Tiggerdad is heading to the Smokies! Y'all come

[tiggerdad]

Well, as I type this I'm on my last shift in the ED. After tonight I'm officially retiring from emergency medicine and moving on to neurology. So, as a transition break I'm taking the family camping in Smoky Mountain area. We'll be staying at Riversedge RV park in Pigeon Forge. Gotten everything cleaned up and packed in.

Figure since I can't make it to Disney any time soon I'll do a little report on another camping trip instead. We'll head out Saturday morning and I'll do my best to keep you guys some pics on the board.

More to come...

 

[sweet maxine]

Will be waiting to hear more! Drive safely!

 

[FtW Mike]

Have a safe and great trip Looking forward to your impressions of that CG as we are considering it for our return next year from GSP

 

[Teamubr]

Have fun. Post pics of the fire damage. I'm interested to see how the recovery is going.

j

 

[peg110]

We are planning on Pigeon Forge in October (I believe it's in October). A Friend in Memphis is having a surprise birthday party, so his Wife called to see I could make it. So my DW said, we could stop at Dollywood and Pigeon Forge on the way back and make another vacation out of the trip.

 

[snowmedic]

Have a safe trip, and enjoy your time in the Smokies.

 

[2goofycampers]

Have fun, bring your fans and keep hydrated. It's hot in them thar hills.

 

[tiggerdad]

Packed up and ready to go. It's about a 7 hour drive for us and check-in is 12 noon so I'm shooting to leave out around 5am.

Given how things usually go we'll be out the driveway somewhere around 8am.

 

[bama_ed]

It sounds like fun, Michael. Going by the name of your campground, I hope you can find a river to tube on and cool off.

I guess that means we won't see as many DIS posts from you around midnight any more. I think that's a good thing. You'll enjoy more regular types of hours as your kids grow up.

Bama Ed
PS - plus it will be a nice transitional job before you take that future position in Orange Beach!

 

[FtW Mike]

Packed up and ready to go. It's about a 7 hour drive for us and check-in is 12 noon so I'm shooting to leave out around 5am.

Given how things usually go we'll be out the driveway somewhere around 8am.

Michael here's Hoping You get off closer to hope for departure time but it rarely works for us. Three years ago up at 3am for 5am departure at 4:30 went to start the coach and batteries are DOA. Temp had dropped to below 0 that night Hook up charger not strong enough call for roadside assist at 8am they are so backlogged he gets here at 10:30 on the road at 11 Two years ago 8am is departure time coach started at 7:15 Neighbors dog is now out exploring the area looking for friends to play with. At 8 get him home now time to load our furballs . Chubbs is a easy find and out she goes now time for Chester our special needs Orange Tabby. Check all his normal spots Check all the rooms we closed off (Upstairs bedrooms both bathrooms) No Chester Recheck Pantry (Tear it apart) Laundry room (Pull out washer and dryer) Check under and behind everything in dining room no luck. Back Upstairs Tear apart both bedrooms including closets hit upstairs bathroom again including vanity and linen closet. No luck. Time now 9:45 Lucille sat in her Lazy Boy and feels something is wrong I look Under the chair and extend footrest and there he is Up in the springs ( when we got home his trophy for the Hide and Go Seek Championship was awaiting for him) On the road at 10:45
Hope you don't have my sort of luck

 

[tiggerdad]

Hoping to the get the kids in bed early to help with that departure time, but Descendants 2 is on television so no chance there.

How is this show even on? I mean in all the Disney movies weren't all the villains deceased? Where did these kids come from? And why can't they act worth a darn? Or sing for that matter?

I gotta get some sleep.

 

[JETS70]

Have a safe and fun trip tiggerdad. Seems like the departure time scenario is more common than I thought. We were at Camp Rivers Landing for the July 4th week. It was surprisingly not crowded in both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and Dollywood had mostly 15 to 20 minute waits each day we went with the exception of Lightning Rod that when running was as low as 30 minutes and as high as 90 minutes. I will say this.........well worth the wait. The DW and I did manage to ride the 11 miles and 318 turns of the Tail of the Dragon and stop at Deals Gap for lunch. As expected, the bikes were out in force and so were both the Tennessee and North Carolina state police.

Not during this trip but on our trip earlier in the year, we drove through the Chalet Village area of Gatlinburg and it was devastated. It truly looked like a war zone. Burnt out concrete foundations and chimneys and many burnt out vehicles still sitting in driveways. What was odd was that you would see a burnt out property and 30 yards from it, another property that looked like it had not been touched and the next property down the road would be gone. On this trip, we did take the Gatlinburg bypass and the burnt underbrush and the burn line on the trees was much less noticeable. After reading about and seeing videos of the fires and seeing some of the aftermath in person, it is amazing how nature recovers from these events.

The roadwork leading into Sevierville is complete and makes the drive in (and leaving) so much easier and less frustrating. Just be ready for that noodle knot of an intersection as you prepare to get back on 40.

Again, travel safe and fun times!!
Steve

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Well, as I type this I'm on my last shift in the ED. After tonight I'm officially retiring from emergency medicine and moving on to neurology. So, as a transition break I'm taking the family camping in Smoky Mountain area. We'll be staying at Riversedge RV park in Pigeon Forge. Gotten everything cleaned up and packed in.

Figure since I can't make it to Disney any time soon I'll do a little report on another camping trip instead. We'll head out Saturday morning and I'll do my best to keep you guys some pics on the board.

More to come...

been to River Edge can be hard to turn into. I would turn off parkway at signal at Smokey Shadows hotel and take that side street to turn into campground rather than try to turn off parkway into office area. have a great time and I am headed there mid August. as much as I like there Fort Wilderness it is not. have a great trip

 

[tiggerdad]

Well, the schedule departure is just about the way I figured but not as bad as I had believed.

Get in.
Sit down.
Shut up.


and hold on!

 

[2goofycampers]

A coworker went to PF over the Fourth. She was told everything is down about 30%. I hate to see the businesses suffer but 30% less traffic on the strip sounds good. Maybe the lines at DW are down also.

 

[tiggerdad]

Stopping off in Rising Fawn Georgia for lunch and a break.


Good thing about leaving early morning and heading East is you get the sunrise.

 

[tiggerdad]

A coworker went to PF over the Fourth. She was told everything is down about 30%. I hate to see the businesses suffer but 30% less traffic on the strip sounds good. Maybe the lines at DW are down also.

My wife and I used to live near there in Maryville and loved the park and local attractions. We decided to come back if for nothing else than to support the economy. I really hate what happened. I'm itching to see just how much was damaged.

 

[robinstrip]

I hope you have a wonderful trip!! We just came home from camping at Pigeon Forge last Saturday. We stayed at River Plantation and went and looked at Pine Mountain RV Park while we were there. I think we are going to try the Pine Mountain place next year since it is more off the road and bigger sites. Have fun and report back how it goes!!

 

[tiggerdad]

Knoxville. Alcoa is really the small town we actually lived in.


Supposedly there is a university here that I'm supposed to know about...

Can't recall it though

 

[FtW Mike]

Knoxville. Alcoa is really the small town we actually lived in.
View attachment 255032

Supposedly there is a university here that I'm supposed to know about...

Can't recall it though

I wouldn't worry too much about the University I am sure the statute of limitations has run it's course by now.