Just "Ducky" - Floating Around

[Bishoparc]

Pigeon Forge Birthday Trip 2021 - Day 2

Well we didn’t quite make it out at 7:30 but we did get rolling about 8:15A CST. As I mentioned in my reply to @PaHunter, we emptied out our fresh water tank and re-adjusted the hitch and then went to re-weigh at the CAT scale. (I can already tell I’m going to be obsessed with doing that

Traffic wasn’t too bad until we got to Chattanooga then it got pretty backed up. We weren’t even able to find a parking spot at the TN welcome center.

We arrived to the campground in Pigeon Forge around 1:15. This campground is brand new, it’s called “Pigeon Forge Landing”. It’s built behind the Apple Barn, next door to the condos known as “Apple View River Resort” which we’ve stayed at several times. The staff is super friendly.




We were assigned site 21, which is a water front site. It’s a little bit off the water but you can still hear and see the Little Pigeon River very well. The sites are nicely sized and include quality picnic tables, a charcoal grill, and a fire ring. The sites are concrete and the roads are asphalt.




There is a HUGE area behind our site that you can walk all the way down to the river.



For my birthday, DW got me the 17” Blackstone griddle so we have joined that family. We also found on Amazon a metal plate that attaches to where our grill swing arm was at the back of the camper and it attaches to the griddle.

 

[Bishoparc]

Pigeon Forge Birthday Trip 2021 - Day 2 Cont.

Some additional campground pictures:





They don’t have much in their camp store since they just opened but I did get a t-shirt. When you buy firewood they deliver it to your site for you. Garbage is picked up from your site daily at 10A.

After we spent some time outside, we ended up going to the Coleman outlet to look around and a couple of other little stores. It’s Easter weekend so it is packed around here. We tried several restaurants for dinner but they were either closed or full so we ended up coming back here, making a fire, and cooking hot dogs.


Dollywood tomorrow. Goodnight all!

Link to day 3

 

[tiggerdad]

Looks like yours was the first fire. Still see grass in that pit.

Looks nice, but do they have any trees planted yet? Looks like scorcher in the summer.

Enjoy Dollywood. Always neat picks there.

 

[Bishoparc]

Looks like yours was the first fire. Still see grass in that pit.

Looks nice, but do they have any trees planted yet? Looks like scorcher in the summer.

Enjoy Dollywood. Always neat picks there.

Yup, they’ve got trees planted so I’m sure in a few years it will have some shade. They literally just opened yesterday.

Yeah, I’ve been coming to Dollywood since I was 10. Many memories here.

 

[Bishoparc]

Pigeon Forge Birthday Trip 2021 - Day 3

As usual, we got started later than I wanted to but that’s what a vacation is about right? We started with breakfast. I normally do not cook but figured I had to break in my new Blackstone. It’s great to be able to cook outside. The weather has been amazing.


After breakfast we headed over to Dollywood for a little bit. It was extremely busy and they are definitely not enforcing masks like Disney does. They are doing temp checks at each tram stop which creates a huge line. We ended up walking to the front gate. On the way, a security guard stopped us in the parking lot and checked our temperature so we wouldn’t have to do it up front.





If you visit Dollywood, you must meet Miss Lillian. I have known her ever since I’ve been going to Dollywood as a kid and she is one of the kindest, most genuine human beings you will ever meet. If there ever were angels among us, she is one of them.


One of the other amazing things at Dollywood is there real coal fired steam trains. The train whistle is one of my favorite things to hear.



Dollywood also makes homemade pork skins among other things.


Let us not forget what they are known for, their homemade cinnamon bread. O m g, the best thing ever.


After Dollywood we came back and used my new portable charcoal grill I got from Sam’s Club. It’s pretty cool. You put a small amount of coal in a center chamber and then it uses a fan to hear the chamber. It heated up super quick and worked really well.

 

[Bishoparc]

Pigeon Forge Birthday Trip 2021 - Day 3 cont

This afternoon we went to a new outdoor store I had not heard of, REI Co-op. They had so many unique things for camping, hiking, biking, and rock climbing. Definitely check it out if you have one near!



This evening we went to Corky’s BBQ for dinner. We always get the sausage and cheese plate for an appetizer and then had the pulled pork and smoked turkey for dinner.



We went to a few stores around town and also drove by the campground we are staying at for the meet. It looks super nice and the spot we are booked in is so big! Came back and made another campfire. It was a good day. Tomorrow is Cades Cove.

Link to Day 4

 

[Bishoparc]

Pigeon Forge Birthday Trip 2021 - Day 4

Sorry for the late posting on this but the boards were down during the time I went to post.

Day 4, our final day, started out with breakfast outside again. This time sausage with Apple Fritters we picked up from the Apple Barn. We then headed off to Cades Cove.

Cades Cove was surprisingly very busy. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic, which isn't uncommon when there's animals to see, but only saw one deer and that was at the welcome center. The scenery as always was beautiful and, in some areas, fall colors could still be seen. We did stop at the Welcome Center/Gift Shop and purchased the "National Parks Passport" so we could get it stamped at places we visit.




After that, we continued our loop around and stopped at a fairly large stream at one of the pull-offs. It was one of the few spots that people weren't around. DW had made us homemade chicken salad so we packed some sandwiches and chips and had a little picnic down the stream a bit. We had 2 chairs left in the truck so I took those and we sat out there for a while. This was quite an emotional time as this is something my mom would always have us do when we went and since we literally just passed the 1 yr anniversary of her passing, it was hard. Many memories with her in TN.




After we finished Cades Cove, we drove through Townsend just to see what had changed. Having gone there since I was 10 or so, the area has obviously changed quite a bit. Many new campgrounds along Wears Valley Road and other places as well as cabins all over the place.

When we returned to Pigeon Forge, we stopped at a new place called "Buzzed Bull Creamery", a nitrogen infused ice cream and milkshake store. They also offer their milkshakes "buzzed" aka with alcohol. They have several standard options or you can choose to build your own. Once you order (that and getting them took a while as they were short staffed) they pour milk and the ingredients in a mixing bowl and place on a mixer. They then turn a nozzle and it shoots nitrogen into the bowl to begin cooling to down to freezing. It's not a short process but the end product was great. I went with a Dreamsicle shake and DW did a Tiger Stripes. Both were very good and the milkshake was very smooth, not thick which is how I like them.





After that we headed back to the campsite and began packing up for the drive home. The drive home was fairly smooth but I am definitely going to have to break the drive up on the way back. It's too long to try to do in one day with a camper. I ended up stopping at a rest area to take a quick rest since the DW hasn't learned how to drive with the camper yet.

Thanks as always for following along!

 

[Bishoparc]

Gulf State Park April 30-May2, 2021 Day 1

So since we heard @bama_ed was over our way we of course had to sneak over and visit! We lucked up and got a last minute reservation at Gulf State Park for the weekend. We left shortly after DW got off work and made it in around 4:15. I really need to stay here more often because it is super close to us and we love this area.

I didn’t get a picture of our site before we went to dinner but will post one tomorrow.

As Ed mentioned, we had planned to go to DeSotos but they had a 2 hour wait so we ended up at Sunliner Diner which is a great choice. We forgot to get a picture of the candied bacon but I had the fried chicken and eggs and DW had the club.



After dinner we came back to the camper and chatted with Ed and DW for a bit. We are so very thankful for our DISBoards friends. It’s always so exciting to get to visit with people we count as friends, even though it may be a while between visits, we appreciate all of you and so enjoy camping with our DIS friends. Thanks @bama_ed for letting us crash your last night and for the great visit we had!!



We are in site 390. Not on the water but it backs up to the walking trail and is nice and quiet.

Beach tomorrow.

 

[Bishoparc]

Gulf State Park April 30-May2, 2021 Day 2
Well folks sorry for the delay in writing about day 2, unfortunately it took a down turn so that’s why. I ended up scratching my left eye at the beach that afternoon and ended up having to drive back home without the camper because no pharmacies were open anywhere to pickup the eye drops. I ended up having to call on a friend of ours to go with the wife the next day to haul the camper home while I went to the emergency room. Then we got our second COVID shots Tuesday and that knocked us both down for the 2 days after.

So on to what happened before things went downhill. Per @bama_ed’s recommendation we went to the Ugly Diner. Food was good and quite a bit of it for the money.


I had the diner plate that came with ham, bacon, and sausage along with “home fries” and eggs.



DW had the blue plate with bacon.


After that we needed a little insulated cooler so we went to “Gulf Shores Beach Supply”. This was actually a really nice store with a huge selection of items. Ended up getting some slip on sandals that drain sand out too.


After that we headed over to the beach. It was super windy which I’m guessing is where my eye got cut. We ate some homemade chicken salad sandwiches, laid out for a while, and flew a storm trooper kite (which we got several compliments



After that unfortunately the day went bad but we will be back!

 

[PaHunter]

Well hope you are recovering quickly and will be ready for TN.

 

[Bishoparc]

Well hope you are recovering quickly and will be ready for TN.

Yeah I’m finally all back to normal, well as normal as I can be lol

 

[friendofeeyore]

So glad your eye is good now. When we went to the Dismeet @ GS, we really did enjoy the few days we were there. A Hurricane was coming straight to GS, so a lot of us left. It, instead hit the Florida panhandle. We had planned to camp there for a week.

 

[Bishoparc]

So glad your eye is good now

Thank you!

Good news, I was able to snag a waterfront reservation just now for GSP for this weekend so I'm going to get a "do over" lol. Probably will do some ham radio operating while I'm there.

 

[Bishoparc]

Gulf State Park May 14-16, 2021 Day 1

We arrived around 4:30 this afternoon. The check-in line was quite backed up. Since we were here so recently the lady that checked us in recognized our name and welcomed us back. It’s nice living close and being able to find last minute reservations.

We are on site 247 off Gator Road and on the water. Right by a WiFi access point but it’s still a little iffy. I do love GSP though. It’s such a great campground. Weather is great. Sitting at 61 degrees right now




We tried to eat at Desotos again right after we got setup but it was an hour wait so we went back over to Sunliner Diner and got right in. That’s worked for us twice.

I got the meatloaf. Portion size was small but it had good flavor and was actually pretty filling.


DW went with her usual club sandwich.


For desert we split a bushwacker milkshake with 2 straws. My DW said it made her feel like we were in the perfect 1950’s date.


After dinner we came back and setup my ham radio antenna and radio and I spent the evening on the air making contacts around the US. They have this program called “Parks On The Air” and GSP is on the list. Made about 25 contacts in about 30 minutes. Will get some better pics tomorrow.




Turning in for the night. Thanks for following along!

 

[bama_ed]

Beautiful campsite, Arc.

Hope this trip is fun and restful for you both.

Ed

 

[Teamubr]

Great site for a last minute pickup. Enjoy. Things are a little cooler up here. 50s and raining, but the birds are singing and the coffe cup is full.

j

 

[friendofeeyore]

Arnold & myself ate @ Sunliner a few times when we were at the Dismeet a few yrs. back. The food is very good.

 

[Bishoparc]

Gulf State Park May 14-16, 2021 Day 2

Saturday was just a relaxing day. Didn’t even leave the campground. The weather was absolutely perfect and needless to say we got sunburnt just sitting outside. I started off the morning operating ham radio again. We had quite a few people staring at my large flagpole antenna wondering what it was but also had some other ham radio operators from Alabama drop in to say hello which was a nice surprise!



A friend of ours from Pensacola drove over after lunch and spent a little time with us. Mid-afternoon we took a break inside just to get out of the sun for a bit.

After going back outside we saw a bunny.


For dinner we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. I wanted to go somewhere to eat but the weather was just too nice.


That evening I got back on the radio for a bit before turning in. I ended up with 67 contacts. Most of them were in the central and eastern US but did have a couple all the way up to Canada.


We got a little bit of a late start packing up to leave on Sunday but we were still out by 11. It was incredibly windy Sunday morning so I gave it some time to die down a bit before getting on the road.

Absolutely love GSP. It’s so close to be able to do a quick weekend trip and the waterfront sites are great. Thanks for reading along. Sorry this one was a little more boring if a read, the weather was just too nice and we didn’t want to leave.

 

[Bishoparc]

Arnold & myself ate @ Sunliner a few times when we were at the Dismeet a few yrs. back. The food is very good.

Yes it definitely is! We got seated right away and the food came out super quick even though they were short staffed.

 

[Bishoparc]

DISmeet in the Smokies - Pine Mountain | Pigeon Forge TN - June 5-11, 2021



We are super excited to get to see many of our DISboards family in Pigeon Forge this week. I'll use this post as a placeholder for links to my trip report. The main trip report will be in the DISmeet thread but I'll link to my daily posts here.

• Day 1 - Friday June 4, 2021
  • Travel Day to the Cove RV Resort in Gadsden, AL
• Day 2 - Saturday June 5, 2021
  • New tires and exploring Gadsden
  • Arrival in Pigeon Forge
• Day 3 - Sunday June 6, 2021
  • Dollywood & Relaxing
• Day 4 - Monday June 7, 2021 (Main DISmeet Day)
  • Just puttering around
  • DISmeet
• Day 5 - Tuesday June 8, 2021
  • Townsend & Cades Cove
  • S’mores Night
• Day 6 - Wednesday June 9, 2021
  • Dollywood Day
• Day 7 - Thursday June 10, 2021
  • Titanic
• Day 8 - Friday June 11, 2021 (Move to Chattanooga, TN)
  • Arriving Harrison Bay
  • Tennessee Valley Railroad
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
    • Part 3
• Day 9 - Saturday June 12, 2021 (Move to Birmingham, AL)
  • Birmingham South RV Park
• Day 10 - Sunday June 13, 2021 (The final trip home)
  • Going home, aka another blown tire

I will add that I would not recommend Pine Mountain RV Park. The site was nice and it was quiet but the staff we dealt with were extremely rude, the WiFi was unusable, it’s dark as can be at night (most of their street lights don’t work), and they only have 2 washers/dryers (no change machine, won’t give you cash back, doesn’t take credit cards).