Illinois and Chicago.

Written by Pete!!!.

Shabbona Lake State Park & DeKalb!

On Monday 11th August, at around 8am, saw us on the move again, this time round to the east side of Lake Michigan, and Shabbona Lake State Park. This paticular campground was chosen especially for its close proximity to 'The Windy City' as we wanted to visit Chicago, on the Wednesday, for the day and take an open-top bus tour around the city and enjoy all that Chicago had to offer.

On Site at Shabbona Lake State Park.

Complete with picnic table and fire ring.

Shabbona Lake was typical of the State Parks we had now become acustomed to, we selected a nice, private site and spent most of Monday Afternoon 'setting up' and relaxing. Tuesday consisted of a trip to nearby DeKalb, the closest town to us. A pretty little town, with the now familiar main street. A stroll up one side and down the other proved not very interesting, most of the shops and businesses were closed or empty, but we did happen upon a building that used to be the main bank. There was a sign in the window that said "Chamber of Commerce and tourist info" After going inside we were amazed to see that the interior of the 'bank' had hardly been touched and retained all of its features and character, including its main bank vaults! I had been trying, rather unsucessfully, over the past few days to try and locate the best place to park the car in Chicago, and where to catch the 'open-top tour bus' and to say that I was becoming a ' little frustrated ' due to the lack of knowledge that had been coming from the other end of the phone over the past few days, was an understatement to say the least, One tour company call centre was located in Georgia!! and when I was asking "exactly where do we catch the tour bus?" and several other 'Chicago' related questions, all I got was "erm, not sure" or "I dunno" I proceeded to ask him how can he operate a 'Chicago tourist switchboard' but know nothing of the City concerned? His answer was "Because I live in Georgia and I've never been to Chicago!" at that point I put the phone down!! But after 30 mins inside the 'bank' we were a little clearer on what area to head for and where a few car parks were located. Also obtained, were several 'tour company' telephone numbers located in Chicago itself, and not in some other State!

The First National Bank Tourist Information Centre..........

Complete with the original vaults........

(Inside the vault......)

And the paying/receiving counter, still in tact, untouched, DeKalb.

Main Street, DeKalb.

The Square, DeKalb.

The Egyptian Cinema, DeKalb.

Expressing our gratitude, and saying our goodbyes, we continued on, along the Main Street pausing to look in the few shop windows that were open or occupied, it was then that I saw it!!!!!!!

There it was, like an Oasis in the desert!!! I couldnt believe my eyes!!!! AN IRISH BAR!!!

" Well, we cant really not go in, can we?" I said, hopefully!... There was no answer from Sue, so a little pleading and, eventually, begging, on my behalf, saw us inside 'O'flannerys' just a few minutes later, perched at the bar, Guinness in hand, HEAVEN!!!! (Unfortunately, due to sheer excitement on my behalf, i was unable to take any photos, hic.......hic.....!)

This proved to be a wise move, in more ways than one (luckily for me!) After chatting to one of the barmaids, she informed us of a local train (20 mins away)at Elburn, that goes straight into Downtown Chicago, a 90 minute journey, and around $20 return, for both of us!! She also told us of the extortionate car parking charges Downtown, at around $30 for the day, so that was it. The train it was!!!
Just before we returned to Shabbona Lake, we decided to just check out the train station at Elburn, and also the train schedule. we opted for the 7.30am train, arriving at Union Street Station, Chicago, just before 9am.

A day in Chicago! Written by Sue!

Taken on our day out in Chicago.

Because the station was around 40 mins away, we needed to be leaving the site at 6-45 giving us plenty of time to get there and park the car, Pete set the alarm for 5-45 and when it went off he pressed the snooze button and when he next looked it was 7-00!! He jumped out of bed and realised we could not possibly make the 7-30 train, it was then that I asked him if he had changed the clock as we had moved from Eastern to Central time zone, an hour difference,he hadn't and it was only 6-00 so I forgave him his error! We arrived in good time for the train and was amazed to see the carriage was a double-decker and as it was empty, Pete got out the video camera and filmed the whole interior of the carriage, this is a new experience for us, something so different so we had to have it on film!

The Double -deck Metra Train Station, Elburn, Illinois.

As we travelled through the suburbs the train stoped at most stations and it started to get very busy with lots of people boarding, I suppose this train is the one of the most popular as it will get people to Chicago in time for work. Arriving at Union Station, Chicago, was like any other busy station with workers rushing to get to work on time and start their day. Our day was going to be so different as we would discover.

Union Street Station, Chicago.

Our first Glimpse of the Chicago Skyscrapers......

More fantastic Skyscrapers, Chicago.

Chicago Opera House.

When we came out of the station doors we stood, and just raised our eyes upwards, and our mouths dropped to our chest, it was the most amazing sight we had ever seen ,sky-scrapers everywhere, but with lots of sun light getting through which made it so easy to see the famous sky-line and to see each individual building itself! after our inital shock we made our way to the corner of Jackson and Whacker, and the location of The Sears Tower, we continued to the South-East corner, where we were told that all the tour busses would be. We saw an open top bus parked and started to walk towards it, It was at that point that a man, who obviously worked for the tour company, appeared from behind the bus and proceeded to wave the tickets at us, and 'beckon' us over, at this point we were probably 50-60 metres from the coach, as we got nearer, he encouraged us to listen to what he had to say about the tour and how much it was, $20 each, which was fine but he said we were a little early and the bus didn't leave until 10am, so we decided to go for a coffee, and on our return I asked the ticket seller, out of curiosity, why he had waved US across? his answer was "we looked happy and were smiling, so he knew we were not going to work, so we had to be tourists!!"

Elevated Train, West Chicago.


Historical Building, Chicago.

Taken from the tour bus, looking towards Downtown Chicago.

Historical Building, Chicago.

Chicago Skyscrapers.

Elevated Train, Note the workers on the track! Nice job!

Travelling on the open top bus,which has to be the best way to see this or any other City, and having a guide tell us the history is always an interesting feature, Pete and I were kept extremely busy with both cameras, camcorder and digital, to try and capture as much as possible of this fantastic city. The good thing about these tour buses is you can get on or off at different places of interest if you wish, but our time was limited due to leaving Amber, so we always opt to stay on the bus and see the tour through to the end and then, time permitting, we choose the sights we want to see.

One of the amazing Hotel's of Chicago.

Art Institute, Chicago.

Roosevelt University Building, Chicago.

Hilton Hotel, Chicago.

Hilton Hotel, Chicago.

The saying is "You havent seen Chicago until you''ve seen it from the top of Sears Tower"and this was the first building we saw, across the road from where we caught the tour bus, but decided to come back at the end of the tour as it was on our wish list to travel to the top, 'The Skydeck' and see across Chicago and into Wisconsin.

Sears Tower.

Sears Tower.

Sears Tower.

Chicago Skyline.

Chicago skyscrapers, note the diamond shaped roof.........

They had to install heaters in the glass roof to prevent ice from falling on to the sidewalk below.

The central core of Chicago is called The Loop because of the elevated train tracks that encircle this district which consist of financial and government buildings along with a thriving shopping and cultural scene,you can get off the bus here and go to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago where they will take your photo next to the 'million dollar briefcase' and they will give you $300 to put through their large shredding machine, what a waste! I presume they are old notes as they are in sealed packets.

Cartier, Chicago.

In the booming 1920s, film, jazz and big band music flourished here and acts such as Charlie Chaplin, Duke Ellington and Glen Miller were all here to entertain at the clubs and theaters which came to be the stomping grounds for notorious gangsters. The West Loop is known as "foodies paradise"you can eat Greek, Asian, Italian and Mexican just about any type of cuisine can be found here . Passing over the river where you can have a tour by water taxi if you wish, seeing the city from a different aspect with 53 buildings ,bridges and landmarks to photograph. We were having enough trouble trying to keep up with it all on the coach, with so much to see and film.

We were now approching Wrigley Field, the oldest ball park in the national league and where the Chicago Cubs play, you can watch a Cubs game from the Wrigleyville Rooftops, which is the most unique experience, or you can see the Whitesox at U.S. Cellular Field, play, but I know that my son would just about give anything to be here today being as baseball is his favourite sport, and he did play for England ,wouldnt any baseball fan or player want to be at this historic ball park (did you know baseball was the game of the English first?)

The Wrigley Building.

Buildings around Wrigley Field.

Our next stop was Navy Pier which is the citys most visited destination and has 50 acres of parks,shops,resturants and attractions this was a busy stop and many people got off the bus to check this out. On Wednesday and Saturday evenings there are firework displays which are synchronized to music and, as we were told, they are spectacular.

Navy Pier.

Oprah Winfrey, Alice Cooper and John Belushi all live here!!

Continuing on the tour we passed the Science & Industry Museum, Adler Planetarium, The Shedd Aquarium and The Hancock Observatory. The next stop on the tour was at the side of Lake Michigan which was a 'photo stop' and the driver and guide offer to take your photo with The Chicago Skyline as your back-drop (see the pic he did a good job)

The Hancock Observatory.

Sue and Pete, with the Chicago Skyline behind us.


The Field Museum.

The next stop was "Trump Tower" (Donald has come to Chicago!), opened in Dec 2007 with 286 hotel condos and 339 rooms, $2,000 a night for a Grand Deluxe lake suite, 92 story's high and a luxury service with a personal concierge and even personalised stationary! There are views through the 30 foot 'floor to ceiling' windows.

Trump Tower, Still under construction.

Church, near Trump Tower.


Excalibur Building.

The next stop was "Marina City", this has two huge towers on the Chicago River, there is parking for your boat ,which I can assure you are luxury beyound belief,the next floor is for your car, and above that, is your Luxury Condo.

Marina City, Boat Park then Car Park, then luxury condo above, perfect!

Although Chicago is known as the windy city the tour guide said this is a mith and its actually not any breezier than any other American city, but when we were on top of the bus passing Lake Michigan it sure felt a windy city to me!

The 'largest' building in Chicago, it occupies a whole city block and comes with its own zip code.

We were now coming to the end of the tour and as we left the bus for the last time, we headed across the road and straight into The Sears Tower, and the Sky Deck entrance. This is the tallest tower in Chicago, and indeed America, standing 1,450 feet and 1,730 feet at the top of its twin antenna, and on a clear day you can see four States, Illinos, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin! It took three years to build and was completed in 1973. It has a 6 inch sway on windy days, it has 16,100 windows and has 110 stories, and is the tallest building in North America and the 5th tallest in the world! and we were heading for the elevators which travel at 1,600 feet a minute but you never felt a thing, it was so smooth, it was everything we had been told with 360 degree views and unbeliveable sights that stretched off into the horizon. It was a little hazy and we did not see the four states (we did see into Wisconsin and Indiana) but we sure did see some amazing sights and I hate to say it, but you really have to be there, to see it !!

Below are some photo's took from 'The Skydeck' at the top of Sears Tower:

We were now on the train home, after an unforgettable day and feeling very weary, we were so glad we made this trip and the photos and video we took, will always remind us of our visit to "The Windy City" It was, again, a fantastic day out!!!

Our next stop is Wisconsin and a 'house' that contains the largest carousel in the world!!!!

Details to follow!

Indiana

Indiana.


Written by Pete and Sue!

On the 2nd August it was time to leave Ripplin' Waters, Sevierville, Tennesee and at 8-00, Saturday morning we were on our way! Todays journey would take us through Kentucky, South to North, and into Ohio, on the state border with Southern Indiana, total mileage, around 350 miles, arriving at our next campground at 2-30pm which was Brookville Lake Recreation Area (a State Park!) Being as it was a Saturday afternoon and a beautiful day, it was packed and most sites were taken, but we had ours reserved! Majority of the 'Campers' had brought their boats with them, and there were all shapes and sizes. After setting up, and exploring the surrounding area we discovered why, it had a great lake and a beach with a swimming area!

For once, the climate was great here, we could sit outside in comfort, what a treat, we have not been able to do this in weeks! This however, was a stop off point en-route to our next main destination, Spaulding Lake RV Park at a place called Niles, Michigan, on the borders of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan.

On site, Spaulding Lake RV Park, Niles, MN.

Spaulding Lake RV Park, Niles, MN.

When we arrived at this next site, Spaulding Lake, and after the very busy Brookville Lake, it was refreshing to discover that it was a very relaxed and quiet Campground, It was surrounded by a very pleasant wooded area for walking Amber, complete with a stream and trails to hike along. The main reason for the week here at Niles is because it is very near to the area where the Amish community live and work. they mostly work in all the RV factories as they are excellent carpenters and joiners,and the main Gulfstream factory is located here also, and we wanted to visit and see for ourselves where our first RV was built and purchased .

Our First RV, built at Gulfstream in Nappannee, IN and sent to us in the UK!

Even the local BP Petrol Station provides somewhere to tie up your horse! Nappannee, IN.

Horses and Carts are...........

A typical sight in Amish Land!, Nappannee, IN.

Amish Acres in Nappannee was our first day out, which is a historic farm that we found very interesting, but a bit commercialised, so after a brief stop, mainly for a few photo's, we moved on, traveling through Elkhart County, which we discovered is the third largest Amish enclave and seeing horse drawn buggies, their everyday mode of transport, clattering down the road was very humbling experience.

Entance to Amish Acres Historic Farm, Nappannee, IN.

Outside the Meat and Cheese Barn, Amish Acres, Nappannee, IN.

Inside the Meat and Cheese Barn, Amish Acres, Nappannee, IN.

Amish Acres Historic Farm, Nappannee, IN.

The Amish movement started in 1525 in Switzerland and although they dont believe in modern conveniences as it detracts from family life, they do have a few exceptions, like a few children have mountain bikes and they have been seen to drive their horse draw buggies to the 'drive thru' banks and ATM machines! They arn't allowed to have home phones, but cell phones are allowed and they do not have electricity from a utility company but they can have a generator.

Amish Women & children, turning into a carpark...........

tying up the 'steed'..........(Note the rear lights/turn signals.)

and entering the store. (Note the Amish man in braces) Shipshewana, IN.

There is 20,000 plus Amish who are accomplished farmers and produce some of the best food in the region and they make the fabulous individual heirloom quilts and of course the most amazing furniture which is why they are employed by the large RV manifacturers, like Gulfstream and Monaco.

These people have a simple life, their houses are painted all white and have very neat gardens. They are very friendly, but there religious beliefs prohibit them being photographed with still or video cameras, we did not know this until i went through the leaflet when we got back, fortunately as you can see, most of the pictures i took are while we are in the car, and hopefully they didnt notice or we may have offended them. An interesting 'Amish' fact, most Amish weddings are held on Thursday mornings, followed by a lunch for several hundred with afternoon visitations then another evening meal, this time for the youngsters.

Shipshewana Town Centre was a typical Amish town with everyone going about there daily buisness, feed stores outnumber banks three to one and buggies line up in car parks ,they do have the most fantastic looking horses they almost look like race horses, very well looked after. After looking at the photos you can see why their slogan is 'Life in the Past Lane'.

Amish Woman, Shipshewana, IN.

We went to the Gulfstream factory on the way back and of course we had to have a look through the new RVs that were parked outside which reminded us of when we first went to check out our RV in the UK, and was so excited and even more so when it arrived at the dealers in the UK.

The Gulfstream 'Showcase', Napannee, IN.

Pete, outside the Gulfstream Factory, Napannee, IN.

On Saturday we discovered a RV-MH Hall of Fame museum which is in Elkhart "RV Capital of the World" 100 manufacturers are based within a 25 mile radius here,and can you believe that the Tinkers started this industry around 1910, constructing travel trailers. The current location of the Museum, is a large new building and it was very interesting, a much better museum than we thought and I (Sue!) have a confession to make!!! I forgot to charge our camera up and so when it came to taking photos, yes you guessed it, flat battery!! so i am very sorry, but the great photos that we could have had to put on the blog, we havent got!! We did buy a 'throw away' camera and when we took it to be developed and they were, to say the least, awful. But if you can imagine 50 motorhomes, RV's and restored travel trailers dating from 1934 in a area of 80,000 sq ft, it was a great afternoon.

The Motorhome and RV Hall of Fame and Museum, Elkhart, IN.

Pete was so disappointed that he cant post any photos from the museum, he is going to contact the museum to see if we can get them to send us some photos for the blog. We will keep you posted.

We passed through Ligonier a small town that has a single main street, which seems to have a surprising number of Mexican eateries, we were a bit peckish, but decided on a 'Chinese Buffet Lunch' which is always good value at $5 each, all you can eat! This provides excellent value and great food. Check out the amazing murals we saw on the walls, here in Ligonier.

Main Street, Ligonier Town, IN.

Wall Mural, Ligonier Town, IN.

Wall Mural, Ligonier Town, IN.

Wall Mural, Ligonier Town, IN.

We then carried on through the Amish Community and approached Topeka, a small Amish town nestled amongst rolling acres of cornfields and typical white houses. This looked like an 'Oasis in the desert' for the Amish, complete with banks, feed stores, and even a Post Office, the car-park was full of Horse drawn buggies, all tied up!!

Amish Family, Topeka, IN.

Post Office 'Car-Park', Topeka, IN.

Amish D.I.Y Store, Topeka, IN

Amish Buggy, Topeka, IN.

We stayed briefly, to take some photo's, discreetly of course, and then started heading back to Niles. We had ventured further than we thought and it turned out we had a good 2 hour drive back to our RV at Spaulding Lake!!

Typical Amish House.

On reflection, the Amish way of life is very simple, no mod cons, no electricity or gas, and probably no bills either!! they arn't even allowed buttons or zippers, only hooks and eyes!! and when you see them going about their daily life, with their horses and carts, its easy to become slightly envious of them, they are most definitely, not in the 'rat-race' and their slogan 'Life in the PAST lane' fits them perfectly!


The windy city, CHICAGO! awaits us!!!!!

DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!

Tennessee

North Carolina to Tennessee.

Written by Sue & Pete.

After the ordeal that we went through 'en route' from South Carolina to North Carolina,we were glad to be leaving Rosman, even if the site we had stayed on was so nice,

So, on Saturday 19th July we set off heading onto US Highway 64, East, Out of the mountains and towards Brevard. After only about 30 minutes of traveling something that resembled a coyote, ran straight out in front of the rv!!! Pete did his best to miss it by slamming on the brakes and blasting his air horns but to no avail, it disappeared under the front of the coach and then came out the drivers side, behind us, and with our RV having quite a high ground clearance we believe it ran off , back into the woods where it had appeared from, to lick its wounds!!

It was then that the we heard an awful 'scraping' sound, coming from the front underneath of the RV, and Pete was forced to pull over to the side of the road to inspect the extent of the now inevitible damage(the only narrow, single lane road we have come across since being in America!!) we looked underneath to find the cause of the horrible scraping noise, as the Coyote had passed under the RV, it had caught the Exhaust pipe of the Generator, ripping it off its mounting brackets, and it was being dragged along the floor!! It was still attached to the manifold of the generator, so after 'borrowing' a bungie cord, that was already securing our reclining chairs to the back of the rv, we managed to strap it up, out of harms way, until we could find somewhere a little more safer to fully secure the pipe. The whole incident was very up setting to say the least .
We moved on, through Hendersonville, and onto Interstate 26 North, direction Tennessee. it was here we found a proper rest area and pulled in to inspect the strapped up pipe, we discovered that the end of the pipe seemed to be chafing alongside the inner front tyre, so we spent the next 2 hours or more, with our trusty toolkit in hand, under the front of the RV stripping the whole assembly down, with a view to removing the pipe altogether and have it re-assembled when we arrived at our next stop. Of course, all the nuts and bolts where seized up completely and since our 150 piece toolkit cost only $18, we were a little under equipped to say the least!! We also seemed to be attracting alot of attention, due to the fact that Sue was also lying under the RV, spanner in hand, (Dont think Americans had seen a woman with tools in her hand before!) and we lost count of how many truckers had come across to ask if we needed any help, and obviously, comment on 'Mechanic Sue' One old trucker, he looked like an Owner-Driver, came over and said to me "Jeez I wish I could get my wife under my truck when it needs fixing, wait till i tell her!!" So, we dont know what can of worms we opened there!! after removing every seized nut and bolt, EXCEPT ONE!!!! it just wouldnt come loose, we decided to 'bend' the pipe a bit more to enable us to secure it up, out of the way of the front tyre, with the help of yet another bungie cord off our reclining chairs. These chairs now were getting a little thin on 'bungies' so, due to our current bad luck, decided to remove the chairs from the rear ladder of the RV and put them in the back of the car, just to be on the safe side!!

We continued on with our journey, which turned out to be uneventful after that, and arrived at Ripplin' Waters Campground, Sevierville, Tennessee, late afternoon.

The campground itself, which is set in the foothills of The Great Smoky Mountains, near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, did conjour up a nice, quite, relaxing site next to a trickling stream, just what we needed after all that had happened over the past week or so! Well, we were slightly wrong!! The site was ok, but extremely large and busy! Kids, dogs, bikes, tents, RV'S, trailers, cars and Harley's everywhere! it was like a Camping and Motorhome exhibition! there was, literally hundreds of vehicles! and there was a river, ok, a bit short of water,(nearly dry) but thats because they have had so little rain. Oh, and the equivalent of the M25 running at the other side of the site! Maybe it was because we had a bad journey, everything will look better in the morning.

On Site, Ripplin Waters, Sevierville, TN.

Ripplin Waters RV Park, Sevierville, TN.

Gattlinburg.

As we had booked to stay at Ripplin Waters for a week, there was a lot to get in, and, as we discovered, it resembled a mini 'Orlando' lots and lots of tourist attractions and plenty of cut price outlet shops too! and, believe it or not, we still had the dreaded humidity. So, Monday Morning, we were on our way to Gattlinburg, which is a little further on, through Pigeon Forge, towards the mountains. A small town with plenty to see and do, first stop was the Wax Works.

Ripleys Believe it or not building, Gatlinburg, TN.

Wax Works.

At the entrance was a giant figure of King Kong! complete with Jane, he must have been at least 2 stories high! this place was pretty cool as you could have your photos taken with the figures, that had been strategically positioned, check out the pics!!

Entrance to the Wax Works & King Kong, Gatlinbutg, TN.

"I Dream Of Jeannie"

"Hey, Adrian!...... Adrian!!!"

"life is like a box of chocolates"

Willie Nelson

"A pirate's life for me"

"Beam me up, Scotty!"

"I feel like i'm flying"

"Shaken, not stirred"

Men In Black.

"Follow the yellow brick road!"

Star Cars Museum.

Entrance to the Star Cars Museum, Gatlinburg, TN. (Note the 'Batmobile')

Our next place to visit was the Star Cars Museum, this is a collection of original cars donated by the film and television companies, and by famous stars themselves, and all are on display, and by now Pete was in his element , The James Bond BMW complete with an area displaying lots of his gadgets and of course the famous Omega Seamaster watch, Back to the Future's Dolorian, Smokey and the Bandit Trans-Am, KITT from Knight Rider, Mike Tyson's Lamborghini and many, many more.

"The General Lee"

The Beverley Hillbillies 'Jalopy'

Bob Hope's Buick.

James Bond 'Goldeneye' BMW.

James Bond's and Pete's Omega Seamaster

Mike Tyson's Lamborghini

Smokey and the Bandit's black Trans-Am.

Elvis Presley's Lincoln Continental.

"Ghostbusters"

Italian Job Mini Cooper

We spent the day in Gattlinburg, having lunch in a very nice Italian, located on the main street, and taking in plenty of shops with souvenirs and we also found a 'Christmas Shop', complete with model snowy villages, decorated xmas trees, fairy lights, and all stuff related to Chistmas, again, anybody that knows Pete will guess.... he was like a kid in a sweet shop, and if his wallet wasn't in my handbag, he'd have spent at least 2 grand, just 'trimming up' the RV! and he was even enquiring about working there!! It was time to leave!!!

The Christmas Shop, Gatlinburg, TN.

Muscle Car Museum.

Muscle Car Museum, Pigeon Forge, TN.

Inside the Museum.....

Is a 50's style garage........

And a Diner! Muscle Car Museum, Pigeon Forge, TN.

Tuesday is another day out, and this time it's off to Pigeon Forge to see the Muscle Car Museum, which really takes you back in time. There was 90 cars worth over $5 million and even a great 1950s coffee bar! there was a lot of dollars worth in this museum and plenty of photo's were took! Even the shop was amazing! with lots of Elvis Presley photos ,I love Lucy, The wizard of oz clocks, number plates, and many many more reminders from the 5os. We took over 200 photos and we've attached a few below:

Sue's Birthday and the Aquarium.

Guess what folks ! its that time of the year we hate ,yep, another birthday has crept up on me, and i would like to thank those of you that sent me good wishes and even birthday cards ,I got to choose what to do today (Thursday) and it had to be breakfast at Denny's, one of the best breakfasts we have found whilst touring America, yum,yum!!then on to Ripley's Aquarium in the Smokies! It houses a 1.4 million gallon tank with a walk through tunnel, you can view 12ft sharks, stingrays and over 10,000 other exotic creatures , We spent a good few hours taking pictures and even filming as much as we could, even though it was a little dark! Again, we took over 100 photos, a small selection are below:

Seahorses

Stingrays and Sharks.

Shark

Sawfish Shark.

Barracuda.

Jellyfish.

Entrance of the Aquarium.

Red Bellied Piranah's.

Spider Crabs.

Tropical Reef Tank.

Sea Turtle.

Sawfish Shark.

As we left the Aquarium and headed back to the car, we drifted into a small shopping Plaza with only a handful of small shops and happened upon an Irish gift shop, and as Pete's Family are mostly Irish, we had to go in!! It was a lovely shop, stocked with lots of Celtic items! A few gifts were purchased for the 'Paddy's' back home (even i got one!!) and we even found Pete's Surname 'Coat of Arms' from Ireland. As you can imagine, a very nice day out for my 40th birthday!!!........ ok, i know i'm not too good on dates!! but this is one i won't forget in a hurry! Pete even did a special 'Barby' that evening! A thoroughly great day.

The Great Smoky Mountains.

After a day of rest the next trip has to be" The Great Smokie Mountains"these have to be seen to be believed! ,9 million tourists visited last year, making it the most visited State Park in the USA, beating Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. The blueish mist that you see hovering over the mountains is due to the rain and evaporation from the tree's and its this that gives them their name.

Over 1,500 black bears live here in this park, thats 2 bears per sq mile and guess what?? we didn't see one. Last year 14,896 couples tied the knot here and it's the 2nd most popular wedding destination in the U.S.A, after Las Vegas.
This place really is a huge tourist area, attracting tens of thousands each year and is extremely busy, there is everything here, whatever you want to do, be it talking in a show, which there is many many of them, or taking a trip to 'Dollywood', did i not mention that this is Ms Parton's home town?? they even have a bronze statue of her here! Of course you can end up spending a small fortune and probably a few months here, and it made a nice change to see and do all these 'tourist bits' but even we are on a budget and must be sensible.

Cherokee Indian Museum.

This was in the Car park to the Museum, Cherokee, NC.

The plate describing the Totem-pole

We had heard that there was a Cherokee Indian museum located on the other side of the Smokies, over the state line in North Carolina, and could not miss this chance to go and see it, Again, we were on our way early and enjoyed an early morning drive through the mountains, arriving at Cherokee around 9.30am. We were greeted by a giant totem pole in the Museum carpark and also giant Buffalos were located throughout the town. As always with factual Museums, we found it extremely interesting, watching short films about these people and learning of their lives and history. It also moved us to learn that, as with all Native Indian people in America, they received such a raw deal and, of course we, the 'English' always seem to be there. As we are experiencing American History, first hand, we have learned of certain British military involvment, years and years ago, within the USA. I'll leave it at that, needless to say that it probably wasn't our finest hour.

The entrance to the Museum, Cherokee, NC.

Indian Wagon in the entrance foyer, Cherokee, NC.

Cherokee Indian Woman.

Cherokee Indian Cloak, made from turkey feathers!

Feasting Indian.

The British 'Involvment'

The Three Cherokees that travelled to England with Timberlake!

A portrait of the voyage to England.

Timberlakes memoirs.

General Info.

The Cherokees arrive in Plymouth.

The story of The Cherokees visit to the UK is far to long to try and explain on here, but basically they travel to the UK to meet King George III, and also to try and fully understand the British ways and cultures, whilst staying loyal to the Cherokee beliefs and way of life. It is an interesting story and if anyone would like to know more, just 'google' ' Henry Timberlake and the Cherokees'


The week we had planned to spend at Sevierville, eventually became two, due to the fact there was more to see and do here than we had at first thought! Also, one of the Slide-out toppers had started to split so we took the opportunity of the extra time we now had on our hands to employ the services of 'Ricky's Mobile RV Repairs' to replace the topper. It also gave Pete the chance to replace the Generator exhaust pipe that was ripped off by the unlucky coyote!

Our torn slide-out topper!

In the meantime, the car started to develop an intermittent 'non starting' fault, as we turned the key we just heard a 'clicking' sound, Pete knew it probably would be the starter motor or the solinoid, and a visit to a local repair garage was called for. After putting the Jeep on their diagnostic machine, it was confirmed that a new starter was needed (or so we thought, read on!!) and a price of $450 was quoted!! Pete had already priced up a new starter from the Jeep dealer, 3 miles away,at around $80 so he thought he would just give them a call and see how much it would cost to also fit the starter. "All in, including the starter motor, $175.00, fitted" said the Sevice manager, well, there was no argument, off to the Jeep dealer he went and had the starter replaced. All was fine for a couple of days, but low and behold, the fault and 'clicking' sound returned, so back to the Jeep dealer we went and THEY identified a loose connection on one of the battery terminals, so there was probably no fault on the original starter, so much for the diagnostic machine at the previous garage!!! a quick clean and tighten up of the connection solved the problem, and at the time of writing this, all is fine!!

The car also developed an electrical fault on the rear lights, when we put the side-lights on, the drivers turn signal also came on, I won't go on with this other than to say everything got sorted by the very helpful Jeep dealer, we will be glad to be moving on for a break!!

We could go on for ever on the places to see and things to do here at The Great Smoky Mountains area, and we are really glad that we took in this fantastic State Park. We enjoyed the State of Tennessee, even though we didn't really scratch the surface. We have tried to give you a brief look at some of the attractions that we attended, but I can tell you now, you will need at least a month here, to see and do it all, but we are on a schedule.

However, our next town and community are totally opposite!!!

"Life in the PAST lane" is their motto!!

DETAILS TO FOLLOW............