Day4
Early morning it was pouring like crazy. After checking out from our hotel at Staunton we headed to Great Smoky Mountains NP. It was supposed to be a appox. 5 hours drive turn to a 7 hours drive as it was raining heavily for almost the 1st 5 hours of our journey. We also had to cancel our short stop over at Natural Bridge, in Virginia which was on the way.
the only treat we have on the way was Bojangles hehe which was not so bad for a rainy day....oh yeah fried chicken
after 7 gruesome hours driving from Staunton - Great Smoky Mountains .... we made it! And the is no entrance fee...it's FREE!!! 1st stop Sugarlands Visitor Center. we only had few more hours left before it gets dark. The ranger suggested us to just drive to the nearby viewing points and overlooks as the weather was nice and the next day's forecast seem a little cloudy, which was a great idea.
a world heritage site
the view along the way was beautiful
we went to Newfound Gap
next we visited the Clingmans Dome
best place to see the Great smoky Mountains. Absolutely breathtaking view
there is a steep half mile paved trail leads to Clingmans Dome tower, the highest point the in Smokies (6,643')
its a climb
we come a across the Appalachian trail(a very long trail from Maine-Georgia)
Clingmans Dome tower
from the tower one can see Tennessee and North Carolina
i think this is the Western View, Tennessee
it was really windy and a bit cloudy but i did managed to get awesome pictures
Eastern View, North Carolina
after enjoying the beautiful view we head back and checked in to our hotel located in Gatlinburg which is a little town from the north entrance to the Smokies.
plenty of restaurants and small shops and games for everyone in the family
more of Great Smoky Mountains NP
~ to be continue ~
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