DaveInTN Went To The Smokies And All You Get Is This Stupid Trip Report

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

Nice family trip. Glad you made it home safe! Happy B-day to Gwen.

[photogal06...Sommer 10]

How great that you could walk from your campsite to the trailhead! That place is going on my list for the next time we head to the Smoky Mtns. We've been to that part of TN 3 times, twice staying in Townsend at the little campground just down from the KOA as you head into Cades Cove, and once staying at River Edge in Pigeon Forge just as you head into the mountains. We've biked Cades Cove and done some hiking there, but we haven't visited the Gatlinburg side yet, and we love hiking short to mid-length trails.....to have a couple of options that start at the campground would be ideal!

I'm glad you had a nice fall trip....that's my favorite time to camp, and we only got 2 trips in before our camper went kerflooey this year!

[liv luvs disney 2]

We had a great evening! But before I get to that, check out my view while enjoying an Oktoberfest beer at the campsite this afternoon.

I never get tired of that creek.

After resting a bit at the campground, we headed into Gatlinburg to meet livluvsdisney and her sweet family for dinner. We met them at the same restaurant we joined them at last year.

We had a great visit...I have to tell you I just love that family. I wish we didn't live four hours away.

We have been blessed this weekend with visits with two awesome Fiend families. We used to camp alone. And it occurs to me as I type this that we have not camped once in 2012 without visiting with at least one set of Fiends. That's incredible! I love it!

After dinner, and despite the chilly temps, we walked around GB a bit. After being startled by some crazies driving by in a minivan yelling "Romney!!" at the top of their lungs (i won't name names), we got some ice cream.

And that was that. I'm tired.

Love the Smokey Mountain brewery. Agree with you re. Liv and family.

I am feeling the love and loving the feeling! :heart:

You know, Jim, Dave and I (and our families) ate at SMB last year due to your recommendation and it was good. In fact, it was so good that we decided to eat there again this year. While we were at SMB this year, your name came up along with politics. It was all good. I think I've told you before we don't have cable and you are my political adviser!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Ok! It's been a crazy week at work, but I think it's time to get this trip report rolling again.

You've read the "Live" portions that I posted from my phone during the weekend. Now I plan on going back to the beginning and filling things out with more details. And more pictures.

Mostly more pictures.

So...to backtrack. The kids had a small Fall break from school last weekend. They had Monday and Tuesday off, and had a half day on Friday. So I had the trailer all prepped and ready to go when they got home. Stella was the last to get home around 12:20, and within 20 minutes of her stepping off the bus we were on the road.

We arrived at the Great Smoky Jellystone in Cosby, TN around 6:45pm with the time change to ET along the way. Got settled into our nice streamside sight, enjoyed some Octoberfest beer, had a nice dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, and built a campfire. Might have had a smore or 3. Went to bed. Not many pics on Friday as I was tired.

Saturday morning, we woke up to some COLD temps. My phone told me it was 39 in Cosby at 7am. So we started our coffee drinking inside. Then made our way outside for breakfast. After breakfast, the plan for the morning was to head to a pumpkin patch we were familar with, hit the Walmart, stop off at a festival that was going on and head back to the campsite in the early afternoon.

So that is what we did. And this was pretty much a repeat of one of our days last year.

But lo and behold, on the way to the pumpkin farm, we stumbled upon an Apple Farm!

We HAD to stop.

The fall colors were very nice. This farm sat in a nice spot surrounded by hills.

The farm was comprised of a nice market selling lots of produce and canned goods, a homemade candy shop, and a restaurant. We visited the market first.

Here is the apple sorting/washing/bagging machine.

This was all too familiar for me, as I grew up on a farm and we had a VERY similar setup for processing our produce...mostly peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and such. And the farm across from us was an apple farm and they also had a very similar setup.

We purchased a bag of apples...JonaMacs. They are phenominal! Flavorful and juicy...you forget how good fresh apples are. We also bought and enjoyed a few homemade fried pies they had for sale.

Good stuff!

The morning started out kinda ominous looking...although it was actually a very nice and comforable day. I never did rain.

There's our trusty Mickey Van waiting for us next to some apple trees.

We checked out the candy store as well. They sold homemade Dolly Pops.

I really have nothing to say about those. I wouldn't know where to begin, so will let y'all chime in to your heart's content.

That was it for the apple farm. Next up...the Pumpkin Farm. Home of the infamous Slide of Death!

[anolefan 8]

We purchased a bag of apples...JonaMacs. They are phenominal! Flavorful and juicy...you forget how good fresh apples are. We also bought and enjoyed a few homemade fried pies they had for sale.

Good stuff!

YUMMY! Love those types of places. There is one similar in Townsend (or it was a few years ago at least) and we stuffed our faces with apple pie and cinnamon ice cream.

Can't wait for more.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

You mean you didn't purchase the Dolly pop to give away as a booby prize at a future Fiend Auction?

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Love the Apple Farm! I think Kim needs to show the pictures to the Vidalia Onion shop to show them how it's supposed to be done!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I didn't respond to most of the comments while we were camping...as posting on the phone is a bit of a pain. But I wanted to go back to the point we returned home and reply to a few things.

Glad you and the family made it home safely. Hope Gwen enjoyed her birthday. :jumpforjoy

I wish I got to go camping on my birthday!

Gwen had a GREAT birthday. She is usually lucky that her birthday falls around Fall break. She has been able to enjoy it at Disney in the past, camping a couple times and at our church retreat last year.

Great TR Dave....all caught up!

Love the SOD....the beers....the creek....the youngling, etc.

Do you have a report on the quality of the Ukrainian and Russian beers?

I will work in my comments on the beers later in the report.

Nice family trip. Glad you made it home safe! Happy B-day to Gwen.

Thanks! How was your recent camping trip? Will there be a report?

How great that you could walk from your campsite to the trailhead! That place is going on my list for the next time we head to the Smoky Mtns. We've been to that part of TN 3 times, twice staying in Townsend at the little campground just down from the KOA as you head into Cades Cove, and once staying at River Edge in Pigeon Forge just as you head into the mountains. We've biked Cades Cove and done some hiking there, but we haven't visited the Gatlinburg side yet, and we love hiking short to mid-length trails.....to have a couple of options that start at the campground would be ideal!

I'm glad you had a nice fall trip....that's my favorite time to camp, and we only got 2 trips in before our camper went kerflooey this year!

Yeah, that trail access was great! This was our third time at this campground but first time hiking back to that trail. It sure beats fighting traffic to go enjoy nature.

I am feeling the love and loving the feeling! :heart:

You know, Jim, Dave and I (and our families) ate at SMB last year due to your recommendation and it was good. In fact, it was so good that we decided to eat there again this year. While we were at SMB this year, your name came up along with politics. It was all good. I think I've told you before we don't have cable and you are my political adviser!

If Jim is advising you on anything you need to reassess your gameplan. Although I have to admit, the man pointed us to a great burger.

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

Okay that wasn't your hand in the Dolly pop picture, who was brave enough to hold the goods?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

YUMMY! Love those types of places. There is one similar in Townsend (or it was a few years ago at least) and we stuffed our faces with apple pie and cinnamon ice cream.

Can't wait for more.

Thanks for checking in on my report, Tom! We've camped several times in Townsend but I'm not sure I know which place you are referring to. Where is it?

You mean you didn't purchase the Dolly pop to give away as a booby prize at a future Fiend Auction?

Booby prize. Good one Aaron. And no, we didn't buy one. I didn't think that was the breast idea.

Love the Apple Farm! I think Kim needs to show the pictures to the Vidalia Onion shop to show them how it's supposed to be done!

I know! Although I don't know how many fried onion pies they would sell. Blooming onions, maybe?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Okay that wasn't your hand in the Dolly pop picture, who was brave enough to hold the goods?

That's Gwen's picture. I lifted it from Facebook. :rofl3:

[anolefan 8]

Thanks for checking in on my report, Tom! We've camped several times in Townsend but I'm not sure I know which place you are referring to. Where is it?

Dave I think it was called Apple Valley Kitchen or something similar. It was right off of 321 on the right side heading toward the park. It wasn't a farm though. It's been over 5 years since we have been there so it may no longer be open.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

You made me "bust" up laughing Dave.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave I think it was called Apple Valley Kitchen or something similar. It was right off of 321 on the right side heading toward the park. It wasn't a farm though. It's been over 5 years since we have been there so it may no longer be open.

I think I know the place you are referring to. Now I want to go back for more pie.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Ok, Aaron. I had another witty response typed up but I thought better of it. I guess it's time to knocker it off and move on with this report.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

After leaving the Apple Farm....we went to the Pumpkin Farm. It was a very farmy morning. We returned to the same place we visited last year

to get our pumpkins for Halloween...

When we went last year, they had a few kids' attractions set up....most notably the Slide of Death. But they added a bunch of new ones this year. We'll get to those in a minute. Here is the SOD.

Doesn't look so bad, you say? First off, it is a bit bigger than it looks. That pipe has to be 4 feet in diameter. Secondly, it is FAST. It spits you out the bottom like a greased pig. So much so, that I did not ride it this year as I've been dealing with a sore shoulder for the past month. Good enough excuse for me. But all the kids rode the SOD.

This video is short, but it cracks me up. Especially the "oof" at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svCb4Bmd9m8&feature=youtu.be

How about another "oof" video? I have one more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmkkF-8WU0&feature=youtu.be

On second thought, those are really "oofs". They are more like "Oh's", or "aawwwh's". But not "oofs".

They added several new things to do this year, including several blow up bounce houses, and this.....the Swing of Pain.

Looks benign enough, right? Why do I call it the Swing of Pain? Notice you don't see any males riding it. Uh huh. Pain. Anyways...here's some more pics of the SOP.

Swing of Pain Christmas Card pics, perhaps??

Hmmm, perhaps not. Moving right along, we hit the bouncy thingys.

Is that enough bouncy pictures? No? Well good, cause I have more. And then we will really ratchet up the excitement meter with a trip to Walmart. All in the next update.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Dave, what is the age spread on your beautiful girls? What will be worse for you weddings or college? Looks like you won't

have much time between them I guess you pray for that big lottery win!!!!!!!!!!!! We only have 2 boys 4 years apart and with school it's driving me crazy

Love the family time you guys have hope it lasts along time.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave, what is the age spread on your beautiful girls? What will be worse for you we15ddings or college? Looks like you won't

have much time between them I guess you pray for that big lottery win!!!!!!!!!!!! We only have 2 boys 4 years apart and with school it's driving me crazy

Love the family time you guys have hope it lasts along time.

16, 15, 12, 6 and 4. College will be worse for us. No "dream" weddings for my girls. LOL. I'll do what my sister did with her 3 girls. Give them a budget for the wedding. If they went over they have to pay the extra. If they came in under they get to keep the difference. Both of her girls that are married came in under. One used the money for a downpmt on a house. The other is in the Air Force so they don't own a home, but it was a nice wedding gift. I liked the idea. College is another matter. Oy.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I have nothing else Dave.

Nothing i can actually get away with anyway.

Love the SOD. They have one at the apple orchard near here and it is very quick. I love watching the kids shoot down that thing.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Like the wedding budget idea gives them something to work with, pray for scholarships and grants for school.

[stefa70 205]

Finally caught up. Love the girls on the swing. They are all beautiful in different ways.

Being from upstate NY, I miss the smell of the apple markets. You are correct, there is nothing like them when they're fresh.

Enjoyed the report!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

liv luvs disney, on 26 October 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

I am feeling the love and loving the feeling!

You know, Jim, Dave and I (and our families) ate at SMB last year due to your recommendation and it was good.  In fact, it was so good that we decided to eat there again this year.  While we were at SMB this year, your name came up along with politics.  It was all good.  I think I've told you before we don't have cable and you are my political adviser!

If Jim is advising you on anything you need to reassess your gameplan.  Although I have to admit, the man pointed us to a great burger.

I do what I can to make America a better place for everyone.

[Seals 111]

As a mother of 3 boys, I love seeing pictures of your 5 girls having fun together. Looks like they had a blast.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thank you for the SOP photos.

One of those should be your Christmas card for sure. Is Anna making a duck face in the first group one? If so, that's the one!

Kudos to the designer of that playground.

TCD

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I love the pics of the girls on the slide and the videos of the Swing of Death! Stella is growing like a weed! Maybe it's the pictures, but she looks 6 inches taller since we saw her in the Spring.