The longish windy road to Gastonia   Scenic route through Pigeon Forge past Dollywood

Rather than go back the way I came, through Bristol, I figured I could go down the parkway past the track and connect up with I-81 toward Knoxville, TN . I figured right, but I didn't drive right, and got turned around back to Bristol. Then I got on the road to Johnson City, went through there again, got turned around the wrong way, and finally called on my GPS to finally get me on I-81 and some daytime Interstate driving. Probably wasted an hour with that, but no matter, I'm on holiday, I like driving, and the scenery is real nice. Both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are mountain-tourism areas in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and sure look it. A little ways off I-81 begins a long parkway of shops and motels and attractions and malls and everything a large developed tourist area would have.

Nikki recommended the Smoky Mountain Knife Works, the tag in the first map, right at the head of the parkway. Having been on the road a while, it was a good place to stop. Cutting-edge stuff!!! I'm not much of a knife fan, though I carry a Swiss Army knife with me at home usually, but I can appreciate the art of fine tool-making, and this place has probably every kind of knife one can think of, and you can make your own too. PM would like this place.

A big part of the reason to even go through this way was to find my Mom some Christmas ornaments, and at the Tri-Cities Flea Market the day before I had seen some older ornaments from Dollywood. I also figured a big touristy place would have lots of touristy shops for that kind of thing. And it did, I guess, but with so much there and traffic getting thick, and construction along the parkway, I mostly scouted from the road as I made my way to Dollywood, the tag in the second map, thinking I'd come back after.

Well, I got to Dollywood and saw it would cost 8 bucks just to park and thought better of it - the clock was ticking and I still had a ways to go to get near Charlotte before dark. I turned around and headed back to Pigeon Forge, then decided to take a shortcut back - the parkway was pretty congested and I didn't want a lot more of that - and that shortcut sent me off on a scenic route to I-40. Which was quite fine by me. A 2-lane road with mostly locals, winding through little towns and Tennessee hills, would have been a great drive in a zippy little convertible.

After rejoining the Interstate system I turned off for a while wanting some grub, and there was my chance to try the Waffle House in Newport where Dean took my order and Chris cooked my bacon & eggs with pecan waffle in as friendly and professional a manner as I've ever seen in a fast-food chain. My first, and only, breakfast in Tennessee and these two young men were a fine way to do it.

Thus fortified, and with a large lemonade for the road, I set off through the rest of the Smokies, along winding I-40 with tunnels and truck run-outs, so there was terrain to drive. This would have been a blast to drive in a topless five-speed, moreso in a month when then fall colours really start showing. The hills really look furry with green trees and not as rocky as the Northern Rocky Mountains I've grown up visiting a lot. In a month the area will be a riot of fall reds and yellows, and worth a repeat visit sometime. It's gotta be psychedelic.

Just before sunset I made my way into Gastonia, to a divey motel with a TV just a little too green and no wireless connection. But, there was a gas station an easy walk away for some beers and a Charlotte Observer, a local pizza-delivery service, an NFL game, and air-conditioning. Did I mention it was still bad-ass hot? It was, and hadn't let up yet. I read in the Observer that the Democratic National Convention was about to be in town, and a number of things would be closed, but paid little attention. I've been reading 2 newspapers a day for the last 30 years, and in the last week I'd only read 2 in Bristol and this one now.