Day 64

Day 64: 7/20/15 (Mammoth Cave to Great Smoky Mountain via Nashville, TN)

342 miles

We didn’t have much of an agenda for the day so we let ourselves sleep in this morning and took our time taking down the tent.  With all the rain we got the night before, there was a lot to brush off and dry off – we definitely didn’t miss any of that.  We finally got on the road to Great Smoky Mountain National Park with a plan to make a pit stop in Nashville.  We checked Tripadvisor before we left, but there wasn’t much that stood out.  We only had a couple of hours in the city so we decided we would just find a place for lunch.  Jillian has wanted to try pho since we were on the West coast.  We found a pretty well-reviewed place in Nashville and headed straight there.  We ordered pho and a sandwich to split and everything was SO GOOD.  If only Nashville was a shorter drive, we’d be eating there every other week.

After lunch, we hopped back in the car for a few more hours until we arrived at Great Smoky.  On the way we called an apartment complex to schedule a viewing.  They only had a one-bedroom available, but we figured that we’d take anything at this point.  We have 2 days to learn more, but our fingers are crossed.  Jillian also spent some time catching up on the blog because we didn’t want to get behind too much.  We arrived at 5:30pm and about 10 minutes later it started raining.  We waited out the worst of it in the car, but then pulled out our rain jackets and umbrellas and braved the gloomy weather.  Great Smoky is a unique park because a lot of the park can be enjoyed just by driving through it.  There are also a lot of 19^th century homes and buildings that have been preserved. 

When we got to our campsite it was already dark so we had to set up with flashlights.  Unfortunately there was no wifi or even service so we weren’t able to keep up with the blog or apartment hunting.  Once everything was set up, we quickly made some mac and cheese and headed to bed.

Fact:

When National Parks don't provide enough bathrooms around the park, it forces the visitors to pee in the woods

Lesson:

If you want really good pho, go to Nashville

Eat Well; Travel Often

Rico & Jillian