Great Smoky Mountains Trip - Getting There

Departure morning

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It was a dark and stormy night... nope, that's been done.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of.... nope, can't use that either.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking.... Dang! All the good openings are already taken! Guess I'd best just get on with it....

March had been unusually warm and sunny. By the time we'd prepped the Scamp and hauled it to Duluth for the start of our trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park things had changed. The night before our departure from Duluth we received a couple inches of snow followed by freezing rain. Come morning, all the locks on the Scamp were frozen solid. I had to break ice away from the tongue locks and beat (lightly) on the door lock to open the Scamp and hook up to the Odyssey. As you can see from the picture, the trees were still in "winter mode".

Illinois River

Our first day was a long driving day. We stopped for the night at Starved Rock State Park near the intersection of I-35 and I-80 in northern Illinois. I hadn't realized the Illinois River was the size it is.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Another driving day. This time we got as far as the campground at Kentucky Dam State Resort Park near Paducah, KY. On the way, we stopped in Paducah to visit the National Quilt Museum, which was amazing. The quilts they have on display are truly works of art.

In one room, off to the side, there was a surprise - a quilt hanging on the wall - a quilt carved from wood! We weren't allowed to touch it. We had to get our noses right up to it to see that it wasn't fabric but really was wood. Even if you do no quilting, if you appreciate art, a stop at the National Quilt Museum is worth your while.

"Old Downtown" Paducah

The Quilt Museum is located next to "old downtown" Paducah. Fine old buildings with lots of galleries, restaurants, and boutiques. Although, it seems they roll the place up at 5pm on Wednesday evenings. We did find a bakery that allowed us to purchase red-velvet cupcakes (50% off) just before they locked up for the day.

The Paducah floodwall

Downtown Paducah is protected from the Ohio River by a tall concrete floodwall. The floodwall is a canvas hosting dozens of murals depicting the history of the region. On the other side of the floodwall, the Ohio River is fronted by a wide park-like embankment with walking paths, shade trees, and benches. We passed many gorgeous beds of flowers as we walked along, including some unique and vibrant snapdragon displays. Unfortunately, I took no pictures of flowers.


Thursday, April 19, 2012
At the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-24, we stopped to ask about the best route around Nashville and possible scenic routes on the way to our destination - Townsend, TN. The nice woman suggested a good way to get past Nashville (just stay on the Interstate!) and that Highway 70 might be more scenic than the Interstate.

Getting past Nashville was a breeze. Highway 70, on a Thursday, seems to become one continuous yard sale! It is a narrow, twisty, two-lane road with a yard sale in progress at (what seems like) every house. There is not much for shoulders, so drivers on both sides made a gesture at getting one tire off the pavement. Some, however, were satisfied with just getting close to the edge of the pavement. Not quite the restful, scenic, not-Interstate ride we were hoping for.

We abandoned Highway 70 at Crossville in favor of I-40 (no yard sales!). I-40, it turns out, is a very scenic drive. Due to exquisite timing, we attempted the transit of Knoxville at rush-hour. It probably wouldn't have been too bad had there not been some incident that tied up the Interstate for miles in both directions. We never knew what the problem was.

Our rig in site C-9

At last, we arrived at Townsend, TN, and the Tremont Outdoor Resort - the site for a gathering of fiberglass trailers. We set up on site C-9, which is in their "tent site" section. Their tent sites all have electricity and water. Their "RV" sites have electricity, water, sewer, and cable TV. The premium sites, where most of the trailers were, were in loops A and B, and especially, those sites that fronted the river. As it turned out, there were several Scamps and even a brand new Park Liner that joined us in C loop.

View of a portion of A Loop

One estimate that I've heard is that there were more than 71 fiberglass trailers at this gathering. It was organized by the Egg Camping Club of TN, GA, and AL.