Gatlinburg, TN

After several weeks Smoky Mountain-adjacent, we are now a few miles down the road and in actual walking distance of the national park.

Gatlinburg is more compact and, if it's even possible, more touristy than Pigeon Forge. But, there are actual hiking trails into the actual mountains that we can get to in biking distance, yay! I did severally hikes and walks and came across deer, turkeys, chipmunks, lots of song birds, and, the highlight of the show: a mama bear and her two cubs (I even snagged some video of one of the cubs)!

We had an exciting milestone here in Gatlinburg: our first significant DIY RV repair! Though we have already replaced a faucet, this project was a bit more involved. One of the pumps inside our water hearing unit went out and was making it pretty hard (though thankfully not impossible) for us to get hot water. After some research we were able to get the parts we needed, overcome some challenges that arose during the repair, and successfully get dependable hot water back to the shower! Victory is ours!!

Anyway, we'll be heading deeper into the mountains for our next Smoky Mountain stop before finally arriving at our scheduled 40th birthday bash for my sister, Jess, in Nashville.Read more