2005/04 Deep South trip - Cherokee Park |
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We took Interstate-40 through the Smoky Mountains. There aren’t many through roads and this is one that’s favoured by the truckers. The section over the mountain pass is narrow and winding, with a high concrete wall separating the two carriageways. Trucks are not allowed in the fast lane, so they get stuck traveling in a line at the speed of the slowest truck. As you overtake the first truck you realize you’re committed to overtaking sixty more of them, as they’re traveling only a few feet apart. This results in an exciting and very noisy and smelly few minutes squeezing between the wall and the bouncing swaying trucks. After all this we made it to Morristown in Tennessee at nightfall and headed into Cherokee Park. After following a single-track road we found the gate to the campground had been closed and we had to back out to the previous gate where we met the ranger. She’d been in the process of locking all the gates in the park and had realized what she’d done to us, so she helped us find an alternative entrance and led us into a campsite.
Tuesday April 5th
We made a late start on Tuesday, worn out by all the mining and driving. Sandie had no fingertips left for mining so we were just going to sightsee for the next few days. Cherokee Park is a typical municipal campground. Nothing was beautiful, but the showers worked OK and the water was drinkable.