Spring in the Smokies

A few days ago, I promised you a picture of Spring in the Smokies. Here's a long shot from our car as we were driving west on I-40. See if you can spot the difference on the mountain.



Now here's a closer picture. Below the picture, I'll tell you the 'secret.'


If you look closely, you'll see that the trees at the bottom of the mountain are fully green. But at the top of the mountain, the leaves haven't come out yet. Just that difference in altitude makes a difference in when the leaves appear on the trees. In fact, more than once, we've driven over the mountains through the National Park at this time of year and experienced 'two springs.' It's spring at the bottom (Cherokee, NC) when we enter the park. When we get to the pass at the top, there are no leaves on the trees. But when we arrive in Gatlinburg, we get our 'second spring.'

Check back in a few days for a shot of the rhododendrons blooming at Smoky Mountain Tower.

I-40 Rock Slide area - traffic and pictures

It's been way too long since I posted - but we have been traveling all but one day since my last post on April 26.

On Thursday afternoon, May 6, we drove over to Gatlinburg - through the rock slide area. Even though we were on the westbound side where traffic is reduced to one lane, we sailed right through. Here are three pictures of what it looks like:


This is the spot where the traffic goes from two lanes to one lane. As you can see, we never even slowed down.


This is the actual slide area. Notice the ropes running up the mountain and the equipment still there.


One more - with more equipment. Just past this spot, there were about 15 vehicles belonging to all the workers.

Okay, that was Thursday. On Friday afternoon, May 7, about 2:00 pm, we came through the area again - this time going eastbound. We had no traffic problems. But the westbound side was a mess. The backup from the spot where the road narrows to one lane was about 3 miles long, and it was even pretty slow going through the whole slide area. Here is one picture taken from the eastbound side:


This is just west of the slide area and shows a little of the equipment. By this time, the westbound traffic had thinned out. I tried to get a picture of the traffic but there was too much traffic on my side to do it safely.

I apologize for the quality of the photos. There was no way to stop and take pictures, so I did it through the windshield while driving. So you get windshield glare, bugs, reflections - the whole bit. But you get the idea.

Check back in a few days for a very interesting photo of "Spring in the Smokies."

I-40 is open - a day early!

Good news - I-40 at milepost 3 is now open. They opened it last night. Both lanes eastbound are open, but only one lane westbound is open. You can get more information here - http://www.ncdot.gov/travel/i40_rockslide/.

Now, that's the official story. But let me just add a comment. I've driven that stretch of I-40 - both eastbound and westbound - for many years, at all times of the day or night. Nobody is saying this and I may be totally wrong, but I think eastbound traffic is going to be nasty. In the past, when they have blocked off one lane for construction (or whatever), I've seen the backup be as long as 5 miles.

Considering that the trip through the Park only adds about 15 minutes to the journey to Gatlinburg, I'll probably still use that route. In fact, we're planning to go to Gatlinburg on Thursday, May 6. I think we'll go over by going through the Park, but come home on I-40 through the construction zone. At that point, I'll be able to give you a better assessment.

More news! I just checked the Asheville Citizen-Times (http://www.citizen-times.com/) and found that there was a truck accident about 2 hours ago that has closed 1 lane each way at milepost 19. So I think I'm right - traffic through this area is going to be nasty for awhile. I have found that the Asheville newspaper seems to have the most up-to-date news about I-40.

All Decked Out - the Web site is up!

Thanks for your patience, everybody. The new Smokies Rent Direct Web site is up and running. We hope you'll take a look at www.SmokiesRentDirect.com.

From this Web site, you can access information about either All Decked Out or Smoky Mountain Tower. After you've wandered through the site, we'd love to here what you think. Just send an e-mail to Dave@SmokiesRentDirect.com.

By the way, we've got a fabulous special running for Smoky Mountain Tower right now. As of this moment, we only have 21 nights available between now and July 31. So we've cut the rate on all of them to just $119.00 per night, plus tax. That's up to 20% off our normal rates for this period, and I don't even want to think about how much less it is than our prices last year! Those fortunate guests who planned ahead got their pick of the nights they wanted. But if you can fit your schedule around ours, you can really save some bucks! Check our our Specials page for full details.

Changes to All Decked Out Web site

Josh just called! He's our Web designer (along with Angie). We've been talking for awhile about converting our Smokies Rent Direct Web site to a program that makes it easier to work with. Josh is ready to get started. So we're taking www.SmokiesRentDirect.com down tonight (Tuesday, April 20) for 2-3 days.

While the site is down, here are some ways to get information you might need:

-For a description of All Decked Out, for pictures, to check availability or to make a reservation, go to http://www.ivacationonline.com/Rentals/Rental_View.asp?PropertyID=985.

-If you have already made your reservation and received our e-mail notification with directions, but you need more information, please call us at 704-280-5845 and we'll give you a special link.

-For all other information, please call us at 704-280-5845.

Thanks for your patience. Please check our Web site in a few days for a whole new look!

All Decked Out is all fixed!

Once again, Ray Phillips and his crew have done outstanding work for us. The roof and all the tree repairs are finished at All Decked Out.

Here's what All Decked Out used to look like, with the old roof (before all the damage):


And here is the new roof!


Here is the tree on the deck with the smashed privacy screen:

And here's the deck from about the same angle, with the new privacy screen in place:

So, at last, All Decked Out is "all decked out" again and ready for your visit!

New Roof at All Decked Out

Today is the day! Ray Phillips and his crew has started working on the new roof at All Decked Out, along with fixing the damage caused by the tree that fell last December.

Ray has promised me pictures, so keep checking back. We'll be interested to hear what you think about the shingle color we chose. It's called "Teak."

Stay tuned........