainy and unusual day and Dollywood was closed for only this week to prepare for the Holiday Season!

We are moving on to famous Cades Cove, Tennessee in the Smoky Mountain National Park back to the 'backcountry'!

Front Royal, Virginia Shenanadoah National Park North Fork Resort 10/19 - 10/24/2021 Travel Tour

                                              From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                                                              Tim and Linda Bunyan

Front Royal, VA in the Shenandoah National Park at North Fork Resort -  C2C Resorts
5 nights @$38.00/night.  Located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

 Our site is along the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the Civil War Museum, and John Brown's Fort, a key site in an 1859 abolitionist raid on the federal armory. The Federal armories at Harpers Ferry and Springfield Massachusetts, were among the first machine-operated industries in the United States.  Workers in the armories used many labor-saving machines to produce the three major components of the musket: the lock, the stock, and the barrel.  John Brown's raid was to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the

United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia).

The location where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet.

Harpers Ferry is the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail, whose midpoint is nearby.

Peaks of Otter Campground National CG 1 night $10.00.  One of 4 Blue Ridge Parkway campgrounds in Virginia with 132 sites.

Blueridge Parkway - Noted for its scenic beauty Skyline Drive is the longest linear park in the U.S. and runs for 469 miles in Virginia and North Carolina.  

The Parkway links Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park mostly along a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.

Abbott Lake - a 24-acre serene and pristine lake and park located along the Blue Ridge Parkway as one of the attractions to the Peaks of Otter Park.   It features a one-mile loop trail, fishing, and also a wedding venue.   The only hotel on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.  

Historic grist mill 

This mill was built about 1910 by Edwin B. Mabry, a jack-of-all-trades who had been a chairmaker, a miner, a coal company blacksmith, and a farmer.  He and his wife, Mintoria Lizzie Mabry, operated the mill until 1936, grinding corn and sawing lumber for their Meadows of  Dan neighbors. In 1945, the National Park Service restored and landscaped the mill - one of the most photographed features on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Music Center - a state-of-the-art performing arts facility built to preserve and promote the historic music of Virginia and the Blue Ridge.

We experienced the music of the regions.  Fiddle and banjo traditions of Virginia and North Carolina.  From the old-time string bands, ballad singing, and dancing that define the music of Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina, and Tennessee of blues influences and growth of bluegrass.

Cumberland Knob

is where the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway was started in 1935 as a part of President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps.

Air Bellows Gap in North Carolina elevation is 3729'.  we see a long-range view of an area of mixed agriculture in the regions.  The Christmas tree industry is introduced and ranked second in the nation for Christmas tree sales and produces over 20% of the live Christmas trees grown in the United States.

Mount Mitchell - peak in North Carolina is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains 6,684' surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest.  Determined the height of the range exceeded by several hundred feet that of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Stanley W. Abbott, a Cornell-educated landscape architect was the first employee on the scene in 1933.  He was given permission to get to know the region and think about how to build a graceful road through the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains,.