Cades Cove

One of my favourite places in the world, is Cades Cover.  I just love the area.  If you want to read more about the history of Cades Cove you can read about it here.  I find it very interesting.

We have been a number of times over the years, and we went on September 30th, which was a Tuesday and in the morning.  We have been on a weekend and I hated it.  There are a lot of selfish people in this world, and despite big signs saying do not idle, they drive along at 5mph!!!  Cades Cove is a 12 mile one way road.  There are many, many places to pull in to let people pass, but some people ignore it!!!

Here are some photo's I took:

The drive to Cades Cove from Sugarlands Visitor Centre takes a good 40 minutes depending on the traffic.  It's a very windy road, with a speed limit of 30 or 35 mph.  Again many pull off areas for you to stop.  We didn't stop in at Sugarlands this time.  At the time of writing this post, both the visitor centre and Cades Cove is shut down because of the US Government action.

There is a visitor centre and bathrooms half way round the loop.  We did see a mother bear and two babies, though were not close enough to take photos.  There a big signs throughout the loop telling you to stay away from the wildlife and not too feed them.  In this case with the bears, the cars in front of us stopped in the middle of the road.  A couple of people got out to take photos, including an older man using a walking stick.

Everyone knows to keep well away of a mother bear with cubs.  But that idiot kept on walking closer.  If she had turned nasty, he wouldn't have stood a chance and it would have been his fault.  I am sitting here shaking my head when thinking about it.

We saw plenty of wild turkeys, and some deer as well.

On a Wednesday it is shut down to motor vehicles and only open to walkers and bicycle's.  If I were fit enough I would love to be able to walk or bike it.  It would be so peaceful.  

It's such a lovely place and well worth the visit, if you are in the area.

Sitting in Starbucks, as they have free Wi-Fi (photo heavy)..........

The cabin does not have Wi-Fi, neither can we access anyone else.......so I am having a Venti tea while dh is reading the newspaper and I catch up with my blogging and emails.  Those tea bags are huge!!

Anyhow, so far so good.  The cabin is 1.1 miles up a mountain and it's perched on the side again.  The views are to die for you can see miles and miles.  I WILL NOT BE CLIMBING UP AND DOWN THE MOUNTAIN FOR EXERCISE JUST IN CASE ANYONE IS WONDERING!!!

The cabin itself though is a bit "tired" and in need of a refurbishment, but suits us fine.

We went up to Cades Cove on Monday and although lovely it was busy so not as enjoyable as in prior years.  Plus it was stinking hot and humid.  I'll talk more about Cades Cove when we get back.

We did however see a couple of black bears while there, which we haven't seen prior.  Again I'll talk about it more when we get back

We had a picnic lunch in the park where I was at one with nature for around 20 minutes.  Then I decided enough of being at one with nature as the bloody flies were eating me alive!!

We are heading to the Bush Beans Visitor Centre today as we love beans and the place sounds interesting ; though I have a feeling if we eat there we will be gassy for the rest of the day!! We have stuff planned for the rest of the week.  Just hope it cools down as temps with the humidity are hitting the high 80's.

We are also planning on doing some relaxing as well, and as the road up to the cabin is only accessible in winter in a four wheel drive or a vehicle with chains on the tires it is bloody high, narrow and bendy, so I am refusing point blank to go out after dark, in case we fall off the side of the mountain!!!

So, so far so good.  We are enjoying ourselves and I will be back posting the next time we are in Starbucks.  My apologies for not checking on your blogs, but just don't have the time.  Next time we come we have decided we MUST have Internet access!!!