Honey, We're Home

We arrived at Misty River Cabins and RV Park about mid afternoon.  We have spent several months at this campground and it has the feel of coming home.

A few years ago, Gene was asked by his boss to work out of the Knoxville office for a few months.  This is the campground we made our home during the 9 months he worked in Knoxville.  Since that time, we have stayed at Misty River for shorter visits on several occasions.

The first time we were here, the campground was brand new, having been open for only about 6 months.  As a new campground, it was more like a parking lot because the grass hadn’t taken hold, there were no trees, and the gravel on the interior roads and sites was freshly spread.  There are some big advantages of a new campground.  Every thing is new--the water spigots, electrical posts, swimming pool, washers and dryers.

Now, after about 3 years, the grass is taking hold, there are small trees on almost every site, and business is growing.

Misty River is located in the tiny community of Walland about halfway between Maryville and Townsend.  It is 10 miles to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park entrance at the Townsend Y and about 10 miles to the town of Maryville; a town with a couple large supermarkets, a mall, a community collage, and a hospital.

This is a very convenient location to access the trails in the park, as well as the popular Cade’s Cove area.  Convenient, that is, if the roads are not closed.  Several roads in the park are closed due to rock slides or for repaving.

So, we’re all settled in for a month and looking forward to getting out on the trail tomorrow.

Our drive today was uneventful.  I-40, after you get out of the downtown Nashville area, is in good condition with new pavement in several areas.  There were 2 short construction zones that caused very little delay.

It was interesting to see the progression of spring as we came east.  Nashville, which is located in the central basin, is almost in full bloom with flowering trees and shrubs nearly at their peak, buttercups are blooming in every yard, and the bright new green of spring is really showing its color.  As we drove up on the Highland Rim and later up onto the Cumberland Plateau as we made our way east, the green vanished and we saw only the brown and gray of winter.  Coming off the plateau before we reached Maryville, we once again saw the bright colors of spring.  Although we can’t see if from here, there is still snow at the high elevations in the mountains.  I’m anxious to see the wildflowers along the trail.

That’s all for today.  Tomorrow we’ll pull on our boots and packs for a walk in the woods.