Day 6. It's snow fun

Saturday January 14, 2023

Wow! Every towns person I meet says "Oh ya shoulda been here like 3 days ago it was 70 degrees!"(as the snow flurries coat the window of the Honey Bee coffee shop)...)

Great. Nothing like making a tourist feel good huh? Just rub it in like you do your butts. (Wait! That's what they do!! They dry rub their butts! Well not their butts but you know that's how they season their dinner before they cook it. They rub the dry seasoning all over their meat and then ... Ya know like what they eat n stuff... geez! Barely started this blog and already gotsa be 'splainin' myself!

And geez looks like my English is starting to tank also what gives? How long have I been south of the Mason Jar line? 'Splainin' myself?? What the heck is that Petey?

Anybody seen my chew?

So most of the Smoky mountain Nat'l park is closed, the local roads literally have no shoulder either to ride on so road riding is out also. It's either a one foot drop into a rocky rain gutter thingy or more like a hundred foot drop into the hospital. Even the lady at the Welcome Center told me that actually "it's not bike friendly here"... No mountain trails at all thru the Smoky Nat'l park...wow! Maybe in a couple of years she heard...Well that makes the part of this trip that was keeping an eye open for places to live or spend time in - easy! A no welcomeee the bicycle then is no place for a Duckeeee!

I took some local pics of downtown Sevierville before I left which is totally rebuilding in a great way. Small shops and lit up streets feel real welcoming. Dolly Parton is huge in these parts too so I took a picture of myself with her bust in front of the Town hall. What? That's ok to say right? That's what they call it right? A small statue is a bust? Like all the famous people have their bust in a museum n stuff right? (Maybe I should look that word up in the Maryanne Webster?). Anyhoo - as a sidebar, is that...like...really... all her? Like was she really born with....oh wait never mind focus Petey focus.

I left for Pigeon Forge which houses the famous "DollyWood" amusement park, which for snow reason at all (ha! you caught that didn't ya!?) was closed too! I almost took my kids there when they were young but that also turned into a bust. Wow that word has a lot of applications doesn't it!? I'll see if I can bust it out again later in the blog.

Totally an amusement ride kinda town with go cart rides and t-shirt shops every thousand feet. I got a tip that their might be some hiking trails open in a town called Townsend a few miles away so I grabbed that lead and drove off! As soon as I got near town there were literally hundreds of jeeps everywhere. So cool. Lifted ones, lit up ones, old ones, new ones, some with no doors and people just having a good 'ol jeep jamboree time! Turns out I missed a jeep drive onto some trails by two hours! It started and ended at this cool jeep outlet store called Cades Cove Jeep Outpost. So I bought a few things and hung with cool jeep owners and pretended I was one also. Ya know I pretended the cool part.

Cuz I already have the jeep.

Maybe ya don't know but there is also a jeep thing where 'hip' jeep owners put a lil' rubber ducky on other cool jeeps they see..which is totally a weird thing I know.

But it is a thing.

Doubly weird because my nickname is DuckpondPete ( I know I know "I gots me some more 'splainin' to do" still lol). Maybe in my other past life I was a duck? SO geez that would mean I was a Mexican Duck that migrated back and forth to Eskimo country? (Ok ya need to read past blogs if that totally threw ya ok? Geez try n keep up ok!? : )

So now my dash has two more duckies on it! Lil Petey has someone other than me to travel with now...glad someone is making friends on this trip!

I Left Townsend and headed to Gatlinburg TN which I heard is a little more touristy.

WOW. Were they wrong!

It is like totally MAJOR touristy! What a cool ski lift to a pedestrian wood bridge overlooking the gorge (see photos). Yikes! And the streets? The sharpest switchbacks I've ever seen lol. Ripley's Believe it or Not also and t-shirt shops and bourbon tasting places galore! I just realized it's MLK weekend holiday and it is kinda super busy here too. Totally cool vibe though. I stopped in to a brewery to sample a local IPA and it did not let me down! Felt good to talk to people and not just a lil duck on my dashboard.

I think we both needed time apart : )

I parked in a local garage for $15 for 24 hours so figured - why not just spend the night here! They are calling for temps in the teens tonight wow so crazy. Wind chills to minus 3. Hoping in this protected garage the wind won't be much of a factor...

Had a couple of brews and hunkered down between my two beautiful ladies and called it a day well spent!

Inside

Wherever I find myself, whichever town I find myself in, I think to myself "Oh lemme explore a little bit more". Yet as soon as I pick up and move on...just around the corner, or the next view that pops up, or right in the next town there is something just as cool as the town I left - but still different - and it's just sitting there waiting for me. Then I'm blown away again and have the same thoughts..."Oh I should stay here a lil bit longer" lol. There is literally so much to see in one town, let alone this entire country that one could spend years if not a lifetime and never do or see the same thing twice. Touching these little towns with no agenda, no kids, no buying t-shirts n souvenirs, no needing to wait in line for tickets is refreshing in a non-attached to any goal kind of freedom. I really find myself enjoying being with me, present in the surroundings and not off in my mind with a plan or a list to check off. In whatever location I am in, I find myself smelling the clear air, Taking in the views, meeting people, and enjoying their stories. So many of those to share but suffice to say - there are good people everywhere...

#blessed man I am.

Outside

To descend thru the switchbacks of a steep mountain, torn between looking out into the absolutely stunning view vs. being sure to keep my wheels on the road was a challenge! Something about being elevated and looking out over the world that gives a more "godly" perspective on things. Makes you kinda realize, not the insignificance of our own lives but more of to not take ourselves so seriously. I am just one part of this entire beautiful world, and though my contribution to it is paramount, especially to those around me...lighten up and realize what a gift it is to be here....

Upside

Wow hanging with people of similar 'frequency' as I've heard the term used is so important! Jeep owners with a sense of adventure such as my own, sharing a beer at a bar with people that have not only a love of IPA's but for spiritual teachings and even biking is not only such a healthy balance but can feed a man's soul! I did not ride again but the people connections I made today were like food to my spirit!

downside

Nineteen degrees!!! Really!!? I ended up 'ducking' into gift shops just to get warm again and then spending some cash on peoples that popped into my mind...

Forecast says it will be in the 50's in Marietta Georgia which is where I am headed next!!

Bought some bourbon here...

Anyone for a trip to Dollywood!!?

Really quaint shopping spot in Gatlinburg above

If you look close people are walking across a wood bridge out there! In the below photo you can see the same bridge from the town of Gatlinburg... descending down from there was the switchiest of switchbacks I have ever been on ...!