Pigeon Forge, TN... Official Turn West

 

SMILE BREAK:

A veterinarian threw a party and invited some of his friends. One of his friends was an exotic pet store owner who came as a turtle, carrying a woman on his back. The veterinarian asked him who the woman was, and he replied... this is Michelle.

If you're having to think about it, you missed the punch line.

Heading to Tennessee was the official turn for the west and home base.

Look familiar, we passed through this tunnel once before, its the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel. We had to back track quite a distance to get to the highway that took us to Tennessee.

This was a familiar sign since we saw it several years ago when we wintered in Tennessee, not far from where we were headed this time.

Believe it or not, Pigeon Forge is a tourist town to rival others. The street from the highway was pretty congested with other visitors and locals. Our campground was in town off the main thoroughfare, and down by the river.

The other side of the river was a walking/biking trail, well used, but not by us.

JUST WATCHIN' THE WATER

What would you suspect comes with water...

These guys were no strangers to humans, I was probably within 18 inches of them. The other reason I know they were not strangers to humans... they like hand-outs.

The first time I fed them they were on the grass, a little later they were standing at the door for more... which I provided, then told them no more, and closed the door.

Here were our other visitors.

I guess the operators of the park are not big fans of the geese, they don't want visitors feeding the geese, but it is ok to feed the ducks.

We thought about doing some sightseeing but the traffic is crazy L.A. rush hour style, filled with jeeps. I unluckily made reservations for the weekend of a jeep rally in here. The closet excitement we had was a drive to Sam's Club in Knoxville, and a run to the Ford dealership for routine maintenance.

With the lack of sightseeing God entertained us with nature at the river. We saw a Majestic Blue Herron, and a Great Egret.

MAJESTIC BLUE HERRON

GREAT EGRET

Did you here about the kidnapping at a school... it was ok, he woke up.

This was a morning view of the river:

SAME GROUP, TWO PHOTOS

With the Jeep rally goin' on, we decided to stay close to home, so our splurge was at a 50's diner walking distance away... no, we did not walk up, we drove.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Palmer)

Two-thirds of the place was diner, the other third was a gift shop. Carol and I are firm believers in dessert first, to ensure we don't miss out.

The desserts this trip were 50's style milkshakes.

Carol's was a Reese's peanut butter cup and vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Mine on the other hand:

A chocolate milkshake spun with hot fudge and a chocolate brownie, drizzled hot fudge inside, and topped with whipped cream, Hersey chocolate bar, and a cherry. Then there was a brownie, drizzled hot fudge, whipped cream, and more Hersey chocolate bar. You may have noticed a waffle at the top of the glass, it held the straw. It isn't necessary to eat the waffle.

The main part of the meal was burgers and fries, so lets talk the diner.

Because of this Jeep rally we were presented with these two rubber ducks by our waiter.

In front of the diner were two vintage cars, one dressed to honor the Jeep rally this weekend.

After dinner I took a part of my milkshake for a walk, and finished it at home. Carol drove home.

This was it for Pigeon Forge, we were now going to head to a heat wave in Alabama, where the humidity won't matter, because it will still be HOT.

******

A woman woke up and found her husband was not in bed, so she walked downstairs to find him at the kitchen table with a drink, sobbing. She asked him what was wrong. He asked, do you remember when we met 20 years ago, she replied yes, pleasantly surprised he remembered.

When you were 15 do you remember us in the back seat of my car, she said yes smiling and tearing up, and sat down beside him.

Then he asked if she remembered the time her father stuck a shotgun in his face, and told me I could either marry you, or go to prison for 20 years, she said yes… well, today I would be getting out of prison.

Get off the floor.

See you in Alabama.