Day 10 Tennessee to Home Sweet Home Alabama

Our last day to do what we wanted to do. We headed out for the Smokey Mountains and wound our way through them and then ended up back in Cherokee National Forest. Up mountains and down mountains all day, we actually ended up higher in the CNF than we did in Shenandoah. We were close to 5000'. Earlier, we had stopped at a roadside market to get a bag of boiled peanuts. I am not deathly allergic to them, but sometimes I do have problems when I eat them, little things like not being able to breathe and getting faint and having my throat feel like it is closing in on me. Oh yeah, it happened at the 4550' level. I pulled into a lookout area and sat there chugging water until I could burp and clear a path to breathe. Then all I had to do was to imagine I wasn't going to faint and shake the looseness out of my body. Once I finally had it all together again, we eased on down the mountain only to be passed by 2 bikers speeding by who gave me dirty looks for driving 20 in a 20mph zone. Rounding the next curve, we saw them sitting patiently while the cop wrote their speeding ticket. We drove slowly by, staying within that 20 mph limit and smiled at them.

Going down the 4 lane, Corgan yelled out, "A Baby Bear!!"

"Where?" I yelled back, afraid I had hit it.

"Back there, just walking down the highway, a cute fuzzy faced little baby bear. We have to save it," he announced.

Now this highway is interstate type of highway. One doesn't just stop and back up. One also couldn't let a baby bear just wander out into the highway and get killed.

We drove to the next exit, a good 5 miles away. Then we drove back the other way to the next exit, another 7 miles away. Then, we got back in our original lanes and drove that 2 plus miles back to where we had started.

All along the way, I was wondering how I was going to capture a baby bear and get it out of the highway. What if the mother was right up that grassy slope, munching away while her baby was wandering out toward traffic. What if she really didn't like the idea of me stopping to rescue her baby? At the same time, I heard Corgan mumble, "Looked like a baby bear, could have been a dog, could have been a bear but might have been a dog."

Okay, a dog I could handle much better than a baby bear. A dog I could put in the car and take to the nearest shelter. A baby bear was a totally different situation.

Driving slowly, I was looking for a baby bear sized dog or bear itself. Suddenly Corgan screeched, "There it is!"

Of course I had passed it by then. There was no way I was going 5 miles down the road and turn around and do it all again. I waited until the 18 wheelers passed and then I got out to find and rescue our dog or bear, all the time watching not only cars coming toward me, but the woods in case a mama bear came rushing out. I had already figured out how I would run around and around the car yelling at Corgan to open my door just as I reached it. I never had to.

Ahead of me on the edge of the green grass next to the highway, a small brown fuzzy creature wobbled ahead of me. It turned and looked at me as if to say, "What is a human doing out here on the roadway when it has a vehicle to travel in?"

It looked like a beaver from the front view as it eyed me, but when it wobbled away, it looked like a giant fuzzy brown rat.

Deciding that if I chased it I might run it right into the path of the cars that were passing me, with drivers and passengers looking at me standing there looking at a giant fuzzy brown rat thing.

We watched it wobble off, seeming to know where the safety of the grass border was and then we drove off too.

Only a few miles away, I saw another one standing right at the edge of the road so I honked the horn loudly and for a few seconds. It leaped onto the grassy hill and ran up to safety. At least we saved one of them without having to brave traffic or angry mother whatever they were.

From there we went to a friend's house and took a break while my friend showed us his yard and crafts facility. He entertained Corgan with the bongos and fruit trees and one of his huge English Shepherd Dogs, and then gifted Corgan with a very special one of a kind item he had created himself. After a cola for Corgan and a water break for PeeWee, we once again drove off into those mountains.

All trip we looked for waterfalls and never did find one. Yet as we drove along those mountain roads, we saw a sign that said waterfalls. It was a small road that went downhill a bit so we were game. The only thing I didn't consider was that it obviously would go uphill also. The road was not wide at all. One lane was it, one vehicle at a time on it. That was okay, we were the only vehicle.

This place was the switchback capital! The road went maybe 300yrds and then switched back sharply around the bend, going down as we approached the switchback and then immediately headed uphill. There was no place to turn around so we kept going up. All too soon, the passenger side was on the very edge of nothing. The road not only got more narrow as we went more up, it was no longer paved, but was a dirt and gravel path.

PeeWee was in his kennel, totally oblivious to the peril outside his safety zone. Corgan and I were not actually panicking, but probably as close as one can get and still maintain some degree of dignity.
As we veered back on one perilous switchback, I was near tears, the road was disintegrating just inches from our tires and there was nothing there but nothing. There was also no way to go but up again.

Suddenly, a car rounded the switchback above us. We inched up and passed one another in the bend of the switchback (the widest spot) as I rolled down my window. The man looked at us, his face white as a sheet, his wife's matched. "Turn around," he offered. "There is a place right here, turn around."

They went on past us, down the gravely road and we turned a sharp left on the current switchback. I saw a small level spot but it was not large enough for our Expedition to turn around so I figured it was a little farther on. ... No.

We were stuck. We couldn't go down, we most likely wouldn't make it up to the top, and top was still a ways to go. As we manuevered around yet one more switchback without going off into the void, I saw a spot where someone had leveled to dump stuff. I was able to pull in as far as possible into the side of the mountain and back up ever so gingerly until we were finally facing the down position of the road.

Going up was rough. Going down was rougher. The tires slid on the gravel road and I had to drive just a wee bit past 1 and a half miles an hour to keep from sliding. Switchback after switchback passed as we descended yard after yard until we could finally see the ground again. We were through with waterfalls.

Driving a few miles down the highway once again, I looked over and out Corgan's window and saw........a waterfall. Screeching to a stop on the side of the road, we got our cameras and locked the car and walked back to the edge of the road where we could see the waterfall. We did a lot of switchbacks and tested our level of fear for nothing. The waterfall was right in front of us and we didn't have to do anything to see it but look.

Once back in the car, we drove a wee bit more and saw a sign for a state park. Driving in, we saw a huge lake to our right. We drove on until we came to the park station, paid our fees, and drove til we found a parking spot. For the next 30 minutes I took photos, walked with Corgan and PeeWee and finally let PeeWee swim in the creek. He needed to swim in the creek because only an hour earlier he had rolled over and over in a dead chicken back at my friend's place.

Slowly we began driving out of the mountains through small but very picturesque roads until we reached the interstate and were once again facing Alabama.

It was a great road trip and an interesting one with a 12 yr old. He was a fun and witty companion and we formed a bond that you only get when trapped with someone 24/7 for 10 days. I hope his mom knows what a special boy he is and I pray she enjoys each and every day she has with him. They grow up way too fast.

I don't know if I will ever get to take another grandchild on a road trip, the others are so young now. I may have to settle for just PeeWee for as long as he and I can plan a map and hit the road. Night all.