Christmas in the Smokies

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🎄 We love the Smokey Mountains! It is beautiful anytime of the year.  We have never come up when it is decked out for Christmas though.  We took our big (and amazing) trip to Glacier National Park this summer.  So we kind of thought that would be it for us this year.  At the last minute, I decided we should go to the Smokies at least once this year.  It's been a little hard for me to get into the holiday spirit.  I'm hoping that this trip will give me the lift I need. As usual before we go on a trip, I got a horrible cold.  So I don't feel great, but fully intend to enjoy the mountains.  Maybe some good mountain air is what I need.

As we drove into Pigeon Forge, the decorations at all of the businesses would put anyone into the holiday mood.  We booked a campsite at the KOA in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We usually try to find a campground out in the woods, but this KOA is very convenient if you plan to experience Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Dollywood.  The KOA is about two miles from Dollywood.  I joked with Curtis that we could walk to Dollywood, but he poo-pooed that idea right away. Pigeon Forge is very much a tourist nightmare.  But there are some neat shows and family friendly parks for people with children.

This KOA is very nice.  I walked the perimeter this morning and it is a good one mile loop, so I did three. There are plenty of RV slots, cabins and primitive camping areas.  I saw at least two bath houses plus the one up front at the store.  The Christmas decorations add a nice touch to the entrance. We did notice that this KOA has some neat play areas for kids.  There is a huge bouncing balloon up front that looks like a huge pool cover blown up. The large playground area looks pretty cool too.  I'll post more pictures later. 






I plan to go to Gatlinburg and try to persuade my husband to walk the new Sky Bridge with me. He doesn't like heights.  We'll see if I'm brave enough to walk across the glass panels.  There is a Christmas parade in downtown Gatlinburg tonight that supposedly draws about 60,000 people every year.  Parking will be a nightmare. I want to go on a short hike and find the Christmas store before the parade.  Oh...there is also an Arts and Crafts trail that I would like to drive at some point. This trail is eight miles long and features all sorts of artists and their wares. There is a really neat quilt store on the trail that I found several years ago that is calling my name. 







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