After nice warm showers in the Earthroamer we left at 9.00am. Being 11 September it was five years since the shocking World Trade Centre terrorist attacks. Flags were at half-mast everywhere and on the radio there were memorial services.
Flags were at half mast in memory of September 11 five years ago
We drove on to Highway 155 and then onto Interstate 40 towards Knoxville.
Highway 40 East to Knoxville and west to Nashville
We came off I40 at the cement works near Crab Orchard because Dick had found an old railway line. We parked beside it and had a cup of tea and toast waiting for a train. Sadly for Dick, none came.
Cement works at Crab Orchard
We got going just after 12 midday. It was 78° – a lovely day. As we headed along I40 the occasional roadside cross reminded us to be careful. What sad story could each cross tell? When Dick drove in the United States in 1966 (40 years ago) there were no crosses anywhere. This is a new phenomena and there seem to be more and more around the world.
The traffic started to build up as we approached Knoxville. Dick asked Pip to take a photo of the gold ball which is called the Sunsphere. It was built as the theme structure for the 1982 World Fair and it became an icon for Knoxville.
The gold ball called the Sunsphere in Knoxville built for the World Fair in 1982
During most of the time since then, the Sunsphere has been empty and locked, costing the city over $40,000 per year in maintenance. In1982 when Dick flew around the world, he landed at Knoxville in his little helicopter at the end of the first day of the flight as an honoured guest of the Australian pavilion.
We turned off the highway to head towards the Smoky Mountains and came into the town of Sevierville. We’d never seen anything like it. It was like a tacky Surfers Paradise of the 1950s – sort of a cross between Las Vegas and Luna Park of 40 years ago.
We stopped at a Cracker Barrel fast food outlet – this was the main sponsor for the concerts at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, so advertising certainly works for them. Dick insisted on having a typical American breakfast (not really for all Americans) of pancakes with cream. Have a look at the photograph and see if you believe Dick will take weight off during this trip! Half way through the town Dick found a helicopter museum and had a look.
Dick eating his “American” breakfast in the Cracker Barrel restaurant
At 3.15pm we headed towards the Smoky Mountains with lots of traffic into Pigeon Forge.
A big cross in Pigeon Forge and another flag at half mastHuge advertisements for entertainment in Pigeon Forge
There were motels, shops and amusement parks jammed together on either side of the road. It looks as if people come to the Great Smoky Mountains but stay down below on the plains in the amusement parks. We couldn’t get over the number of people that were there, because later on when we got into the Smoky Mountains there were hardly any.
Wonderworks – the upside down building in Pigeon ForgeFun park in Pigeon ForgeAnother fun park on the highwayA tacky gift shop in Pigeon ForgeA vintage car show with some of the owners sitting beside the highwayHelicopter museum
We stopped at the National Parks Visitor Centre as we headed towards Gatlinburg and then it started to rain quite heavily.
Raining as we drove through Gatlinburg
We didn’t stop in Gatlinburg but drove slowly in the rain through the narrow streets past more tourist shops but they didn’t seem as tacky as the ones in Pigeon Forge. This area reminded us of the Jenolan Caves – a nice little town right at the foot of the Smoky Mountains. Obviously people use it as a base for cycling and walking.
We drove up to the Morton Lookout and onto Newfound Gap at the State border in the Appalachian Mountains and walked along the Appalachian Trail for a short distance. It was still raining and the view had disappeared.
Smoky Mountains from Morton LookoutWe parked at the State Line between North Carolina and TennesseeDick looking exhausted after walking along part of the Appalachian Trail
Some friends have done the whole walk, apparently it takes weeks and weeks.
There was a big stone monument opened by Roosevelt with a plaque telling us that John Rockefeller Jnr had put in $5 million (of the total $12 million required) to help purchase the land. The Smoky Mountains were privately owned by the early colonists and astute people in Government plus private enterprise had purchased the land and formed this magnificent National Park.
Roosevelt Monument at Newfound GapPlaque on the Roosevelt MonumentThe smoking Smoky Mountains
I suppose the best way to describe it for Sydney based people is to say that it looked as if you were driving through Mount Wilson. The soil is obviously very rich. The trees are mostly deciduous and they were just starting to change colour. Everything is spotless – there is not even a slight amount of rubbish around and it looks as if someone has come along with an edge trimmer and trimmed the grass to the edge of the road.
We continued on and stopped at the Kephart Prong Trail on the Oconaluftee River. It wasn’t raining here, just a little misty so we walked along the bank of the river – what a beautiful place.
Dick walking on the Kephart Prong TrailPip on the Oconaluftee RiverOconaluftee River at Cherokee
We then drove into Cherokee which has a sad history. The Cherokee native people were moved from there to Oklahoma in sort of an equivalent way that we had our ‘stolen generation.’ Fortunately some Cherokees remained hidden in the Smoky Mountains and still live here today. At least the town of Cherokee (on the eastern side of the mountains – now in North Carolina) was not as commercial as Pigeon Forge and Sevierville on the other side. There were kids practicing football on the town’s playing field as we drove past.
The highway heading to Cherokee
We drove up a narrow valley and stopped at the Koa Campgrounds at $32.18 for the night. It was probably the biggest campground we had ever seen – something like 1,000 spaces. We could imagine that in the middle of summer every track in the Smoky Mountains would be full of people. As we cooked our dinner people came over to the Earthroamer (as they often did when we stopped) and we handed out brochures about the vehicle.
