On "The Quiet Side of the Mountain" in Tennessee

It's been a little longer than usual between posts, so I'll at least get caught up on my report on our locations, with news of our adventures to follow.  At my last posting we were still in Pine Mountain, GA, where we stayed for two weeks. Then we travelled north, with a quick uneventful overnight stop in Adairsville, GA.  Now we are at the Cove Mountain Resorts RV Park, near Townsend, TN for the month of May.

We are indeed on the quiet side of the mountain, which is what drew me to this RV park in Wears Valley, outside of the craziness that is Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN.  (Think the Hatfields and McCoys meets Las Vegas, but without the gambling.)  Maybe I'll say more about that world later . . . but then again maybe I won't.   

This is a private RV park that is more like a state or national park in several ways. It has a relatively small number of sites spread out over a very large piece of property, and no bath house, laundry, club house or other amenities you would expect from a private park. It does have full, 50 amp hook ups throughout and, unlike many places in this area, they also have a reasonable monthly rate with no additional charges for utilities.  It also is close to the Great Smoky Mountains, with access to the National Park via back roads rather than through the above mentioned hectic, traffic jammed towns. So that's why we're here.

Our first day we took a short drive through the National Park, along Rt. 73, or what I think is also called Little River Road. I think the river above is the Little River, and I think the falls below are Meigs Falls. We're still getting oriented. 

Here's what the road looks like on our GPS. It's pretty typical of the roads around here. Couldn't be more different from Florida.  It is very hilly, heavily wooded and so green, as they are getting plenty of rain this spring.

It's been raining the last few days, and we've been in the RV doing indoor sorts of things, as well as doing laundry and having a nice lunch at the Firefly Cafe in Townsend.  There are some nice views and photos to be had right around the RV park too. (The barn at the top of the page is right next to the RV park, and very tempting to revisit at various times of the day. You may seen it again.)

Ever wonder why they're called the Smoky Mountains? 

Sunrise over a neighboring yard, before the rain started up:

The next few posts will be about our adventures in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and a little side trip I took to Kentucky.