July 16, 2014 - Valley of the Dolly

Wednesday July 16, 2014

Sometimes, I just like to reach out and touch my humans.  In the morning, there is almost enough space for me when I come into bed with them and get between them.  I might have to kind of sit on a face but I can fit.  When I am riding in the little house, I normally hang out in the center between the humans.  When I know it feels good, I will stretch out and touch one of them.  Sometimes I will even touch them with both of my paws.  And the humans can be quite convenient for me to rest my head against.

 Another cool night.  I hate to get out of bed when Rudy is in his snuggle mood crammed between us.  But, I got up and did my walk.  Today is getaway day and after a great visit, we readied Hannah for departure.  Spouse is barely ambulatory again after our excursion to Nashville yesterday.  Ibuprofen... He reminds me of Grandpa McCoy on the old Real McCoy series of the 60's.

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Opryland Hotel.  It is a masterful design of southern architecture under a series of enormous atriums.  Or is it atria?  Whatever... Waterfalls and canals and exquisite botanical displays are total eye candy.  Full grown trees abound with so many varieties of flowers all around, including orchids.  Impatiens, bougainveillia, bleeding heart vines, fruiting banana trees... lots of color and lots of diversity.  Lots of expensive shops and restaurants too.  It was well worth the stop.

 

 

 

 

 

After one more Cracker Barrel excursion (I told Spouse  we were done with the place for a while), we headed east on I40 and our final crossing of the Cumberland River.  More of the same lush green trees, up and down... yawn.  Pretty, but it gets old after 20 miles.  We decided that we would get off the main highway and take the road through the Smoky Mountains.

 We got off on Highway 66 just east of Knoxville and headed south.  This is Dolly country.  All things Dolly Parton - Dollywood, Dolly's Dixie Stampede, etc.  Extremely touristy with wax museums, Hollywood stuff, Hatfield and Mccoy reenactments and all sorts of hillbilly fluff.  We got the last place in an RV park.  We had no idea this was such a tourist destination.  Our neighbor told us NOT to take Hannah over the road in the Smoky Mountains.  He said we would not enjoy it one bit!  So tomorrow we will decide if we should stay an extra day and detach so we can go to the mountains.  He also pointed out a stretch of road call the dragon tail... 308 switchbacks...  Not for those who get carsick!

We are now in the eastern time zone.  Oh, and Spouse learned that when you shake a bottle of salad dressing, the cap should be on real tight...  Guess we will do laundry again when we get to my friend's house in a couple of days...

 One last thing... there is a momma with about 10 baby ducks walking around the RV park.  Rudy is extremely interested in them...