Mother Daughter Vacation Cades Cove

Tuesday morning, we had an 8:30 appointment with the vacation share people. We drove back to Sevierville only to find that the lady who registered me had given me the wrong information.  We could have stayed in Gatlinburg.  Needless to say, their mistake made me a few minutes late but that part was not a problem.  We listened to all the reasons my husband and I should invest more money in the vacation share.  (If you don't listen to the salesman, you have to pay.)  When I said "no" and signed the waiver, the atmosphere was no longer friendly.  They did still give me the promised gift card.  Daughter was surprised they didn't offer me anything for the wasted time and gas because of the incorrect directions about where I was supposed to go.

Released from my obligation, I was free to enjoy our vacation.  We had a sandwich in our room and then went exploring.  First stop - Cades Cove.  Before we left home, my daughter-in-law told me about Cades Cove and then Betsy Adams http://betsyfromtennessee.blogspot.ca/ also made the same suggestion. Now I will join them in agreement that you should see Cades Cove if you visit Gatlinburg.

When Cades Cove was a farming community, an unpaved two-way road followed the same general route as the present 11-mile one-way Loop Road.

We did not stop at all the places you could stop but we did visit the Methodist Church.  J.D. McCampbell, a blacksmith and carpenter, built this church in 115 days for $115.  He later served many years as its minister.

 Daughter climbed a tree so she could take a selfie.

We visited Elijah Oliver Place.

We came to the barn first. 

Further along was the cabin.

 When it was time to return to the van, we chose the other path.  That was fine until we were almost back and the trail was less well-defined.  For awhile we were unsure if we were going to have to go back to the cabin and take the first trail.  Then we saw some cars so we knew we were back in civilization.

We found the road but we were still not sure which direction to go to find the parked van.  Eventually we figured it out and drove on to the Visitor Center.

Aunt Becky's boarding house.

We made our way back to our temporary home.  Daughter made spaghetti with meat sauce for our supper.  She took such good care of me.  On our way back, we saw this animal.  We were puzzled about what it is but have since decided it might be a coyote.

 And of course the bears capture lots of attention.