Whoop Whoop Tennessee ~ Part 2

The great adventures of Queen Emma continued:

Mom says I must tell you about this next place even though I think it is the most absolutely boring place there is, but she loves it.  It's a place called Cades Cove.  When we go  here we have to drive around in the EmmaMobile very slowly around an 11 mile one way loop.  If that isn't bad enough this year we had to do it not once, but twice and in the exact same day.  Why?  Because Mom thought her camera wasn't working when she couldn't find any pictures from the  past 2 days.  Later she discovered her picture numbering system had reach it's maximum and started over at 0001 and all her pictures were still there.  The first round wasn't so bad because we arrived before it got too busy.  The second round not so lucky.  There were a lot of stupid people holding up the line of cars.  Some of these people thought it was o.k. to park in the road when signs and literature clearly say no parking in the road use pull offs.  They also thought it was o.k. to approach a young black bear and circle around it within just a few feet when all the literature clearly says not to approach or harass the wildlife you must stay at least 50 feet away it's the law.  What is wrong with some humans?  Yet when a bear attacks everyone is quick to blame the bear.  The park office told us we saw something much more rare than the black bear.  We saw river otters and they said to have seen them is a greater treat and we were lucky.  Even though they have river otters in the park people usually don't get an opportunity to view them.  That was pretty cool.  They were playing and swimming in the river having a good time.  Mom tried to get a picture of them, but it didn't turn out well and you can't see them.

I wonder what it was like for the doggies that used to call this piece of paradise home?  They had thousands of acres to sniff and pee on. I bet is was magnificent.  Mom reminded me the doggies then didn't have their very own comfy couch to nap on and not only did they have to go potty in the rain, but most of them probably even had to sleep out in the rain, GASP!!  Can you imagine :O

Since we had 2 opportunities to take a lot of pictures I hope you don't mind viewing some photos that unfortunately do not have my beautifully gorgeous face in them.  If you would prefer to gaze upon the Emma you can quickly scroll past Mom's boring photos and catch back up with my fun filled amazing adventures.

We braved a trip to Gatlinburg one week night evening.  If you have never been to Gatlinburg it's like a billion stores and restaurants all jam packed into a couple blocks.  There is the Gatlinburg Mountain Mall.  It's 3 levels and and pet friendly!!!  There's a store in the mall called Paws and Claws Pet Fashions.  They sell clothes for dogs, breed themed knick knacks, magnets, coffee mugs, dog toys, etc...  Unfortunately it started raining the night we were in Gatlinburg and none of us doggies got to go to the mall.  Mom said she was going to take us back, but some unforeseen malfunctions with the EmmaMobile snatched a couple of our vacation days so we didn't get back over that way again before leaving.   This will be added to our to do list for next year ;)

We got some yummy treats from a cute little bakery.  We love the blueberry treats made by Bonediggity Dog Barkery. 

For the humans reading this you must try the gourmet caramel apples at Aunt Mahalia's. They are absolutely wonderful and Mom and I have been brainstorming all the many different candy/cookie/caramel combinations we can try when we get back home.

photo from http://www.auntmahalias.com

 I like apples and as long as we don't roll them in anything chocolate you bet I'll bee eating some :)  Which reminds me I've got to ask Mom when we're going to make some of these sweet yummies.

I also like sweet goodness from this place.  Can any guess the name by this photo?

Yep, I ate a Krsipy Kreme doughnut.  My favorite part is the white sweet fluffy kreme.  Delicious!

We ventured into the big city for some Emma fun.  In Knoxville there is an awesome dog bakery River Dog Bakery.  They sell yummilicious treats and toys. 

 I met a beautiful friend named Cooper.

I helped Mom pick out a box of banana biscotti,  apple woofers, and a few others.  We filled that box to the brim ;) and I picked out a couple toys for my sisters.  When we got to the van I shoved my head deep down into that bag and pulled out the box of treats.  It surprised Mom and Dad that I was so interested in eating them it convinced Mom to go back into the store and buy another big box full of treats.  Am I good or what ;)

The shop owner is a pleasure to visit and very welcoming.  That must be where my new friend Cooper learned his kindness because he gave me a very generous gift.  I kept sniffing around the rawhide chew sticks and even found an empty basket that caught the attention of my sniffer.  The nice shop lady said there used to be some in that basket, but she moved them.  Mom kept telling me no she wasn't going to buy me one because I wouldn't chew it.  Cooper said he wanted to give one to me as a gift from him to me.  Thank you Cooper.  I love my rawhide chew.

After our shopping extravaganza we were off in search of a place to go for a walk.  We found Lakeshore Park.  There's only one vantage point at the very beginning of the walk at the top of a hill where you can get  a little peek of the lake.  It's still a very nice walk and worth checking out.

Our favorite walk is Gatlinburg Trail.  It's the only trail within the National Park dogs are allowed to walk.  It's absolutely beautiful and follows along the water. 

One of Mom's favorite scenic views is this spot.

Our dream is to one day wake up every morning and enjoy a view like this one and enough acreage we can run and play all day and never touch the same spot twice.

Kinda like this

Can you see the house down there next to the tree line?  Maybe one day we'll have a new EmmaHome with a mountain view.  We can dream right.

At the end of the Foot Hills Parkway we found this beautiful lake and had to pull over for some pictures.

That was our Smoky Mountain Adventure and we hope you enjoyed taking the journey again with us.

Emma