After our difficulties of getting to Tennessee, we were excited to enjoy the adventures of the Smoky Mountains. We had planned to spend Wednesday going on a hike because we only had one full day there. 

Ryan spent the morning working while I did the laundry. The resort had a nice laundry room available for use. Then when Ryan was finished with his meetings, we packed our gear and headed out for the hike.

We drove 45 minutes to the trailhead. This time the drive was more enjoyable since we didn’t have to worry about towing our rig along the twists and turns of the narrow roads. It was a beautiful day in Tennessee, mid-high 50’s and sunny. Perfect hiking weather… or so we thought. 

Once we got to the trail, the temperature dropped to 30 degrees. We knew the temperature would decrease with the elevation, but we hadn’t been prepared for the drastic change. The other mountains we hiked only had minimal temperature changes that we had accounted for. This caught us completely off-guard. We parked our truck on the side of the road and started walking to the trail. We walked for only a couple of minutes and through a teeth-chattering conversation, we both agreed we were not prepared for this and would not enjoy it. So, we ultimately decided to turn around and head back. 

On the drive back, I was disappointed. If we didn’t go on the hike, what was even the point of coming to Tennessee and enduring yesterday’s frustrating drive? We had to find a way to make this trip worth our while.

We looked at our map to figure out what else there was to do in the area to improve the day. We decided to drive into Gatlinburg since it was on our way back anyway. We stopped at NOC, looked around for hiking gear that we might need, and then walked around the rest of the town.

It was surprising to see how the temperature was again 50 degrees in Gatlinburg, but 30 degrees at the trailhead. We only drove 10-15 minutes to get into town from this hiking location. The elevation made a huge difference. At least we could be comfortable walking around town.

Gatlinburg is a very touristy place. There were a lot of people walking around here, which shocked us. We didn’t know what to expect since we had never been here before, but we definitely were not expecting a crowd of people. Fortunately, almost everyone wore their masks. We wore ours as well and did our best to keep our distance. 

It was entertaining walking around the town and seeing all they had to offer. We assumed it would be similar to a normal downtown area, with stores and restaurants. It was interesting to see all of the Ripley’s entertainment such as Believe It or Not, Haunted Adventure, Mirror Maze, and the Aquarium of the Smokies. They also have a mini-golf course that looks fun, multiple arcades, and several candy stores. It looks like a great place to go to have fun, but we didn’t participate in any of the activities because of Covid.

I was pleasantly surprised to see all the Christmas decorations. There were so many! Also, a lot of the buildings had unique characteristics that made them look like they belong at Santa’s workshop. Gatlinburg is probably a very fun place to go for the holiday.

Despite not being able to follow through with our original plans, we really enjoyed seeing the town. We were happy to know that even when things go wrong, we can still make the best of it. Instead of going back home and moping about not going for the hike and wasting our time visiting Tennessee for ultimately no reason, we found a way to make the trip worth it in the end. That is what we want most out of this trip. To learn to go with the flow, to know that things will go wrong, and to figure out the best way to deal with the situation while keeping a good attitude. 

Little did we know, we were going to get a lot of those lessons the next day…