Dismeet in the Smokies 2021! Y'all Come!

[Bishoparc]

Reminder
Please remember to get your “official” DISmeet sticker from me this evening at the meet if you haven’t already.

 

[tiggerdad]

Alamo Steakhouse in PF knew I was coming.

 

[himandher818]

As mentioned earlier, I arrived late Saturday night, a bit after 10:00 with DW (Rachel), Mom (Barbara), and youngest DS (Taylor).
Oldest DS (Alex) and DDiL (Kayla) will arrive Friday and they are staying the Main Stays across the street.

Saturday DDiL was having her baby shower at 2:00 so DW and Mom, the plan was to leave as soon as that was over. I still didn't have every thing ready by the time they got done at about 4:00, so we wound up leaving from NW GA (about hour south of Chattanooga) just after 5:00. Should have been about a four hour trip, but it turned out a bit longer with slight delay going through Chattanooga, and then again north of Cleveland.

The planned route was to take 75 from Chattanooga to exit 81 and on to Maryville, but not to take Wears valley, but to stay on 321 till 411/441 joined and then take a road (I forget the name) that would bring us into PF on Pleasant Hill. I missed that turn and wound up going all the way to Servierville.

I hate arriving after dark as that makes getting in more difficult, but I was greeted by @bama_ed and @SouthAlabama5er and they help me get the most perfect parking I think I have done. Thank you!

Will left the house without any groceries, and I also forgot to pack a lot stuff so Saturday was mostly running around shopping. Today a few hours work (job work) and then relaxing, and group activities.

I have a few issues getting ready for this trip, and on the trip. But they are minor compared to the Frig, toilet seals, flat tires, and engine problems the rest of you have had.

 

[Bishoparc]

It’s been a rainy 🌧 day all day so far. We got up and had breakfast then set out to stop by a few places we had wanted to.

First, we swung through Camp Rivers Landing to grab a sticker for the campground as we try to collect one for each place we camp. While pulling through, apparently they were having a geese convention as we saw more geese in one place than I’ve ever seen in my life!



After that we drove up around the new Camo Margaritaville to see what it looked like. Overall, once they are fully finished with that resort it looks like it will be really nice. One of the DW’s favorite features is that it has a puppy washing station. It’s definitely one of those cram as many campsites in as you can kind of places but there are some spots with some mountain views. Likely in that location you can also hear the Dollywood steam train whistle.





After that we stopped by Three Bears General Store. It’s one of our favorite places as they have a wide variety of things.



From there on to Frizzle Chicken House where your food sings to you. They have little animatronic chickens that sing every half hour. The foods decent and it’s a neat little experience.




After that we ran into the Coleman store and just stopped at Publix to get a couple of things.

See you all shortly at the meet!

 

[garneska]

This morning Bert and I went with Jim to ride the dragon tail. I am glad I did it and Jim was an excellent driver. I got a free race car experience. I can cross that off the list probably not something I will do again but glad I did it once.

We got back and had sandwiches then went out with Herb. He needed to get some Bourbon for a friend. We did some tastings. One had a lot of bite. My reaction might have been better than during the car ride.

Cleaned up the inside of the RV for the tours. Still need to change Mallory’s bandage and then start grilling asparagus. Hoping the rain has stopped for the day.

No pics of exciting stuff so here is Mallory instead.

 

[tripleb]

We slept in this morning, had a late breakfast, and then went to Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Servierville. This is always a must do place for us and easily kills a couple of hours in the day.
After SMKW it was a "tasting" at one of the distilleries ... no, I didn't drink too much, just can't remember the places name. Grabbed a couple of bottles and back to the RV Park.
Looking forward to this evening's get-together.

 

[bama_ed]

We got up this morning and I got over to Teamubr's site just before he left to drive the dragon and get my morning puzzle time in. tiggerdad was also there early. I had worked on it with Jim/Teamubr to get it started yesterday and we got pieces sorted into some basic color categories and got the edge/outline put together. Then I went back to make breakfast and others arrived to continue the puzzle work.

But it got tipped over somewhat in storage sometime before this morning so a lot of it came apart. So we started again to rebuild it. Here is the 750-piece puzzle poster that we are working on:



Here is the progress when I left this morning to go back to breakfast.



If anybody took a more recent picture of today's progress, please post it. DJ (Dear Jen) brought out her famous (at least to Ed) banana chocolate chip bread (chilled) and I limited myself to two pieces because I still had to go do breakfast. Her bread and a diet Coke have become my morning puzzle routine at DISMeets so THANK YOU to DJ.

After breakfast we headed for Gatlinburg. DW had never been and for me it had been nearly 40 years. The 3-lane parkway southbound goes down to 2-lanes at the Pigeon Forge city limits to Great Smokey Mtn Natl Park (GSMNP) for about 5 miles before it continues into Gatlinburg. So the 3 SB lanes of busy traffic merged to two than had to merge into one:





As it turned out, they were mowing the grass on the shoulder of the 2-lane parkway in GSMNP. It took forever to get through it. Then we got into Gatlinburg and it is more built up than I ever remembered. Shops and restaurants and attractions on both sides of the main drag.



After we turned around and headed back towards the camper, it was 2/3 lanes wide open all the way back. We stopped at the grocery store, came back and had lunch, did some laundry, and chatted during the rain with tiggerdad and SouthAlabama5er. Now the sun has come out this afternoon (still humid from the dried rain) but folks are getting ready for the get-together.

I hope to provide an update of tonight's events later on. Tomorrow DW and I plan to head to Cade's Cove.

Bama Ed

 

[garneska]

A few pics from the get together.

 

[tripleb]

Had a GREAT time at the get-together. Good food, good company, and camping ... it just doesn't get any better.

 

[bama_ed]

Our one designed get-together was tonight and it was a smashing success. Tiggerdad was a wonderful host as DISMeet Chairman and now climbs the ranks into that etherworld of "DISMeet Chairman Emeritus". We'll have to stay tuned for future DISMeet locations and dates. In total we had 39 people from our 18 sites/cabins and the Rock Star Mallory in attendance.

Since 2goofycampers, our DIS Camping Board Moderator, was here as well both she and tiggerdad received identical gifts from the group which was a framed 11x17 Fort Wilderness poster from the 1970s.

All the DIS members in attendance signed the back of both posters. After dinner we went on a walking rv tour of participating DIS members' rigs (including our Aliner). Lots of nice big rigs to fit every family. DW staged our Aliner with a Disney theme:













And of course the HM doorbell fixture I added a few days before we left home.



People who stepped up into our Aliner seemed surprised at how big/open it felt since the interior ceiling is 8.5 ft high at its apex.

We sat outside in the dark chatting afterwords at tiggerdad's place until it was time for a shower and sleep. Tomorrow is another full day for us.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

It was a smashing success indeed, but no one individual made it that way. It was, as always, the good company and fantastic food. I made it a personal goal to put at least a small portion of each food sample on my plate. Regrettably I was not able to get food pics before it was consumed. It was all great.

I really enjoyed seeing everyone. Lot of good conversation and antics. RV tour was neat. Seeing some of the interior decorating ideas was really nice. DW gears are turning.

The gifts were very appreciated. I assure you all, the company is what I call reward enough. Still few days left. We hiking tomorrow. Park hiking in the morning and Gatlinburg hiking in the evening.

 

[mickeyfan0805]

Thanks for sharing a few pics and details for those of us unable to attend. Looks like a great time. Glad you were all able to enjoy one another's company.

 

[friendofeeyore]

Thank you for the great pictures! What wonderful gifts! Keep up the good posts. Wished I could been there.

 

[Bishoparc]

Main DISmeet

We had a wonderful time at the meet last night. Thanks so much to all who came and for all the amazing food! As I've said before, all of you feel like our extended family and we count you all as friends. Nothing quite like the Disney community, but especially Disney Campers.



Following the main meet we embarked on a camper tour. Everyone seemed to really enjoy seeing all the different types of campers that folks had as well as see how some of the different brands are quite similar. Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this activity!


Following the camper tour an impromptu swap meet broke out in the parking lot. Both @2goofycampers and @garneska had some "excess" Disney & Fort memorabilia that they gave away to anyone who wanted it.


Looking forward to a great day today. We are headed over to Cades Cove and don't forget our S'mores night this evening, site 61 at 8:00PM.

 

[tripleb]

WOW, talk about a lesson in futility ... Our plan today was Cades Cove and some browsing around Gatlinburg. The best laid plans of mice and men comes to mind. The bride slept late this morning so it was about 10am before we hit the road. Headed out of PF towards the GSMNP, PF grid lock stopped us in our tracks ... no problem sweetheart, we'll just turn around and take Wears Valley road to CC.

Well, about 1.5 miles before the left hand turn to the CC road, there was a wreck. Apparently a car flipped in the middle of the road :-( So, we finally crawl to a place I can turn this long bed truck around and back to PF and the camper.

To be continued ...

 

[tripleb]

Continuing our, less than desirable day ... we decided to do a late lunch at Huck Finns Catfish House here in PF and then go across the highway to the Old Mill and do some browsing. While at lunch, the rain gods decided to dump a whole bunch of rain which generally isn't a problem until you remember you had left your awning out.

So, back to the camper to check for damage. Fortunately, there was no awning damage. We decided that this just wasn't our day and to just chill at the campground and perhaps dream of a better day at Dollywood tomorrow.

 

[Bishoparc]

Townsend & Cades Cove

We headed over to Cades Cove today and stopped at a few places in Townsend while we were over that way. Our first stop was the Little River Railroad Museum. It's free to visit and they do have a little gift shop as well.



One of the interesting things here was this Shay Engine. These engines used gears on the individual wheels instead of the standard arm connecting all the wheels together. From reading about it, this helped them maintain higher pulling capacity and better traction while sacrificing speed.




Inside the museum they had quite a few different things to look at as while as a ton of history on the area of Townsend.



After that we went to the Apple Valley General Store just down the road in Townsend. I forgot to take pictures there unfortunately but we did get some fudge and several other things there.

Last stop for the day was Cades Cove. It had been raining our whole way over but cleared up for us to make the loop. Thankfully wasn't too busy and there was a bear sighting along our way but too many people were stopped in an area you aren't supposed to stop so I wasn't able to get a picture.



In for the evening, it's been storming this afternoon. Hoping it clears up in time for s'mores night at our campsite tonight at 8.

 

[bama_ed]

Wow, several of us had the same idea for today. DW and I took off for Cades Cove this morning too, Bishoparc and tripleb, and we left out about 9am and went via Weirs Valley Road (Hwy 321).

It was nearly empty along the road as we admired the views and looked for wildlife.





Just kidding. The road was not empty. We were in a slow procession which was fine. We had no schedule.

Lovely views of the valley.









Besides deer, we did see turkeys twice:



And a good view (from the car) of a small bear which caused traffic to just STOP completely.



At tiggerdad's suggestion, we had packed a picnic lunch and ate at the Cades Cove picnic area near the campground which had some tables out near the beautiful babbling brook. Very peaceful. We also checked out the CC campground store and saw where campers could check in (no vacancies for tonight).





I have hit my 10 hosted pictures per post limit. So next post if you please ....

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

We also visited the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum in Townsend (apparently missed Arc by about an hour). Mr. Townsend who founded the town harvested lumber in the nearby mountains and used the Shay locomotives (gear-driven) to move the logs out of the mountains to civilization where they could be milled/cut and then shipped out on regular piston-driven locomotives.

It's rare to see a Shay (even a static display) so still very interesting.







Shays were good for logging railroads because they could run on narrow tracks (less money spent grading) that were uneven (did't have to make them perfect) on steeper grades (meant short track lengths) and were strong (could take more logs each trip). As Arc said, they were slow which was their trade-off. The issue with loggers anywhere was getting the logs out of the woods to the train tracks for the Shays to take them out.

After that we drove back into GSMNP and wound our way in the hard afternoon rain past the Sugarlands Vistor's Center and back into PF and the campground. Another hard rain blew in this afternoon but as of 7pm has blown out already and the birds and sunshine have come back out with some clouds.

We'll head over to Arc's place soon.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

The day has been busy to say the least. I too was at the same train museum as Ed and Arc, coincidentally same time as Ed. He and Arc already posted good pics so I won't repost.

I feel I need to make a special request of my fellow Disers. Here with us on this trip is long time Diser PaHunter. Chris was actually scheduled as the hosting Diser on this one. Going back a few pages Chis had posted he wasn't feeling well even before heading down to meet us here. As time and the trip has gone on he has become weaker and felt worse. Today he was continued worsening so much so that he requested to go to the hospital. I took him to local hospital where he has been for most of the day. He is admitted with further testing ongoing and while some things are known ( it IS NOT covid) he is still pending further testing and treatment but quite Ill.

I would request of you all to please remember Chris and his wife Jenn as they navigate this stressful time and seeking of clear answers and treatment. I know they are in our prayers. I greatly appreciate the Disers here, each has contributed today in helping with their site and with Reba, their Grrman Shepherd. Who we have been spoiling all day.