Kentucky Tennesse here we come!

[Robin 48]

This trip was just the two of us. I think that the time has come that most of are trips now will be this way.

We left off bright and early. Wanted to get thru Chicago before it got bad. Had the camper loaded the night before.

It has been a cold and rainy spring here. We live in southern Wisconsin. Looking forward to some warm sunny days.

Of course, now that we are leaving it's hot and sunny. Driving thru Chicago always stresses me out. People are crazy drivers.

It wasn't too bad. We made it to Cave City Ky, with no problems. We arrived at Cave City Rv park and set up was easy. We stayed here before and really like it.

All pull thru sites very level. We had neighbors on one side. The other side is empty. We will be here for three nights.

 We bought are used travel trailer last summer and never did mess with the sewer hookup. This will be the first time using it. While my husband messed with that, I made the bed and did a few other things in the camper. It feels so good to be camping again after winter!

My husband decided we needed this thing that holds your hose. Not sure the name of it. There was a camping world in Bowling Green that was not too far. Back in the van and off we go again. We find what we need and look around. This place is huge! We took a tour of the campers they have. We head back my husband again messes with the swear and I make dinner.

He is happy with the result, and everything seems to be working sucess. We have dinner and take a bike ride to down the street to get some ice cream. We decided to eat it back at the campsite. We find a movie to watch get comfy and have some of the best ice cream we have ever had. It is so quiet here and the weather is really nice. We then decide to get to bed we have had a long day.

[keith_h 420]

Glad to hear things started off on a good foot.

I hear you on going around Chicago. I hate the area where all of the interstates overlap there along the south side of Chicago and Lake Michigan. It was there that our travel trailer and truck were hit by a driver who lost control in the rain and spun into us. You'd think in the 40 years since we left the area they could have done something about that stretch of road.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Following along and I agree there has to be a better way around Chicago.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

Riding along too!   

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

I'm in!  Happy to hear the first part of the drive wasn't as bad as expected. 

[Robin 48]

Today we are going to explore Mammoth Cave. I pre purchased our tour tickets before we left home. We just did the short tour Frozen Niagara it was about a hour long.

This was a nice tour I would recommend it! After the tour we did some hiking around the park. It was a beautiful day out. We then went back to the campground had a snack and checked on dinner. Before we left I started dinner in the slow cooker. I also called Disney and ordered are Halloween Party tickets. My husband loaded up are bikes. We decided to bike around Mammoth park. We biked for about a hour then we started to get hungry so we loaded up and made are way back. We took a different way back because we wanted to check out another campground. We have some relatives staying at Singing Hills. We just did a drive around. Nothing really here to us it looked like it needed some updating. If you need some place to just sleep for a night or two this would work. We will stick to Cave City. 

After dinner we decided we needed some more of that yummy ice cream. Got the bikes out and rode down. Again we brought are treat back to the camper and watched a movie before going to bed. This was a really good day!

[Robin 48]

Today we are heading into Bowling Green. This is our real reason for coming down. There is a Buick national car show and races at Beechbend Raceway.

 Dinner again was in the slowcooker so I got that started and we are off. We spent the whole day at the show. We caught up with old friends and meet some new ones. It was a nice warm sunny day. It felt good to be outside! 

Once we got back we had dinner and a repeat of last night. Bike ride down for ice cream, movie and, bed.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

On 6/2/2022 at 12:19 PM, Robin said:

Today we are going to explore Mammoth Cave. I pre purchased our tour tickets before we left home. We just did the short tour Frozen Niagara it was about a hour long.

This was a nice tour I would recommend it! After the tour we did some hiking around the park. It was a beautiful day out. We then went back to the campground had a snack and checked on dinner. Before we left I started dinner in the slow cooker. I also called Disney and ordered are Halloween Party tickets. My husband loaded up are bikes. We decided to bike around Mammoth park. We biked for about a hour then we started to get hungry so we loaded up and made are way back. We took a different way back because we wanted to check out another campground. We have some relatives staying at Singing Hills. We just did a drive around. Nothing really here to us it looked like it needed some updating. If you need some place to just sleep for a night or two this would work. We will stick to Cave City. 

After dinner we decided we needed some more of that yummy ice cream. Got the bikes out and rode down. Again we brought are treat back to the camper and watched a movie before going to bed. This was a really good day!

That's an area with lots to do.  Many many, too many, years ago I was a spelunker and did cave tours the hard way. There is actually a cave near Cumberland Lake that is larger than Manmouth Cave. Problem is once they built the lake it flooded the cave. One year they were working on the dam and lowered the water level so we were able to explore the cave. Hope you enjoyed the tour.  If you haven't gone to Chattanooga yet, Ruby Falls is another interesting tour.

[Robin 48]

Yes, we liked the tour it was fun! I will look into Ruby Falls thanks for the tip.

[Robin 48]

Today we say goodbye and hello. We noticed that the campground really filled up most of the spots had been taken. Still was very quiet except for a few barking dogs.

We had a nice breakfast outside soaking in the sun. You know those last moments before having to pack up and leave. Dishes and clean up done time to go. We are headed to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. We have four nights reserved at Creekside. It took us about 4 and half hours to drive over. The drive went well a few winding roads but, we made it.

We checked in was given some info and, maps on the area. Our site was right behind the pool. The pool was open and was pretty busy. My husband wanted to switch sites has it was kind of loud. Also are bed was right up against the building that the filter was in. We have a rear slide out. I talked him into staying we had a end spot and the site next to us was open. I knew we had plans to be gone most of the days. We ended up really liking this spot and glad we stayed put.

After setting up we started to get hungry. We decided to drive into Gatlinburg for a pizza and to look around. It's about a half hour drive. We drove down the Pigeon Forge attraction area with no desire to do any of it. Alot of it is the same stuff you see in other areas. We found a pizza place with parking for are big fan. The food was ok no complaints staff was friendly. After dinner we drove down the strip and we did not expect to see so many people. This was our first time here. It was a mad house I can only imagine how bad it gets in the summer. Parking was twenty dollars. We only wanted to walk around for a bit, so we passed. We went right back to the campground. The traffic was bad, and the GPS rerouted us and saved us some time and headaches. Once back we took out are bikes and rode around for a bit. It got quiet and the filter noise did not bother us. We watched some Tv and went to bed.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

6 hours ago, Robin said:

Today we say goodbye and hello. We noticed that the campground really filled up most of the spots had been taken. Still was very quiet except for a few barking dogs.

We had a nice breakfast outside soaking in the sun. You know those last moments before having to pack up and leave. Dishes and clean up done time to go. We are headed to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. We have four nights reserved at Creekside. It took us about 4 and half hours to drive over. The drive went well a few winding roads but, we made it.

We checked in was given some info and, maps on the area. Our site was right behind the pool. The pool was open and was pretty busy. My husband wanted to switch sites has it was kind of loud. Also are bed was right up against the building that the filter was in. We have a rear slide out. I talked him into staying we had a end spot and the site next to us was open. I knew we had plans to be gone most of the days. We ended up really liking this spot and glad we stayed put.

After setting up we started to get hungry. We decided to drive into Gatlinburg for a pizza and to look around. It's about a half hour drive. We drove down the Pigeon Forge attraction area with no desire to do any of it. Alot of it is the same stuff you see in other areas. We found a pizza place with parking for are big fan. The food was ok no complaints staff was friendly. After dinner we drove down the strip and we did not expect to see so many people. This was our first time here. It was a mad house I can only imagine how bad it gets in the summer. Parking was twenty dollars. We only wanted to walk around for a bit, so we passed. We went right back to the campground. The traffic was bad, and the GPS rerouted us and saved us some time and headaches. Once back we took out are bikes and rode around for a bit. It got quiet and the filter noise did not bother us. We watched some Tv and went to bed.

I think it's always busy..  We go to Gatlinburg once every 20 years whether we need it or not for that reason....

[keith_h 420]

20 hours ago, Robin said:

Today we say goodbye and hello. We noticed that the campground really filled up most of the spots had been taken. Still was very quiet except for a few barking dogs.

We had a nice breakfast outside soaking in the sun. You know those last moments before having to pack up and leave. Dishes and clean up done time to go. We are headed to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. We have four nights reserved at Creekside. It took us about 4 and half hours to drive over. The drive went well a few winding roads but, we made it.

We checked in was given some info and, maps on the area. Our site was right behind the pool. The pool was open and was pretty busy. My husband wanted to switch sites has it was kind of loud. Also are bed was right up against the building that the filter was in. We have a rear slide out. I talked him into staying we had a end spot and the site next to us was open. I knew we had plans to be gone most of the days. We ended up really liking this spot and glad we stayed put.

After setting up we started to get hungry. We decided to drive into Gatlinburg for a pizza and to look around. It's about a half hour drive. We drove down the Pigeon Forge attraction area with no desire to do any of it. Alot of it is the same stuff you see in other areas. We found a pizza place with parking for are big fan. The food was ok no complaints staff was friendly. After dinner we drove down the strip and we did not expect to see so many people. This was our first time here. It was a mad house I can only imagine how bad it gets in the summer. Parking was twenty dollars. We only wanted to walk around for a bit, so we passed. We went right back to the campground. The traffic was bad, and the GPS rerouted us and saved us some time and headaches. Once back we took out are bikes and rode around for a bit. It got quiet and the filter noise did not bother us. We watched some Tv and went to bed.

 

14 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

I think it's always busy..  We go to Gatlinburg once every 20 years whether we need it or not for that reason....

Yes that whole route from Pigeon Forge through Gatlinburg is a big mess of traffic. When going to Gatlinburg we try to park at one of the city lots and walk or use the trolley.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We park at the Old Mill and take the trolley to Gatlinburg, makes it much easier then fighting the traffic and the cost is not that bad.

[Robin 48]

Today was Sunday. We found a church 5 min away and went after breakfast. Went back to the camper changed grabbed a few snacks and snacks and we are off.

We are going hiking today in the Smokey Mountains. We drove to the visitor center traffic was not bad today. They have a really nice center there. With staff to answer questions about the park and city. We found what trail we wanted to hike and left. It was very beautiful driving around. We stopped once and took some photos of the view. 

It was a little tight driving are big van around and trying to find parking was not fun. We got a workout walking up hill to get to the trail. We found a trail the wasn't too hard and led to a beautiful waterfall. Once we found it, we took a few pictures. There is no swimming allowed but of course there was some that the rules did not apply to, and they were swimming in the bottom of the falls. It was starting to look a little dark and rain had been called for the afternoon. We made are way down and, it started to rain. Not to hard but, I was glad I brought the umbrella. On this trail you follow the same path down that you went up. I felt bad for the folks that had made it halfway when it started to rain. Mant people seemed unprepared for the weather and I'm sure they had gotten pretty wet. Going down the hill back to the van was not easy as you would think.  It was slippery and steep my toes were starting to hurt from being pushed forward in my shoes. The rain had started to slow down once we made it back to the van.  We stopped at a site that showed the reminisce of a farm that a family once lived in. Why do people feel the need to write on the walls of everything? Once down the mountain there is a little store and bathrooms. We walked around here for a bit the rain before leaving the rain had stopped. We really enjoyed are time here.

On the way back to the camper we stopped at the trolly depot. We had some time and wanted to see how the trolly system worked has we would be taking it tomorrow. We found a friendly woman working that seemed really happy we stopped in. She seemed a little bored and explained everything very well. You can by your tickets the night before but, they only take cash and we had none on us. We left and made are way back.

 

 Once back at the camper dinner was started has was some laundry. There was not a change machine, and the office was closed we had to dig around for some quarters. We had dinner, finished laundry, biked around, watched some TV and, called it a day.

[ThemeParkCommando 81]

I bet the nice lady working the trolley station REALLY appreciated you stopping in to figure out what is needed, before hand.   It's customers like you that make their day worth it, when I bet they deal with people yelling at them daily about the cash requirement. 

[Robin 48]

Today we are up and have a quick breakfast. We are going to Dollywood for the first time. We wanted to get there right at park opening. We head to the trolly depot it has free parking which is nice. There is a small line we buy are tickets and get in another line for the trolly. We waited about 15 min for it to come. We make it into the park with no problem. The security line was moving pretty fast. We got a map that was being handed out. Once inside we got caught up in the crowd which appeared to be some school groups heading to the right. After a few min we stepped to the side and let them pass as we looked at the map. We are not big thrill ride kind of people. While all those kids got in line for the coasters, we got in line for the driving cars. Afterwards we went in a few shops and looked at some flowers. This was their food and flower festival. The flowers were gorgeous! We watched some of a show with people swinging on poles. We lost interest halfway thru. If you had a season pass and not in a hurry, then I can see watching it but, for us we had too much to do. We then went into the butterfly building. We thought this was cute and different. It was a big screen on both sides of the room with electronic butterflies. They were motion censored and followed your movement. If you stood in front of the screen they would stop moving and land on you. You could stay as long as you liked. We spent about ten minutes. Next, we got in line to tour one of Dollys old touring busses. They only let in so many people at a time. I could see how this bus was cool when it first came out but, now it was so dated it was funny to us. I understand that another one of her busses is now available to stay overnight in for a small fortune. I'm sure there are mega fans that would love this but, that is not us. Next, we watched a show in the theater right next to the bus. We both really enjoyed this, and the theater was full. After we made are way back into the park and, watched a show on an outdoor stage. We then went and watched some glass blowers and walked around the shop. We then decided to ride the train. We made it over just as a train was pulling in. Once we made it into the waiting area, we must have looked confused why the train was not loading when a women told us the train is on a schedule. Are fault for not checking. We decided to wait we already were there and wasn't sure if we would make it later. We used this time to look at the map and see what we wanted to do next. We decided on the bird show. We enjoyed are ride coal dust and all. We made are way over to the show and stopped to look at some eagles on the way. They have an exhibet with Bald eagles that are non-releasable. After the show we took are time walking around. We ended up in the new kid area. We rode the coaster in this area it was fun! We wanted to get something to eat and, were having a hard time. Not sure if it was because of the time of year or a lack of staff but, a lot of places were closed. We wanted something that wasn't hotdogs and hamburgers. The food booths were open but, we wanted a meal not a sample plate. There was a sit-down restaurant open but, we did not want to spend what little time we had left in a restaurant. The did have openings though I did check. We decided to share a BBQ sandwich and fries we had leftovers back in the camper that would do. We then found are way over to the chapel and enjoyed a show. Next, we did a couple of smaller coasters and made are up to the front of the park. I had heard good things about the waffle ice cream sandwich and, had to try it. My husband declined and instantly changed his mind once I gave him a bite. He went and got his own. This thing was so good the waffle was the best I have ever had! I know they are famous for the cinnamon bread but that is not are thing. We took one last walk around the park checked out the bakery with the giant apple pie and made are way out the park was now closed. 

On to the drama. We found the trolly pickup area, and we got in the line. We had a nice conversation with a couple from North Carolina. A trolly pulls up about ten min later. We hear all this yelling. We are not really sure what is going on. Well, we found out. It seems that the staff ride the trolly home. Well they thought they did not have to wait in line and just pushed their way on to the trolly. The trolly fills up fast and leaves. Now more workers come, and people are on to them. More yelling happens while we wait for another trolly. It was getting heated and not the way I wanted to end the night. Another trolly pulls up and it is a mad scramble to get on. The couple we had been chatting with is the last ones one. We are next up. My husband says do not let them in front of you. The group of workers are standing off to the side has the trolly pulls up I see a bunch of them start walking over and are standing next to me. The driver opens the door and I move quick we got on. A women who was waiting with us starts yelling at the driver do not let them on. The driver stops the group and tells them I know what you're doing and makes them wait till the people waiting get on. I did see a few families that waited for the next trolly. I'm sure they wanted no part in what was going on. It was a little tense ride back. I did hear several people saw they were going to complain. Not sure what good it will do?

This was just crazy to us not sure if this happens every night or if something was up. To cut in front of people some with young children some elderly is just wrong. And not only because you are an employee but, it's just wrong.

We get back to the camper and heat are leftovers. We are tired it was a lot of walking today. Tomorrow will be a slower pace.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We enjoy Dollywood Park, but some things bug me, for one I love the train ride but hate how they run it, what schedule there is only one train on the tracks and the way they board it...coral everyone together then let them all rush to get on the train, wait maybe that's practice for getting on the trolley later . The shows there are wonderful and worth trying to get to see them all, we feel probably the best theme parks shows available. Glad you enjoyed your day.

[Robin 48]

Yes, some things bugged us but, for the most park we enjoyed it. We would love to go back at Christmas and see the lights.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

15 hours ago, Robin said:

Yes, some things bugged us but, for the most park we enjoyed it. We would love to go back at Christmas and see the lights.

We did that a couple of years ago but stayed in a cabin did not tow the rv. The park opens later in the day, so a shorter operating day, the shows were very good and we enjoyed just strolling around checking out the lights and decorations.

[Robin 48]

Today we are going to ride are bikes. On one of the flyers, we picked up I saw something about a river bike trail. After breakfast we loaded up the bikes and stopped in the office to see if anyone knew more about this. Well, the office lady was not very helpful she made me feel like I was bothering her. She did tell us that she thought it started at the library. I didn't bother asking where that was, I didn't want to inconvenience her more. We just looked it up on are phones and saw that it wasn't far at all. Once we got there, we unloaded and looked around for it. We saw a mother and son on bikes and asked them. Super friendly and answered all are questions about the trail. This ended up being a fun ride we really enjoyed it. It takes you along the river and thru the island. It is 3 miles there and there miles back.

 After we decide to head back into Gatlinburg. We drive to the visitor center to catch the trolly. It is free to ride from there. We waited about a half a hour we must of just missed the last one. Once we get dropped off, I realize that I have left my ID back in the camper. Now we are not big drinkers but, thought it would be fun to try some of the samples the local establishments were handing out. It was busy downtown but not as crazy as the weekend. My husband did enjoy doing the moonshine tasting and, I looked around the store while it did this. We walked around for a little while and went back to the trolly stop. We only waited about ten minutes. We head back to the campground to get ready for dinner.

We have tickets to the Hatfield and Mccoy dinner show. It said doors open at 4:30. We got there right at 4:30. There was a greeter at the door helping guests. We had purchased tickets months ago but, had received a coupon when checking in at the campground. I wanted to see if they would give me a refund with the coupon. I waited in the ticket line my husband went to the bar to order us a drink. I know I said we are not big drinkers but, thought it would be fun to share a moonshine drink while enjoying the show. The ticket line was moving slow the line to enter the theater was now empty. Finally, they opened another ticket window. I explained the situation and the women was very helpful and gave me a refund even though she said she was not supposed to. It wasn't much but, it was something. Before you enter the theater, they take your picture. Once inside we are shown to are table. The tables are so close together they really cram you in. I had to squeeze into my seat and I'm not a big person. The server came over has I was squeezing in and poured us some soup the was sitting on the table in a thermos. She explained that she was not server but, was helping are server out who was new. The soup was really good but, not very hot I would say luke warm. As we looked around, we could see other tables already getting dessert. It was just 5'ocock. We did not know that once you got seated you got dinner. Are server came with the rest of the food and took are drink order soft drinks are included. The preshow started the helper server brought are drinks and, took are pudding choice she looked really frazzled. We put in a order for some more potatoes right away.  The show started and after a bit are potatoes and pudding arrived. The show was good not great or bad it was a one and done for us. We felt very rushed to eat dinner and the food was not that good. The pudding tasted like they just dumped it out of a can they could do better. 

After the show we decided to ride the river again. We still had the bikes with us, and it was a beautiful night. It was a little busier now than before but, we still enjoyed it. After are ride we made it over to look around the Dreammore resort. This is Dolly's hotel, and it is beautiful. We walked around the lobby area and sat outside on some rocking chairs admiring the grounds. It was time to call it a day and head back.

Once we got back, we noticed a racoon out across the street acting strange. Today was our last night we were leaving in the morning. We had started to get some things packed up and that racoon was still there. We were not sure what to do the office was closed. About 20 min later a gentleman was taking out his garbage and asked us about it. He left and came back with the caretaker they ended calling the police. This went on for hours has they had to wait for a sheriff with a shot gun. By now this thing had made its way down to the river. We were watching tv when we heard the shots. I'm glad no one got hurt. That caretaker was on top of this and made sure of it. We saw him in the morning and thanked him.

What an ending to the trip.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

On 7/20/2022 at 12:14 PM, Robin said:

We were watching tv when we heard the shots. I'm glad no one got hurt. That caretaker was on top of this and made sure of it. We saw him in the morning and thanked him.

What an ending to the trip.

So it did end with a "BANG"   😁..... Glad you had a great time..