Gatlinburg trip April 2006

Sarah has been wanting to go to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for some time. For my birthday she rented a cabin for a weekend in late April. I would have loved to have ridden the motorcycle but the weather forecast was cold with possible rain so we took my new Jeep Liberty CRD. The Jeep washed and waxed and ready for our trip. The rigged-up side exhaust with no muffler is visible. Early spring is my favorite time of year...you have spring, summer, and fall to look forward to. We stopped at a rest stop near Frankfort, KY, so we could stretch our legs and Sarah could smoke a cancer stick. She fell asleep soon after leaving the rest stop. I was getting hungry so I pulled over in London, KY at the Wendy's. Sarah woke up as I parked. She was tickled that I'd pulled in here...this is a popular destination for her family when they go visit relatives. Ellie Mae and Jethro. We drove over to the Dog Patch Trading Post so Sarah could look at the stuff. The next stop after here will be the cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN. Traveler's tip: The Dogpatch has great restrooms. Here is the cabin. The road up to the cabin is STEEP and windy. I'm glad I didn't ride the bike. You have to back out onto the road and do some off-camber scissoring to get turned around...and hope someone doesn't come down the hill and take you out. Southern view. South deck. West deck. Interior pictures. We unpacked then ran into town and picked up some groceries and supplies. We came back and fixed some supper and lounged around. I got the laptop set up on the south deck and checked email and sent messages to family letting them know we'd arrived safely. There was a cool summer breeze blowing as we sat on the deck and watched the twinkling night lights of Pigeon Forge. It was great. I'm glad Sarah was persistant about getting me down here. She couldn't decide between the inside whirlpool or outside hottub so she did both. I surfed the internet for awhile on the deck, then we turned in. Bland interstate in a car. Day 2.