Once we finally made our way into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park after a disastrous drive in, we began to get the feeling of the place. The feeling leading into the park was not good. It was a combination of Disney World and every cheap roadside attraction that we have encountered on the road. Apparently Pigeon Forge Tennessee is a famous summer get away spot. Once in he park, there was lush green forest, beautiful creeks, and rivers and overall a very nice forest landscape. It was pretty but certainly there had to be more. After all this is the most visited National Park in the system. More people come here than Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier National Parks. There had to be a reason. So determined to find out the secrets of this place, we headed to the visitors center. Every National Park has a visitor’s center with a theater and a 20-30 minute film telling you about the park and it’s highlights. We took our seats and waited to discover the wonder. And we waited and waited and waited….The film talked about the preservation of this land in order to protect it from logging interest.
Fish here. Camp here and otherwise enjoy everything that Great Smokey Mountain National Park has to offer. But, I don’t live within a two hour drive. It took me 14 hours of driving to get here and I am let down. Once I am done with this entry, I am going to draft a letter to congress and tell them to take their next recess at Custer State Park in South Dakota. This is a place deserving of National Park status that is still has not received. Perhaps when BP discovers oil under the land the tree huggers will come out and help Custer gain the status that it deserves.
We did have one very funny story while here. On the first night, Hunter was sitting quietly by the camp fire as dusk settled on the park. I was cleaning off Dottie’s windshield when I heard the sweet voices of angles whispering behind me. They spoke the following words. “Excuse me sir, would you like some biscuits and gravy? Our mom made so many that we are giving them out to other families” These two golden haired angles disappeared as quickly as they came, leaving behind a huge plate of fresh biscuits and gravy. With his best Scooby Doo face, Hunter gasped in disbelief. He asked “did those little girls just deliver us biscuits and gravy” I acknowledged that this in fact did just occur. With a flash of sudden motivation, Hunter rose from his chair and quickly made for the plate. He swears that he was dreaming of biscuits and gravy only minutes before our angels appeared. I cannot attest to the truth of that, but what I will say is that his 120 lb frame did some serious damage on the plate in a hurry.