Monday, September 5, 2016

DAY #3.......Made it to Georgetown, Kentucky

As we left Cherokee, N.C. this morning, we had to make a couple of stops on the way out of town!!  Just for 'old time sake' and because we LOVE coming to Cherokee!!  This wood carving statue is just outside the Cherokee Indian Museum.  We love coming to this museum!

On our way out of Cherokee and headed through the GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS, we saw this sign warning us of ELK in the area.  We didn't see any but we know they are around!

Driving through the GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS is a top on our list to do because they are so beautiful.  Today's drive did not disappoint.  Gorgeous....just gorgeous!

At the top is the North Carolina/Tennessee State Line....and we always have to stop and have our foto taken.  Today was no different.

The APPALACHIAN TRAIL runs through this part of the mountains.  As you can see from the foto, it is only 1,972 miles from this point up to Maine!  Sure....why not.  I am sure it won't take us long to hike that!!

We even drove by DOLLYWOOD!  It is an amusement park just outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

We are in our old mission area and have driven past some very familiar sights!!!  LOVE IT!  This sphere is by the Knoxville, TN Convention Center.  We have walked all over this area including going inside the Sphere.  Sweet memories for sure......

We KNEW today was a holiday, Labor Day, but we didn't think about getting stuck in all of the traffic!!  UUUGGGG......We were on HWY 75 trying to get to Williamstown, KY to visit the brand new attraction, Ark Encounter, only to get slowed down with this horrible traffic.  We took a back road thinking it might be faster.  Well, guess what??  Everyone else had the same thought as us.  Hence, the backup on the backup road.

AND, you guessed it.  We found this gate CLOSED when we got to the ARK!!!  We were in a 2-hour traffic delay which made us late and we couldn't get in to see the ARK!  IF you look closely through the closed gate, you will see a large building.  That is it!!  That was as close as we could get.  The building is actually built around the Ark, which is about 510 long, 51 feet tall and 80 feet wide.  And we couldn't even get to the bookstore!  Sad news all the way around.  Oh well.....maybe the next time we are through this way.

And, so ends our 3rd day of travel and adventure.  Good times are had by us.....little hiccups are to be expected!