Downtown Asheville, NC is very compact but we noticed the restaurants have outdoor seating available. It would be nice for eating out with us doggies. Here at Three Dog I got a nice pink dragon stuffie and lots of fancy decorated and yummie treats. Sorry there aren't many pictures of the store but Mom says she only has two hands and it was a small store and lots of people shopping and everyone wanting to pet me :) It tends to happen to me lots of places I go.
Azalea Park in Asheville, NC :
We had the whole place all to ourselves. HOORAY!!!!
Azalea Dog Park in Asheville, NC:
Here we are having some down time at Motel 6 in Asheville, NC:
After Asheville it was on to Cherokee, NC. We didn't expect it to be so commercialized. We thought it would be more like an Indian Reservation like seen in movies. I'm not sure why we had that idea. The main road was lined with shops and a nice park and trail that run along the river. They have several bear statues located throughout the town and each one is painted by local artists. Our fist encounter with one was hilarious. We were admiring the statue as Dad and Sweet Pea were approaching and the silly girl started barking like a crazy dog. What did she see? I didn't see any squirrels or other critters. We were again the only people or dogs around having the entire trail to ourselves. What is she doing? It was the statue. She is scared or more like perplexed of statues. Even a few days later when we were parked in front of some concrete statues for sale and again when parked in front of the Three Bear Store in Pigeon Forge, TN she barked and barked at them. She is so funny!
We were surprised to see bamboo growing in the park. It had a path going through the middle and it was like walking through the jungle...so cool! It said the Oconaluftee River Trail is dog friendly. The one picture with Sweet Pea doing the cute little head tilt was her trying to figure out how the post was talking to us. It was a post with recorded information about the area. Yet one more moment where Pea made us laugh and laugh....our sweet little jester. She has been such a very good girl. We are so very proud of her. She just goes with the flow.
Newfound Gap Rd. on the way to Gatlinburg, TN:
Our cabin in Townsend, TN at Black Bear Hollow:
Our cabin is a short drive to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN the best part is they allowed us all ( 3 dogs, 2 people) to stay...one very happy family. Mark and Debbie the owners are very nice. We've stayed in this cabin for two years in a row now and would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to vacation in the area. We did try very hard to be heading back to the cabin before dark because even though it is a paved road it's a bit curvier than we are used to. Our next to the last night in the cabin we heard howling. Mom was laying in bed and not sleeping yet and she heard it, then again, and again. It sounded like it was right outside the window. It went on for about a half hour or so. At least that's what I hear. I was snoozing and didn't hear a thing. Bella was the only one to even respond in any way and she just kinda raised her head up and then went back to sleep. After that Mom was freaked out to take us out to potty after dark. She kept hoping it would happen again and stayed up really late but they didn't return. We figure it was either Coyotes or Red Wolves. After a search online and listening to samples we are convinced it was Red Wolves. The cabin is really nice but they had different furniture this year and less of it. They were missing a love seat and the couch was different. It was still a double reclining couch but neither end had a working recliner. Without the love seat there wasn't enough seating for all of us and Mom and Dad had to sit on kitchen chairs. Are they nice to us or what???? We cover everything with blankets and we clean up extra good before leaving. We wiped everything off, washed all the towels and put them away, we ate take out and used plastic silverware so we didn't have any dishes to wash or put away, we vacuumed and left it spic and span clean. Even with the missing love seat this year we would still return again and highly recommend them to anyone looking to rent a cabin.
Mark (owner) was so nice to take our phone call not once but twice when we first arrived. Mom and Dad felt so silly but they forgot how to turn on the fireplace. They were embarrassed but Mark kindly talked t hem through it. It turns on like a gas outdoor grill.
Here is Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge, TN:
Scenic drive along the Foothills Parkway East:
On the way back to Gatlinburg, TN we found a black doggie with blue collar wandering on a main road at an intersection and we stopped to try and help it. As usual it had a collar and no tag. It was kinda long haired and had been in some water recently as its hair was a bit wet. It was very friendly and came right to Mom and followed her everywhere. She gave it some treats. The nearest business was a doctor's office and she went in to ask them to call animal control so it wouldn't get hit by a car. They said oh don't worry about it because it comes around all the time it belongs to someone that lives around there. WHAT???? Mom went back outside and tried to coax it way away from the road and every time it would gobble up the treats faster than she could get back in the EmmaMobile. After all the treats were gone we decided we did the best we could with what we had and had to leave. We couldn't take it with us because our EmmaMobile was full with us 3 already and Mom didn't know anything about the health of this stray dog. She said our wellness had to come first. It made our hearts very sad to leave this sweet dog. It sure does deserve a better home than it has. Stuff like this always leave us wondering WHY? It really upset what had been a perfectly joyful day. It made our hearts very sad to drive away.
Gatlinburg, TN:
Since we were going through Gatlinburg, TN back toward our cabin Dad said we might as well find a parking lot and do whatever we wanted to do here now. It costs $5 and up to park. So it's best to do everything you want to do in one stop. They have a few doggie stores Mom wanted to go to. She would have taken us but the streets were very crowded and all the stores weren't dog friendly. We had never seen so many dogs in strollers being pushed around by their people as we did here. Do you think they make an Emma sized stroller?
Mom promised when she got back we would get our turn to explore a new park nearby. I can't wait. I sure hope she hurries. It's getting dark fast this time of year.
First Mom sat with us while Dad walked up and down the strip checking things out and when he returned Mom went. Let me tell you Mom is soooooo much slower than Dad, always! She did make a stop to drop off some goodies for us. She brought donuts from the Donut Friar, Ben & Jerry's, caramel and chocolate covered apples for Dad and dog barkery treats for us. The Donut Friar was really good, but the award for best donut has to still be Krispy Kreme.
While she was doing the touristy stuff she decided to check this out ( neither Mom or Dad drink, they never have):
She thought hmmm. In the spirit of historical preservation why not. They had maraschino cherries soaked in original moonshine and they had original moonshine, corn whiskey, grape flavored moonshine, apple cinnamon moonshine and hunch punch flavored moonshine. The prices were pretty steep. $35 for a jar of cherries and $25 for a jar of shine. She thought she would try a sample. First the cherries.... YUCK! then the grape......YUCK! and the hunch punch.......YUCK! It burned all the way down and made her tummy warm for several blocks later. Then she didn't feel so good because the humans hadn't taken time to eat anything yet and it was late in the afternoon going on evening.
On to more fun things, the list of doggie stores Mom wanted to visit. First stop was Paws & Claws Fashions. They have a huge selection of clothes for dogs along with breed themed merchandise like knick knacks, magnets, key chains, mugs, signs, etc... The man working there was super friendly and helpful. He said doggies were allowed in the store and that mall the store is located in. He said she could bring the Emma to find a shirt that would fit. If anyone is visiting Gatlinburg you can take your pet into Paws & Claws Pet Fashions located in the Mountain Mall. Next store is Simply Animals it's a smaller store with some dog clothes and doggie themed merchandise the gentleman that owns the store is wonderful and such a pleasure to chat with. Next store Bone Diggity Dog Barkery this where our yummy treats come from. They had little teeny tiny blueberries in them and Mom wondered if they might be dehydrated and then had the idea she would one day try to make us some. If you are in the area it's not a bad price. They are $3.99 for a small bag and come in fun dog themed shapes and have words stamped on them like fetch, hug, play.
Yeah!!!! Mom finally returned after what seemed like forever. We were able to get a nice walk in at Mynatt Park in Gatlinburg.
Now it was Mom's turn to get some yummy treats and we stopped at this place from the coupon book called Nom Nom's. I wish there was a way you could taste them right here because they are the best cupcakes ever. Every town should have a Nom Nom's. We stopped here a couple times. Each time we thought of our blog friend Mango because he always calls his foodables noms.
In the same shopping plaza is a doggie store The Pampered Pooch. We had trouble finding them open. There were two different sets of hours listed and they weren't open according to either. I was very disappointed. I was hoping to find myself some yummie treats or maybe a toy. Eventually they were open and it was just tiny dog clothes, some merchandise, strollers, and some treats. If you're a smaller dog I'm sure you would find something nice here.
To help Mom work off all those cupcakes she ate I took her to the Gatlinburg Trail. It's 1.9 miles and is one of two trails in the Great Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park that dogs are allowed on. It begins at the Sugarlands Visitor Center and goes to the outskirts of Gatlinburg.
The best place to find breakfast or lunch is Grandmother's Kitchen on Wears Valley Rd. They have awesome biscuits and delicious pies. We tried almost every flavor of pie available along with a couple kinds of cake and their biscuits with gravy. Well, we didn't Mom and Dad did. We got bacon!!
The EmmaMobile must roll on and the next stop was River Dog Bakery in Knoxville, TN:
We picked up a couple toys here a soft plush ball with hiding spots for 2 orange tennis balls and a plush loopy ball. Of course, we had to get some treats - banana biscotti, great daneish, pawreos. With all these great toys and delicious yummies can you believe Sweet Pea laid down for a nap....in the store. Unbelievable. Maybe she was qweezy from all the food smells and huge selection of toys.
Another walk at Patriot Park and The Old Mill:
Yeah! I am so happy we went back to Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge. We had the entire 360 acres to ourselves. It's a beautiful and peaceful hike. I sure wish we could move this place into our own backyard. I wish it wasn't so far away.
The EmmaMobile is still rolling along and this stop was one of Mom's favorites. I can't say the same because dogs are only allowed along the roadside and not on any of the trails. Fooey!!
Welcome to Cades Cove:
Mom wants to live here. I do think when the cove was first discovered it was probably the most beautiful, peaceful place ever. It's probably a good thing it's a national park or some humans might destroy it.
Like this little cabin that was covered in graffiti from floor to ceiling. How very sad!
Waterfall on the way back toward Townsend:
Bella wanted me to show you her souvenir she is so proud of. She loves this little guy.
We can't forget to show you the scenic drive Foothills Parkway West:
This is the trail we weren't sure about being dog friendly but there wasn't any signs that said no dogs and there wasn't anyone around so we figured why not. On the map we had this road the scenic drive is on is outside the green shaded area on the map that indicates the national park. We had been very, very good all vacation only going where silly humans said we could go. It's a huge natural setting of trees and grass and scenic views. We should be able to enjoy them too. The hike was very nice and it was a pretty good trek up there because once we reached the top of Look Rock and the Observation Tower Sweet Pea decided she needed a rest. I guess she got her nickname pancake Pea for a reason ;)
It just so happened that our Cades Cove drive and Look Rock/Observation Tower fell on her very special day. She says it was the best gift. We didn't really plan things they just kind fell into the proper place.
The EmmaMobile is still rolling and this time it rolled to Enterprise South Nature Park, Chattanooga, TN:
What a wonderful day it is.....it's Emma Day!! or others in blogville may be familiar with it as Gotcha Day. We prefer Emma Day because it personalizes the occasion and makes it a bit more special for us.
Tonight our accommodations is a newly renovated Motel 6 in Bowling Green, KY. It sure is nice.
On the road again and this time we are going to Half Price Books used book stores i n Louisville, KY for Mom and Dad and then we are going to E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. This is where we found the very disappointing dog park all locked up. You needed a pass code to enter. That's o.k. because we found plenty of trails to entertain ourselves. Heads up those Kentucky squirrels are crazy. They kept stalking us, they are relentless. What kind of squirrel willing torments 3 dogs?
Oh no, if it keeps raining like this we won't be able to go for our walk.
Oh joy, it stopped raining so we could go for our walk. It was a little soggy and I got my under carriage a bit mud splashed, but it all wiped off and we had a great time. Again, we were the only ones in the park.
I do believe I smell another Three Dog Bakery approaching. Could it be? Yes, it sure is Three Dog Bakery in Louisville, KY.
I hope everyone has enjoyed sharing our vacation with us. I wanted to save it all somewhere so we would always remember what we did and where we went and how much fun we had along the way.
The End
