Great Smoky Mountains

Took the back way out of Asheville on the Blueridge Parkway. Great far off views across the rolling green hills, walls of rhododendron and lots of wildflowers. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #blueridgeparkway #asheville #northcarolina

The view from Clingman's Dome at the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountains. Unfortunately, when installing the X-chocks in camp, I realized that our right rear wheel was super hot compared to the others. I'm wondering about chewed up wheel bearings or a stuck brake caliper in the descent. Need to jack it up and see if the wheel spins freely and make some calls around to repair shops. We're a bit overdue for wheel bearings (only 2 years but over 20K miles!) and, no, I don't really feel like doing it myself for the first time without a good internet connection. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #blueridgeparkway #greatsmokeymountains #greatsmokeymountainsnationalpark #findyourpark

Lately our hikes are limited to those walkable by a four year old, walkable by a 44 year old carrying a 1 1/2 year old and/or negotiable with an umbrella stroller. We found one that fit the bill behind the Sugarland Visitor Center this afternoon and set off. #childhoodunplugged #greatsmokeymountains #greatsmokeymountainsnationalpark #findyourpark

You'uns (sorry, been in N.C. for a while) all know about the #instragramcrop, right? The top two are "optimized" of our little hikers, Wynne who walked the entire 2.6 miles with only "substantial" whining and Mae who charmed everyone by walking about half of the way down with a backpack and walking stick, and the bottom panorama shows the horde of humanity that trudged up the trail to Laurel Falls this morning with us, complete with the asshat on the left who insisted on (illegally, banned in National Parks) buzzing us all with his drone as we attempted to herd kids away from the top of the falls. Still a beautiful day in the park and tons of Mountain Laurel and rhododendron blooming along the trail. #findyourpark #behindalltheotherpeople #greatsmokymountainsnationalpark #greatsmokymountains #laurelfalls

I didn't know the Smoky Mountains were named after Smokey the Bear. #theyrenot #greatsmokymountains #greatsmokymountainsnationalpark #findyourpark

Me and @livingistheadventure at the Great Smoky Mountains Internet cafe (which is to say the pullout about 5 minutes from the Elkmont Campground with three bars of LTE and a great view!). #lifeontheroad #greatsmokymountains #greatsmokymountainsnationalpark

Unfortunately, they didn't have the NPS Centennial Junior Ranger badge, but Wynne picked up the Great Smokies badge in the meantime. Vest is starting to get heavy! #findyourpark #greatsmokymountainsnationalpark #juniorranger #childhoodunplugged #roadschool

6:00 am wake up to get the trailer to an RV repair place that was willing to squeeze us in to investigate the super hot right rear wheel we discovered after a long descent in the Great Smoky Mountains. Since it had been 2 years and 20K miles since we had the bearings repacked (1 yr, 10K is recommended), I suspected that one may have gotten ground up and was creating friction.

With the wheels off, they found a different story; Turns out that one wheel was the only one with a working brake! Well, sorta working anyway. See, while the other three were rusted into the open position, that one was basically rusted into a closed position. Of course, not completely closed since the wheel wasn't locking up but enough to generate some heat (and probably not help much with our mpg's!). And yes, while the Sequoia's brakes did get a bit hot as well on the descent, it's pretty damn impressive that it was doing all the work on its own!

The price tag stung a bit for four new brake assemblies and four bearing repacks, but knowing everything is back to 100% is priceless. Can't wait to feel the difference on the rest of the Blueridge Parkway!

#airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #rvmaintenance #lifeontheroad

I asked the guy at the RV service shop if he had any suggestions for what to do with two kids for 6 hours while the trailer was in the shop. "Dollywood!" So after a down home Pigeon Forge breakfast of eggs and the saltiest ham I've ever tasted (I don't technically need to list "pancakes" since absolutely everything on the menu, even the stuff in the "Lighter Fare" section buried on the back, came with three buttermilk pancakes), we arrived just as the park opened to get "fresh tracks" - along with about 5,000 other cars.

The park was actually pretty fun (tho $$$). I think there's always a lot of music there, but they were having a "Bluegrass and BBQ" thing, and within 10 minutes of walking in, we were sitting in a 1/4 full hall watching one of my favorite all-time Bluegrass bands, The Lonesome River Band.

After perfunctory face painting for both girls, we put them on every ride they were tall enough for and fed them ice cream for lunch. Unfortunately, we had Gorilla in the car and the cloud cover was starting to heat up the day, or we could have wandered around a bit more.

As it turned out, a stop at Kroger for milk and sundries put us back at the shop just as they were finishing the trailer, and we headed out to a full hookup park nearby to meet @upintheairstream for the night which was perfect since we were about due for decent internet, electricity, laundry and sarcastic insults.

#dollywood #pigeonforge #lonesomeriverband #lifeontheroad #familytravel #travelwithkids #airstreamwithkids