October 24–26, 2023 Just Enjoying Life in Tennessee

My last blog left off with this picture from our backyard.

We are staying at Ragland Bottom Campground at Center Hill Lake near Sparta, TN 

“In the aftermath of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Congress authorized the use of War Department funds to build dams at Center Hill and Dale Hollow that would generate the power required to support defense industry in the Southeastern United States.

Construction of the dam's basic flood control mechanisms was completed in November 1948 and Center Hill Lake was created as the reservoir was filled.

In 1951, the construction of power producing facilities was finished.

The lake is 64 mi (103 km) long, covers an area of 18,220 acres (73.7 km²). Center Hill Lake has a storage capacity of 762,000 acre⋅ft. (940,000,000 m³) of water. The lake has approximately 415 mi (668 km) of shoreline, with the deepest point at 190 ft. (58 m). The watershed area for the lake is 2,174 sq. mi (5,630 km²). The lake is well known for water recreation and fishing.

In January 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed Center Hill Dam under a high risk for failure, along with Wolf Creek Dam in Russell County, Kentucky. In 2008, the lake's water level was lowered between five and ten feet to relieve pressure on the dam and allow repairs which were completed in 2020.

Sadly, we did not make a trip to the dam area.  With the exception of a trip to the store and getting a great haircut in Sparta, we didn’t leave.  It was wonderful! We enjoyed the weather - 70s during the day, 50’s during the night plus lots of sunshine.

We enjoyed a few campfires:

And sunsets:

It was nice to take it easy for these couple days.  I was able to so some sewing, reading, get the blog caught up and other computer work.    We would love to stay longer but the campground is booked for the weekend .  

Tomorrow we will head west and south so stay tuned and enjoy today.

October 22–23 , 2023 Travel to Sparta TN, Center Hill Lake, Ragland Bottom Campground

Sunday, October 22

We left our spot in Pigeon Forge and continued west.

Into the mountains:

The trees are turning a beautiful red color..but the camera is just not picking it up. 

 

 

Ahhhh.  No more crazy traffic!

Beautiful barns and farms:

 

Check out all the green vines..  Not sure what it is but it looks like it is covering everything.

Here is our site – right on the lake.. AHHHH!   Life doesn’t get any better than this.

We will be here for 5 nights just enjoying the site, the lake and this beautiful sunny weather.  The forecast is for 70’s during the day and 50’s during the evening.  We are blessed.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:  146 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Tennessee: US-321; US-441; I-40; US-127; US-70

Monday, October 23

What a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy!

And that is just what we did today.

Our backyard:

Our site:

We have made no plans for the next couple days except to enjoy the scenery and the weather!

October 19-21, 2023 Dolly’s Stampede and Hatfield and McCoy’s

Thursday, October 19

Today was laundry day!  It was over 2 weeks and we were running out of our essentials.  We found a nice laundromat about 1/2 mile from us.  Not too crowded and we finished up by noon.

Our journey late afternoon took us to the show “Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Show.”

The lobby:

Entertainment before the show:

The arena and backdrop.

The meals were served and the show started.  There was a little of everything: the horses and riders were amazing!

Even a horse and rider jumping thru fire:

And the start of a hoe down – LOL!

They were a few skits that included animals – horse races, pig races and even chicken races.  For this one, they had a couple of small children that were to chase their chickens across a finish line.

When they said “Go”, this little guy took off running to get to the finish line first.  He didn’t care about his chicken.  What a hoot!

The was some acrobats and comedy too.  This guy decided he want to be a chicken.  We did have a lot of laughs.

The show ended with a tribute to our veterans and America.  About half the crowd stood.  When I looked around, it was mostly middle age and older folks that stood and put their right hand on their heart.  All the young folks around us remained seated – it was too sad!

The show was great but the food was “eh”.   But we are still glad we saw the show.

Friday, October 20, 2023

We woke to a very rainy day so I decided to go to the Craft Fair in Pigeon Forge.  Very nice. 

Afterwards made my way to Walmart, Lowes, and Kroger to resupply.  (Sheesh! this traffic!)

Saturday, October 21, 2023

We woke to a beautiful sunny day – YEA!!!  I was going to go to the Craftsman’s Faire in Gatlinburg but, you know, I just did not want to sit in all that traffic.  I could have taken the trolley but I would have to transfer to 3 different trollies to get there.

Instead, we just enjoyed the sun .

Mid-afternoon, we headed to the theater to see the Hatfield and McCoy Show Dinner Show.

Outside the theater – check out the building in the background:

Pigs on cars and the Titanic in the background:

The theater:

We had great seats:

Lots of dancing, singing, comedy and audience participation:

Even a deep pool!

We had a blast.  The show was great, the food was great and yes, I highly recommend it!

So we are ending our days here in Pigeon Forge.  There were a few more things that we wanted to see but the weather and timing did not cooperate.  Would I come back again?  I am not so sure..maybe a different time of year. (Spending a few hours in traffic is not my favorite thing to do.)

However, the Smokies were awesome and we will be back there.  I did try to get a site in the campgrounds but I was too late.  This is one of their peak seasons so maybe another season will bring more opportunities.

Tomorrow we are heading west to spend a few days along the water.  Enjoy today.

Our storage area – I pulled back the curtain and there was Gray!  Too funny.

 

October 18, 2023 Cades Cove Part 3 of 3

Our next stop was the Shields Family area.  This was a small pull out with a cemetery and a great view. 

The cemetery:

The path to the left is part of an old road.  The road passed by schools and homesteads.

The view we had while we ate lunch.

Next stop was the Dan Lawson Place.

“The Dan Lawson Place, built by Peter Cable in the 1840s and acquired by Dan Lawson (1827–1905) after he married Cable's daughter, Mary Jane. Lawson was the cove's wealthiest resident. The homestead includes a cabin (still called the Peter Cable cabin), a smokehouse, a chicken coop, and a hay barn.”

 

 

 

This is the Carter Shields Cabin.  We were going to stop but a little bear came running out from there.  I was not quick enough with my camera. 

Another beautiful doe!

 

WHAT A TREAT!   We came across mama and her three cubs.  We sat for quite a while watching them..  WOW!

 

 

 

 

There were so many more stops along the way but we will save it for another time!

Our last stop before we left the mountain was the campground store where we were treated to some bluegrass music.

What a wonderful day.  Seeing the animals was so special to us.

Next time I would love to stay in the campground and explore more of the cove.