Almost done

I'm blogging from the bathtub of our final hotel of the trip. We're in Chattanooga, TN. We had the most amazing time in the Smoky Mountain park today - words can't adequately describe! I don't think pictures can, either, but we sure tried!

All 5 of us spent some time on the Appalachian Trail (posing for pics rather than actually hiking, but that's neither here nor there), straddled the TN/NC state line, and spent some time at 5,000+ feet above sea level.

The drive here was quite the adventure. I'm pretty sure that if today's 2.5 hour ride had occurred in the 1st 2 hours of our 10 hour trip yesterday, we'd have driven off a cliff somewhere. Val has her "hate & rage" song...well, I have "whine & pout." We sing quite a duet. You should hear it.

My GPS has apparently become tired of telling us where we should go, and *especially* tired of us not following orders...whether deliberately or because we can't follow directions. It has asked me to take 2 roads that just DID NOT exist, & a few fictional on-ramps, to boot. It was, however, the only electronic item in the Swaggon today that maintained a signal through our trek across the park. Even the satellite radio gave up.

I told Val I didn't want anyone to know we'd driven through Pigeon Forge, but I feel the need to express my extreme dislike of the place. I'm sorry if any of y'all enjoy it...I did not. We came out of the park into Pigeon Forge..the main drag. It was hellish. It's like Orlando's International Blvd. without the redemption of having dozens of extremely amazing theme parks nearby. PF has Dollywood...which I'm sure is more than enough for some. Val & I both were very glad to see that place in the rear-view mirror. :(

I'm sure there was more, but I'm tired & the water is getting cold. Time to get in bed. Night!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry