Dave and Nellies Adventures

This is Dave writing this post, because evidentially Shanell is “tired of doing everything on this trip.”

First thing this morning I noticed our black tank had not been flushing, so after a trip to the hardware store and some gadgets I bought in preparation of camping I hoped I would never have to use, problem solved and things are flowing again :).

We left the camper at 11 am and headed to Cades Cove, which is an 11 mile one way loop through a portion of the Great Smokey Mountains. We were hoping to see a bear or some Elk, but we did see lots of Wild Turkeys, and even a lighter colored one.

The traffic was moving pretty well, so Shanell thought we should hike for a while. I took some advil earlier today, so felt up to the challenge. We opted for Russell Field Trail, which was 3.2 miles round trip. That was enough for me, after 4 days straight of walking 3 plus miles up the mountains, I was really hoping for a day without a “walk”. At one point, Shanell reached over and grabbed my hand, which I held for a while. Then it dawned on me she wanted me to walk faster. I accused her of this, but she smiled, and said that I was walking fast enough.

It was a pretty good day, I had Shanell drive back to the campground, and I was looking at a menu from a BBQ joint nearby, and she yells “BEAR!” I fumbled around trying to get my phone camera up, and I did just in time. The bear walked in front of our truck, went in the ditch and took a drink from the stream, then headed up the hill. It was pretty cool!! We ended the day with BBQ from a place close to the campground, ironically the name is “ Hungry Bear”, it was good!!