211/365 - Vacation, 1st Blue Ridge Parkway and Trip down South 2011 - Day 6

Today we ended our Blue Ridge Parkway drive:(. We came across an overlook, almost at the highest point on the parkway, that we thought was the most beautiful view on the parkway. The picture above and the next three pictures are from that overlook.







The Monarch butterflies loved these wild petunias (?). I’m going to miss these little guys. They were our constant companions on the parkway!





The highest point of the parkway was almost at the end.




We are going to come out on the Cherokee Indian Reservation at the end of the parkway.



Mile post 469 is the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.



These next pictures are taken in the town of Cherokee, NC. The street signs are also in Cherokee or some Indian language.







We went into a bear exhibit. This is a little grizzly cub and also some black bear cubs. I felt bad for these bears, especially after coming out of the parkway where they have such a beautiful place to live.





After we left Cherokee we entered the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It was as beautiful as the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We came across a mountain called Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountains. It was a 7 mile drive up the mountain, and another ½ mile walk to the observation tower. Paul really wanted to do it. It was an arduous ½ mile, very steep, felt more like 5 miles. I am definitely out of shape. I had to keep stopping every 10th of a mile (they had benches). When I get home, I really need to do something about this, like get back to walking. Anyhow, somehow I made it to the observation tower, then it was another walk up that!







The view was absolutely beautiful though, 6, 643 feet high!



Then we had to come down; that was easier but still tiring.





We finished going through the Smokies (it was a road that went across the middle, which was actually on our way home). More weird road signs.





We crossed from North Carolina into Tennessee.



At the end of the road it brought us out smack dab into the middle of Gaitlinburg, TN. I don’t know if any of you have ever been to Gaitlinburg. Paul and I have never been here before and we were in total awe. We drove on for at least 3 miles of honky tonk - eating places, shops, amusements, street performers, etc. like I have never seen before. Then this same road went right into Pigeon Forge which was almost as bad, which lead to Seiverville. We then went on for at least 10 miles of more honky tonk. It was just unbelievable. Dollywood was somewhere on that road. Eventually it thinned out and we drove (actually Paul drove and I slept) until 12 midnight when we stopped just outside of Virginia for the night. Tomorrow and Sunday it will be mostly highway driving home:(.