I'm sittin here at an RV park off I-10 in Beaumont. We're here to visit my brother Mark.
Great Smoky was nice, but a little too brief. The first day was overcast, so we decided to do a scenic drive over to Asheville to visit Aimee's Mom, who was there looking at places to retire. We stopped at Clingmans dome on the way, the highest point in the Smoky's. The view wasn't so good, no big surprise do to the weather. Here I am Clingmans dome:
The next day was beautiful and I was well rested. Aimee and I did a quick hike in the morning on the most popular trail in the park - Laurel Falls trail. It was a ½ mile pave trail to a 15’ falls. Not my idea of a hike. That afternoon Aimee agreed to start a big hike with me and when she got tired she would turn back on her own and pick me up later. I was contemplating turning around with her so we could go into Gatlinburg and do some touristy stuff, when along came a hiker who I asked is there anything interesting at the top of the trail. He told me a beautiful 80’ falls. I decided I had to go to the top. Aimee turned around after 45 minutes and I continued to the top. The two-hour hike to the top was worth it, a beautiful 80’ falls, heare are the falls: 
As I headed back down I passed a couple that just came out of the woods onto the trail. There was a black bear blocking the trail eating berries. I was a couple of men hoofing through the woods down the mountain, so I followed their path. As I was approaching them I knew they would ask about the bear, so I came up with a good story. One man asked me did I see the bear. I replied, yup he was blocking the trail so I swatted him on the ass and he got outta the way. The guy replied incredulously, really? I couldn’t keep up the story, so I told them no.
I got down the mountain in 1.5 hours and was a half an hour early for my pick up. So I started walking down the road, tired as hell, hoping that Aimee wouldn’t be late, but would be early. In 10 minutes Aimee came roaring up the road; boy was I happy!
The next day we got up and headed for Arkansas. It was over 636 miles away predominately I-40, to Petit Jean State Park near Russellville, AR. We stayed overnight in West Memphis in an RV park 7 miles north on I-55. It was flat and noisy since it was just off the interstate.
We arrived at Petit Jean around 1pm. The young girl at the registration desk had a hard time figuring out how to charge us for the remaining two nights of our 3 day stay; welcome to Arkansas! We took a shot hike and retired for the evening.
The next morning we got up took a very nice hike down to Cedar Falls. This is a picture of the falls:
In the afternoon we drove to Hot Springs, the other home of our former President Bill Clinton. It really wasn’t worth the drive. The shops along the street had little to offer in the way of wares to buy. The National Park offered a restored Bath House that could be out of a movie like the Shining. The next morning I got Aimee out of bed at 6:30 am and we got on the road for Beaumont, TX to visit my brother.
Today Aimee went shopping and I went sailing with my brother Mark on his 39ft sailboat on Sabine lake. It was my dog Barley’s first time sailing. She was a little nervous due to the heel of the boat in 22-knot winds! Mark put us on a broad reach and the boat leveled out. Barley and I enjoyed the sail very much. We finished with Barley taking a swim off the dock and Mark and I eating Chicken sausages, which were quite good and according to Mark apparently quite healthy!
Great Smoky was nice, but a little too brief. The first day was overcast, so we decided to do a scenic drive over to Asheville to visit Aimee's Mom, who was there looking at places to retire. We stopped at Clingmans dome on the way, the highest point in the Smoky's. The view wasn't so good, no big surprise do to the weather. Here I am Clingmans dome:
The next day was beautiful and I was well rested. Aimee and I did a quick hike in the morning on the most popular trail in the park - Laurel Falls trail. It was a ½ mile pave trail to a 15’ falls. Not my idea of a hike. That afternoon Aimee agreed to start a big hike with me and when she got tired she would turn back on her own and pick me up later. I was contemplating turning around with her so we could go into Gatlinburg and do some touristy stuff, when along came a hiker who I asked is there anything interesting at the top of the trail. He told me a beautiful 80’ falls. I decided I had to go to the top. Aimee turned around after 45 minutes and I continued to the top. The two-hour hike to the top was worth it, a beautiful 80’ falls, heare are the falls: 
As I headed back down I passed a couple that just came out of the woods onto the trail. There was a black bear blocking the trail eating berries. I was a couple of men hoofing through the woods down the mountain, so I followed their path. As I was approaching them I knew they would ask about the bear, so I came up with a good story. One man asked me did I see the bear. I replied, yup he was blocking the trail so I swatted him on the ass and he got outta the way. The guy replied incredulously, really? I couldn’t keep up the story, so I told them no.
I got down the mountain in 1.5 hours and was a half an hour early for my pick up. So I started walking down the road, tired as hell, hoping that Aimee wouldn’t be late, but would be early. In 10 minutes Aimee came roaring up the road; boy was I happy!
The next day we got up and headed for Arkansas. It was over 636 miles away predominately I-40, to Petit Jean State Park near Russellville, AR. We stayed overnight in West Memphis in an RV park 7 miles north on I-55. It was flat and noisy since it was just off the interstate.
We arrived at Petit Jean around 1pm. The young girl at the registration desk had a hard time figuring out how to charge us for the remaining two nights of our 3 day stay; welcome to Arkansas! We took a shot hike and retired for the evening.
The next morning we got up took a very nice hike down to Cedar Falls. This is a picture of the falls:
In the afternoon we drove to Hot Springs, the other home of our former President Bill Clinton. It really wasn’t worth the drive. The shops along the street had little to offer in the way of wares to buy. The National Park offered a restored Bath House that could be out of a movie like the Shining. The next morning I got Aimee out of bed at 6:30 am and we got on the road for Beaumont, TX to visit my brother.
Today Aimee went shopping and I went sailing with my brother Mark on his 39ft sailboat on Sabine lake. It was my dog Barley’s first time sailing. She was a little nervous due to the heel of the boat in 22-knot winds! Mark put us on a broad reach and the boat leveled out. Barley and I enjoyed the sail very much. We finished with Barley taking a swim off the dock and Mark and I eating Chicken sausages, which were quite good and according to Mark apparently quite healthy!
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