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May 7 Great Smoky Mountains and into Tennessee

Diana Lobel5 Comments

I had mentioned that Von, our driver stays in a hotel each night. Due to the difficulty finding Uber in some of these smaller locations, he stayed in a Yurt last night. It was really fun hearing him on the phone with the campground, he had no idea was a yurt was and Perry and I were delighted when we had arrived and he saw his accommodations. For those who are not familiar, a yurt is a tentlike dwelling, used by indigenous people in Mongolia. Here is a photo from inside Von’s Yurt at Mountain Stream Campground:

Mountain Stream RV Campground, Marion, NC. Yurt

We packed up from our campsite in the morning, and headed into the local hills to visit an apple orchard. The orchard sat below our road and the driveway was too steep to accommodate the r.v. so Von dropped us at the end and we walked in. The temperature was brisk, around 47 degrees and raining. When we arrived they told us they were closed for the day for a private memorial service. So we walked back and were grateful to get back in the warm r.v. Time to pack up our shorts and sandals!

Our next stop of the day was in Asheville, NC at a restaurant we visited in 2012 called Tupelo Honey Cafe. When we were there last it had one location, in downtown Asheville. Now they have expanded and now have 18 locations across the US. It offers excellent Southern Fare, and we ordered far too much food. I will spare you all the pics, but here are our biscuits:

After lunch, with bellies full, we got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and traveled through the Smoky Mountains, known as one of the most picturesque drives in the US. I will let the photos do the talking. Here are some shots from today:

When we saw this turkey I instructed Perry to approach it low to the ground with his arms outstretched, like a male doing a mating display. Seemingly unimpressed, it went back into the brush.
The terrain looks like this for miles and miles, the trees a tapestry of colors. Unfortunately many of them are dead from stresses like acid rain from distant pollution, and insects.
Perry loves taking photos of moving water, here he captured some nice wildflowers in the foreground.
As we drove through the park we saw cars pulled over and stopped to see what they had spotted. There were three elk, this one was on the opposite side of the road from the others.
Perry and an old tree.
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5 thoughts on “May 7 Great Smoky Mountains and into Tennessee”

  1. What a fantastic trip! I’m so pleased that it’s going well and that you’re sharing your experience with us.

  3. You told Perry to get low and act like a turkey outstretched during a mating display?!?!?! 😂😂😂😂 how could the turkey not be impressed???

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