May 25 -Our Last Day IN Cherokee

Our new window decal

Today was a work day, well at least part of the day. After breakfast we put the new southwest decal we bought in Bellview on our back window. Then I got on the roof and put the new gutter spout on and finally got off some adhesive residue off the top. I cleaned off the bugs from the front as far down as I could reach. Bill started putting our rope lights and stuff away to leave tomorrow. Then we each vacuumed half of the RV and started putting things away. After lunch I showered and went to McDonald’s to use the WiFi. I ended up being there for about 2.5 hours. I had to catch up on emails and had to work on a reservation for the apartment. I managed to get 4 days of this trip blogged but nothing further on the Europe trip.

Out in the middle of the river

Bill has showered and was ready to go to the Harrah's Casino for a while. He dropped me off and went to fuel the truck for tomorrow. I started on some different Wheel of Fortune machines and was up about $23 but then switched to another one and lost all my money. Then Bill was there and I was heading to meet him and put money in a nickel machine and won $20 on my first spin, but put most of it back in. Then Bill gave me money for the real Wheel of Fortune machine and I didn’t so a bit of good there, so we headed for home to eat leftovers for dinner.

The RV's Along the river

It was good to get some stuff out of the fridge. I warmed up the pork chops Bill grilled a couple of nights ago, leftover brown rice and I had the bean salad and Bill had a sliced tomato. We finished off the cornbread too. We ate on the picnic table, then started cleaning up the table for tomorrow. I took my water shoes and we went down to the river and I waded out on some rocks for Bill to take my picture. That water was cold! When we got back to the RV and I put my regular shoes back on, I saw that my water shoes cracked all up and had to be pitched. I’d only worn them twice. Probably made in China.

We took Xena for her last long walk until tomorrow night. Watching some NCIS reruns, early day tomorrow.

May 24 - Another Great Day in Cherokee

Bill and Xena along
the river

We had a really nice day today. Woke to beautiful weather once again. After breakfast we wrote postcards and walked Xena before leaving at 11:30 to go to Franklin to meet Barry and Sandy for lunch. On the way we stopped at McDonald’s to check on Bill cap but no luck. He was bummed. At least he brought several but he really liked that Ocoee one.

Part of the campground

We got to Wal-mart, the designated meeting spot about 15 minutes early so we checked messages and email. You have to take advantage of a signal when you get one, that is for sure. Sandy and Barry arrived just a couple of minutes after 1 and after chatting a bit we followed them to Monte Alban, a good Mexican restaurant. The meal was excellent. They had a nice lunch menu and we were all stuffed and we knew we would not be hungry for dinner tonight. We sat and just visited and caught up until about 3:30. Then we parted ways and made a couple of stops. We went by the Dodge dealer to ask a question, then to Carquest for some kind of special cleaner but they were out of it. Back to Wal-mart but this was not a super store, so found my travel pillow that will now take permanent residence in the RV and in the same plaza was an Ingles grocery. We had only a short list but this will do us now til we get to Savannah. The big thing is water. They don’t have refill machines here so had to buy 2 more gallons. I need to get my filtration system installed in here. I hope that will get done once we arrive in Savannah and get settled in.

We stopped by the theatre and got our tickets to see “Pirates” at 7 so didn’t have much time at home. Walked and fed the pets. Stopped at the office to check for our package, but no luck. We sat outside and discussed what to do if it didn’t arrive tomorrow and the lady brought it over. The owner goes into town to get the mail at her leisure and finally brought it. Bill was literally a HAPPY CAMPER.

Neither of us was hungry so I made us each a ½ sandwich to take to the movie with a snack bar. At about 7:30 Bill got us a drink and we had our “dinner” while we watched the movie. It was as good as the other “Pirates”. The 3D was good but I am not really comfortable with those glasses on. We waited through the longest credits ever to see the extra ending and it was good! No hints here….

Didn’t get back til 9:45 and Xena did a howl to let us know she heard us pull in. I made a strawberry shortcake for Bill but I went with a bowl of watermelon. My favorite!

May 23 - Great Smoky Mountains National Park & Blue Ridge Parkway



We didn’t manage to get up as early as we had planned but after a fairly quick breakfast we headed into town to fuel up and then on our way to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We only went a short way on both. We went to the park first and went to the first visitor center, Oconaluftee. It was a nice new center that’s only been open for 8 weeks. The exhibit was excellent, telling about why and how the park came to be and of the purchasing and moving of all the residents in the area. Behind the visitor center is the Mountain Farm Museum, which is a collection of period farm buildings that would have been there when the park was founded and moved there to one central location from all over. We were disappointed there were no costumed interpreters or animals but they did have an excellent garden. In the visitor center an employee questioned Ocoee on Bill’s cap and most think it refers to Ocoee River in TN, but Bill said it’s outside of Orlando and the guy said he knew where it was, he used to live there. Apparently he used to work for Sysco and lived in The Hammocks for 6 years. He retired and has been in Maggie Valley for 5 years I think. Small world.



The water was COLD

Mingus Mill

Right up the road was the Mingus Mill. We both like old mills so stopped there and it’s just off the road and a short path to it. The mill is powered by a very long water sluice that empties into a turbine that runs the millstones. It’s currently having a huge pipe that was original (125 years) replaced but come June they will be demonstrating again how it milled corn and wheat. I bought a small bag of the cornmeal and made cornbread using the recipe on it and boy, was it good. Should have bought more.

View along the parkway

There we turned around and headed back to the Beginning, or maybe the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is just inside the border of the park. We drove it to the exit for Maggie Valley and then took Rt 19 back into Cherokee. Stopped at an overlook and ate our picnic lunch. Some of the overlooks are pretty nice but some need some tree trimming to really get to see the view. We went through 4 short tunnels, 2 of which the RV would not have made it, so we know not to plan to take it on the Parkway.

It was nice to have an hour or so to sit by the river and read. The sound of the river is so relaxing and the weather has been perfect. Warm enough in the day and cooling off at night. We finally used the little Flame Disk grilling thing I bought someplace on closeout. It cooks for 40 minutes and is about 12-14 inches in diameter. We put it on a flat rock under the ground grill at the site and Bill cooked pork chops for tomorrow night and a burger for him and a salmon burger for me for tonight. We had corn on the cob and I had some 3 bean salad and we both had cornbread with the pumpkin butter we got today at the visitor’s center. Yum!  We ate outside on our picnic table and felt like real campers.

After walking Xena we made our trek to McDonald’s to try and post blogs, make phone calls and do email. Dell was really not doing well tonight and Bill used Toby. I didn’t get the blogs posted as I need to get the photos I want to used uploaded first and that was a problem. Maybe tomorrow. When we got back to the RV Bill realized he left his cap in the booth, but with no cell reception we couldn’t call to check on it. Will have to stop by tomorrow when we’re out. Also did not get our package from Kerry with Bill’s wallet and the pet meds. This is not good, only two more days to get it before we leave.

For a late dessert we had some strawberry shortcake, another yum! Watched some TV, read and now journaling.

May 22 - To Fish or Not To Fish

Morning Fishing

It wasn’t quite as cold last night and I slept much better. So much better that I slept til 9:30. Bill is good to let me sleep but we were to get up and go fishing today. I made his soft boiled egg breakfast and we walked Xena then left for fishing. We stopped at the camp store, which is up on the main road in and got our fishing licenses, bait and a net. Then we headed on up the road to the trout ponds maintained by the Cherokee. We got a little late start and it got really hot fast. We fished for about 2 hours and didn’t have a bite. So sad! We came back and relaxed and read a while before lunch. Then after lunch I drove back up to the fish pond because we did get a cell signal there, so I wanted to call the Llama Trek company and see if we could go tomorrow. Of course, this time there was no signal. I guess it has to do with the change in the air since it got hot out. I was going to drive into town but on the way my phone beeped that I had email so I pulled off the road in front of the high school and made my phone call. The trek is 4 hours, no lunch provided, $70 each and it would take at least 90 minutes each way to get there. I knew Bill wouldn’t want to drive that far and I wasn’t too keen on it either. When I got back we discussed and it and agreed it was a lot of money to bring our lunch and lead a llama around for 4 hours, so I would call back later.

Afternoon Fishing

We wanted to try fishing again once it cooled off so maybe they would be biting. After walking Xena we went back about 5 and fished for another hour. Again, not even one little bite. We did have a guy give us 3 small trout. On the way back we drove to the school and I called to cancel the llama trek. They didn’t answer and I had told her I’d call if we decided not to go. Oh well, I tried.

Bill wasn’t interested in having the trout for dinner since I’d taken chicken out so after I cleaned them I put them in the freezer. Then it was time to get dinner going. Parmesan chicken, whole wheat rotini with red sauce and butternut squash. It was cooler outside than in so we sat out and read for a while to cool off before taking Xena on her last walk of the day. I put a load of wash in and showered while Bill did his dishes. Then it’s TV, a Jesse Stone movie.

May 21 - A Day Out In Cherokee

What a fun day! We were up a little earlier and had ham/cheese toast with cantaloupe for breakfast. Got our showers and took Xena for a long walk and spent time visiting with fellow campers. These are all really friendly people and they are all interested in my grape tomato plant. They can’t believe how big it is and how many tomatoes it has. I’ve discussed gardening with a couple people. The women all talk about that I drive the RV. They say I’m a better woman than they are and that if it were up to them to drive they wouldn’t go anywhere. Bill says I’m the talk of the park.

Carved long statue in front
of Cherokee Museum

After lunch we went into town to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Following a short intro movie, you follow the trail of the Cherokee from their belief of inception to the Trail of Tears when they were moved to the west. The Cherokee that hid in the mountains and refused to leave became the Eastern Band of Cherokee, while those who were moved west are the Western Band. They say there are no records of who is related to whom from each band. We spend some time in the gift and made some phone calls from the car since we haven’t had service since we were in town yesterday.

Bill with Legend Bear

Next we went on our search of the painted bears. There were originally 20 but the lady at the Visitor Center told us there were only 18 still out as a bus hit one and it’s be repaired, and the one in front of their building had been stored while some work was being done. We got a map of where they all were. We managed 6 within walking distance of the car and then we drove to the others. We managed to find all of the locations but found there were two others missing in action. The last one is in the park on an island and we saw it but will go back another day to get the last photo. Each bear is painted differently, some for where they are displayed, such as the one in Veterans Park is a Patriotic Bear and the one at Museum is Sequoyah Bear since he “invented” the Cherokee alphabet. The different artists all had different ideas and no two are even similar.

Sequoyah Bear

It was time to head back to the RV for a while to feed Xena and Molly and take Xena out. After the walk I had a glass of wine and we read til it was time to leave for dinner. Bill had talked to the campground host and she recommended 2 places in Cherokee. One was a buffet, so that was out. The other was Paul’s. Most of the menu was fried, which I love, but I had the beef tips and Bill had a steak. It was really pretty good but we should not have ordered the fried pickles. They were good but too much grease.

After dinner we stopped at McDonald’s so I could do some email and load the blogs I did last night. Bill did his email as I had both laptops going and Dell stopped on me 5-6 times.

On the way home we saw what Bill said was a white tail deer that was huge. I saw it last night in the dark and its head was so big I thought it was a cow that got loose from someplace. It was in the exact same spot and had some kind of collar on so we guess it was owned by someone. I will try to get a picture next time. It was getting dark out and there was a car behind us tonight.

Xena was howling when she heard the truck pull up and ready for another walk. They had their treats and we watched a bit of TV while I did my blogs.

May 20 - Checking Out Cherokee

Our River

Bill let me oversleep, but I must have needed it. So it ended up we had a late breakfast of fruit, turkey bacon and fat free blueberry muffins. Once we showered and walked Xena, we headed into Cherokee to scope things out. We stopped at the Visitor Center and for a few minutes there we had cell service and picked up some brochures on the area and Bill got to ask some questions about the Cherokee Indians. We drove the town and spotted a number of the painted bears on display. There are 18 on display and we hope to get photos of them all.

Bridge across our river
at the campground entry

We drove to Sylva to go to the grocery store but stopped at a flea market on the way. Not many stalls open but we managed to make a few purchases. In Sylva we located the Wal-mart, then went to Wendy’s for lunch and back to Wal-mart. It was a super one but not as big as ours and didn’t have a much variety in the grocery part. So we drove further down the road to try Ingles, where we did get a couple more things. Stopped at what was advertised as a bulk food store, but it was sad there was so little, so didn’t buy a thing. Then stopped at a produce stand on the way back for a few things. When we stopped the first night Bill commented that the fridge was empty, but I cured that today.

I made orange chicken for dinner with brown rice. Bill wanted one of my home grown tomatoes with his dinner and I had leftover broccoli. Dessert was watermelon and 4 gingersnaps. I left Bill to walk Xena and do up the dishes while I drove into Cherokee to the McDonald’s to use the wifi. I took both laptops as Dell again kept shutting down and Toshiba has a short battery life, but I did manage to upload some photos and do my emails and set up the blog for Kam to tweak due to my lack of time and computer problems.

Made a quick stop at the Food Lion for a few more items and was trying to get back to the RV before dark as I don’t like driving at night by myself on those dark curvy roads. I got back just after 9 and it was dark, but no problems. Put my stuff away, made a cappuccino and typed up my journal.