Smokies Spring 2018 Trip Part 1

Smokies Spring 2018 Trip Part 1 starts at 6am Sunday morning when I headed out. This trip was to celebrate Tim’s 50th Birthday. Tim’s friend Joe joined us.  We scheduled to meet at Sugarland’s Visitor Center.  This was my 4th trip to the Smokies, Tim’s 2nd and Joe’s 1st.  Matter of fact, this was also my 4th trip in a year and a half.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park is my second favorite National Park but my favorite that is within driving distance. Yosemite National Park will always be my favorite national park but given its on the West Coast, its a little too far to drive.

I arrived at Sugarlands around 11:30 and even though my drive was twice as long since Tim and Joe stayed in Danville, Kentucky on Saturday night, I beat them by about half an hour.  The original plan to stay in Lexington, Kentucky but the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event was going on at Kentucky Horse Park and there wasn’t a hotel room to be found.  

Sugarlands Visitor Center

Not surprising, I went shopping while I waited from them.  I bought a small book about the park (the first of MANY souvenirs) and renewed my subscription to Friends of the Smokies which had expired two days prior. They still hadn’t arrived when I finished shopping and since it was a gorgeous day I waited on the benches outside. They finally arrived.  First stop was Gatlinburg for lunch. We ended eating at the Park Grill. I had a pulled pork sandwich with corn on the cob and fries. I did up buying a bottle of barbecue sauce that we would make use of later in the week.

Leaving Tim’s car in a parking lot so we use one car, we headed Into the Park.  We were originally planning on heading to Cades Cove but traffic was heavy due to road construction in a few places. Joe had somewhat of a crisis which will remain an inside joke but let’s just say that Tim and I ribbed him mercilessly during the rest of the trip.

Next stop was Cabins USA office in Sevierville to check in.  According to Tim’s GPS, which was his phone, head to the office by way of Dollywood which would be a common occurrence throughout the week. My phone GPS took the most direct way.  Ironically, both Tim and I have the iPhone X.  The roads up the mountain to the cabin was BRUTAL especially when you drive a manual transmission AND when you are deathly afraid of heights but I survived.  I took the Master bedroom on the top floor and the guys took the two bedrooms on the lowest floor.

Amazingly enough, I did not take any photos on the first day.