Day 1: Beautiful views of the parkway and the Smokies:

Hike to beautiful falls:

Day 2:

Rain and clouds predicted for the next three days. We decided that it made no sense to stay on the parkway since there would be no views and no hikes we had planned. Heading to Cape Hatteras.

Paid $19/night for this beautiful campsite with hookups and creek behind us. Pets included:

This all started with Dollywood:

It’s the thing to do in Pigeon Forge. And this week was a special event called Barbeque and Bluegrass. That meant even more entertainment than usual so we had to go.

A couple approached us when we were getting in line to buy tickets and said they had two free passes they were looking to give to someone and they picked us! What a blessing! That saved us over $100. The first show we went to was a gospel quartet. It was a great way to start the day. The rest of the music was bluegrass. I liked the music. Of course, John loved it! All in all, it’s a great theme park, especially if you love music and roller coasters. So glad we went.

At Disneyland you see mostly strollers. This is what you see at Dollywood (although they said there was 80 buses of students there):

No words needed:

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills:

Beautiful drive through the Kentucky countryside:

Beautiful campsite. $10 per night with national parks senior pass:

Mammoth Caves (largest cave system in the world). Sure wish everyone would use deodorant before going. Just saying.