May 7 and 8 = Two Days Off

On Sunday, when we went to the Beantrees with Clyde and Pat, the waitress took several pictures of us with my camera and also with Pat's.  She must not have been pressing the shutter button hard enough; I did not get a single picture of us.  So, Pat sent me one of hers.

What a surprise and treat that was!

Now on to our "weekend".  While volunteering in the park, we have customarily taken off Monday to do laundry and shop for groceries, then on Tuesday to do some sightseeing in the region.  Now that we don't have the big RV, we also do not have a washer/dryer.  

We stopped at the Big Creek Country Store to give Kelly some more copies of "Big Creek" to sell. Then we made another stop at the Hartford, TN post office to fill out a general delivery form to get our mail there.

We drove to the Cosby campground half an hour away to use the washer and dryer there.  An advantage is that we got to visit with the Cosby camp hosts, Clyde and Debbie. The washer and dryer are in the basement garage of the ranger station.  The host site is right next to it.  We merely step over the lowered rails of the split rail fence between them.  I spotted this lone violet as I was crossing the fence rail.

Clyde and Debbie are champion campground hosts.  They volunteer for most of the season.  They live near the park and can run home occasionally to check mail and tend to the house.  We sat and shared camp-host stories while the laundry was running. Here are Clyde and Andy in front of their trailer.

Debbie just blinked for every picture I took of her.  What you see is what you get here.  She is always smiling and friendly.

Andy and I went out to get some lunch at Carver's Apple House while the second load was in the washer. Then we decided that, since we were already nearly there, we would go on to Walmart to pick up things we forgot to bring.  It was so annoying to spend money to buy things we have at home and should have brought with us. Even though I brought some of my extensive cleaning-rag collection, I did not bring enough. I ended up using every hand towel, dish towel and cleaning rag in the RV to sop up that flood I caused a few days ago. I didn't have a clothesline or clothespins to hang them up to dry.  I needed some measuring cups and spoons - got plenty at the house. How could we have forgotten a power strip for the computers?  By the time we got back to Cosby, move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, and visit with Clyde and Debbie some more, it was almost dark when we got back to Big Creek.

Today turned out to be another chore day, rather than a real day off.  I discovered a lump on my gum above the crown I got last fall.  Boss Larry recommended his dentist and I made an appointment for this morning. Andy was thrilled that Dr. Morton is in Sevierville, in close proximity to the Mellow Mushroom. It took us an hour to get to the dentist's office.

Dr. Morton said it is probably an abscess but could be something under the gum. He prescribed some antibiotics and pain medicine.  If that doesn't fix the problem, I'll make another appointment for next week. Doesn't everyone just love the prospect of a root canal?

We did not get our grocery shopping done yesterday.  After lunch, we stopped in the Food City and the Walgreen's pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. Again, it was nearly evening when we got back to Big Creek. Maybe our next day off will be more fun.

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May 1, 2018 - Big Creek Campground

Our little RV is so full of tote bags full of food and assorted other essentials that I a finding it hard to function.  I cooked oatmeal for breakfast.  There is no counter space available to set the bowls for filling. As soon as I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, I started with the dinner.  I had a leg of lamb in the freezer at home, so I brought a crock pot with me.  The crockpot sits in a cloth basket behind the passenger seat.  I set it outside to cook. Without any counter space, I had to prepare it in the sink.

Maintenance-Man Spence stopped in to say hello. He told us that he worked all winter, except for two weeks.  In the past, he has been laid off for three months. He has been working all over the park, as Big Creek is closed for the winter. He also said that he is no longer just responsible for Big Creek.  He has to work at Cosby and Greenbrier.  He did not stay long as he had a lot of ground to cover.  He also explained that, with the budget cuts, he has been told not to do as much grounds work.  That explains why the grass is so tall.

Boss Larry also came to see us and explain the new procedures. He is also spread more thinly this year and covers a wider territory.  He said he will attempt to get over here once a week. I forgot to ask what he and Kristen did this past winter. They usually take some interesting trips in the offseason.

Here, we were walking up toward the parking lot and on to the tent campground.  The grass is tall and shaggy by Spence's standards, but there are a lot more flowers.

There is a bumper crop of Yellow Trillium this year. They are all over Big Creek and sometimes in patches.

Now, we are walking up the road to the tent campground.

Big Creek Campground has always been a walk-up, first-come/first-served campground.  You fill out an envelope, put your money inside, and drop it into the iron ranger. This year, they have switched to the reservation system. Reserve your campsite today at www.Recreation.gov

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Our job is to check the reservation website and prepare a registration card for each reservation, noting their arrival and departure dates. Of course, we still walk around the campground and greet campers, remind people about bears, and give out hiking and other advice. So far, we have had two campers arrive without a reservation - because they have been coming here for years not needing one. I let them use my phone to call the recreation .gov office to reserve a site.

I was delighted to see Liz and Craig from Vermont.  They are camping here on their annual spring wildflower vacation. I forgot to take their picture.

I have not yet begun to photograph wildflowers.

April 30, 2015 - Wildflowers

Thursday, April 30, 2015 – Big Creek

Andy was up early and figured out why we could not get a signal yesterday; the signal booster was not plugged in. He said it was 48 degrees outside when he got up this morning.

The first thing we heard on the park radio this morning was a report that the 350 (a bear) was running over the hill. We obviously missed the best part of that story.

Maintenance Spence was off work today; Thursday and Friday are his weekend. Boss Larry was in a training class so we did not see him either.

It is a one-mile walk for us to leave the motorhome, walk around the tent campground, check out Big Creek at the bridge, pass the motorhome and take the horse trail  to walk around the horse campground, and then back to the motorhome. We plan to do it three times a day to get in our three miles.

The sun was in and out behind small clouds for the morning walk. The leaves were wet from and early rain. It was brilliant. There was no sun as we walked up the road to the tent campground.

Yellow Trilliums are everywhere. Many of the leaves had been chewed on, but I found a number of bite-free ones. These were in the picnic area next to the creek.

Big Creek was a torrent by the tent campground. It was mostly white water behind the gnarly old tree.

I spotted so many wildflowers today, but have not looked them up to tell you what they are. This tiny violet-type thing was on the path by the creek.

This amazing yellow one was just a little farther along the path. Those are impossibly tiny flowers.

Here is the first of many pictures of the bridge over Big Creek you will see in May and June.

The gorgeous cluster was on the far bank of the creek.

I walked down to the water’s edge and took a picture of my scale model Andy on the bridge.

These, my favorite of the day, were also on the far bank.

On our way back to Sao from our morning walk around the campground, a car stopped by us and a man said that someone had left a backpack sitting in the parking lot. We walked past the cars blocking our view of it and saw the backpack sitting out by itself, not near any cars. Someone drove off without it. It was open and full of gear, so I zipped it up and handed it to Andy to carry. It was heavy. I planned to examine the contents for some identification when we got back to our campsite and report it to Dispatch. Just as we got to the sidewalk at the end of the parking lot, a car came speeding in, driving the wrong way in the one-way traffic circle. When he got near us, he held his arm out of the car and yelled, “That’s mine! That’s mine!”  Andy handed him the backpack and told him to slow down when he leaves. He said he was speeding to hurry back to retrieve his pack.

The horse camp is immaculate and ready for the season.

Andy laid out our plastic outdoor carpet and staked the corners. Then we set up our new screen room. It fits nicely over the picnic table. We were anxious to get it up as the gnats are swarming around our heads.

Spence had mentioned them yesterday and today we saw them for ourselves. There are a bazillion small brown grasshoppers here. That is no exaggeration; it’s an estimate. When we walked by them in the forest, their jumping in the dry leaves sounded like rain. We had not seen them here before, but this place is alive with them now. I mean grasshoppers in Biblical proportions.

At 1345, someone at Clingman’s Dome called dispatch (700) to report that it was snowing up there. It started raining here in Big Creek at 1400 and rained lightly for the rest of the day.

There was a mildly interesting conversation on the radio between two park employees.

“ You are leaving a lot of smoke behind you.”

“Yeah, this thing is using a quart of oil every three or four days. Your spotlight in on.”

“Thanks.”

Someone reported a tree down across a guardrail and asked for someone to come with a chain saw to remove it. Another person responded that he would send someone and, then a few minutes later, a third guy said he was on his way.

It was raining for the afternoon walk around, but I carried my umbrella and took pictures until it was too dark to get them in focus. This cluster of small white flowers is growing on the moss on a boulder lining the campground road.

 The Sweet Shrub is in bloom along the campground road too.

I took another, close up, for a better look.

The field of large boulders is green as ever.

We chatted with the campers huddled under their tarps to stay dry. Everyone seemed happy. It was getting colder so Andy stopped back in the motorhome to put on a sweatshirt under his raincoat. I saw this turkey on the horse trail while I waited outside.

It’s not the best picture ever, but it is better than my usual turkey butt.

At 1800, someone reported from Clingman’s Dome that the snow was starting to stick. At 1920, the park closed the road to Clingman’s Dome. There was ½ to ¾ of an inch at that point. A ranger called in tags for two cars parked there to see if they belonged to backpackers. Dispatch checked and both cars belonged to people who had registered for backcountry campsites for tonight so they didn’t have to worry about them driving out in the snow.

A woman was walking by our site as it was getting dark so Andy went out to see if she needed some directions. She said she was looking for a place to pitch her tent. Andy asked where she came from and she said she had walked from Georgia. Surely, not today. Then Andy told her where to find the tent campground.