The first reason we were excited about getting to Gatlinburg was that it took us two days to get there from Estes Park, our longest back-to-back drive on this 3-week trip. We drove ten hours to Kansas City, where we had a nice dinner with a friend of mine from college and her husband, then we drove 12 hours to Gatlinburg.

We were in a zombie-like stage until we got to the adjacent town of Pigeon Forge, then Gatlinburg itself. The closest thing I’ve experienced to these two towns previously is the strip on Las Vegas. Not that there were a lot of casinos, but there were lots of rides and attractions and flashing lights and music and people of all types out and about, even on a Wednesday night.

The next morning, we could see what we had missed in the darkness, which was also what we had come to see, the stunning scenery of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We were surprised to learn this is the most popular of the 63 national parks in the United States, but much less surprised as we got to know at ourselves. The mountains are smaller and smoother than those of the Rocky Mountain National Park, but there are a lot of them, covered with beautiful deciduous trees, which were just starting to change color, and filled with black bears.

We really wanted to see a bear ,and kept asking rangers how we could see a bear, and the response was usually Oh, you’ll see a bear here all right. Honestly, that probably wouldn’t have happened if we spent most of our time near the visitor center, but we made an effort and we did see two bears, one while on a hike to Baskin Creek Falls and the other on a sunset drive through an area known for its bear population.

We only had one day in this beautiful area so we weren’t able to ride any roller coasters or play hillbilly miniature golf on a super steep hill or visit Ripley’s Aquarium, but we did make it to a local brewery with fabulous custom pizzas. We all agreed it was a place where we’d like to spend more time.

I should mention that while I planned the first part of this trip, from Santa Cruz through the wedding in Tahoe, our younger son planned the rest of it, including choosing the destinations. We will be leaving our 2013 RAV4 with him when we get to the East Coast, in anticipation of moving to Spain. I’m thinking I should culminate this blog and start a new one in Spain, though I may add a few more entries during the next four weeks or so while we are moving and visa-obtaining and taking a few more farewell trips.

If anyone has a good idea for the name of the moving-to-Spain blog please let me know.