Pigeon Forge TN cont.

    On Saturday we had a major grid lock in town. Fortunately the RV Park we are staying in was out of the grid lock. The grid lock was going in the opposite direction. We left work at Dollywood and had maybe a 5 minute drive. Other RVers staying several miles further had  a commute of several hours. The cause of the grid lock was a Rod Run. There were over a thousand classic cars register as of Friday according to a TV news report.

  Here we go again, talking about our perks working for Dollywood. Well, that is why we are working at Dollywood. This blog is also our journal of our travels for us to look back on in the future. We want to say "we did that", not "I wish we would of.....". Life is to short, and we are running out of time, not that we plan on quiting anytime in the near future. Again we applaud all the country shows for paying tribute to all men and women in the armed forces. Every show so far here in Pigeon Forge did honor our troops, both passed and present. Now on with the show!

    On Sunday we went to the Comedy Barn compliments of Dollywood. A very funny show of about an hour and a half.  We especially enjoyed the dog acts. All the dogs used in the show were rescues. The cost of the show was $29.98 a person. Our cost was $0.00. We are really liking the perks of working for Dolly.  See more here www.comedybarn.com

     On Monday evening we went to see the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Show. This was another super super show. We had a great meal of fried pigeon(chicken) and pulled squirrel(pork) with all the fixin's. The food was exceptionally good with large portions. The cost of the show was $51.83 with tax per person. We had to pay for the dinner which was $30.00. So we had a savings of over $70.00. The perks keep adding up.  See more here www.hatfielmccoydinnerfeud.com

      On Tuesday we took a drive to Chestnut Hill TN ,about 20 miles from here. It is the home of Bush Beans. We like doing factory tours. The tour here is a video tour in the Bush Visitor center. There is a small museum and old fashion general store. The video tour was very interesting history of the Bush company. We had our picture taken with Duke. See the pictures. Bush employees about 370 people. I'm amazed at all the different types of beans they make. They do sponsor a Nascar race car. We did have lunch at their cafe. Bob had to try the Pinto Bean Pecan Pie. Has to be good for you,, it has beans and nuts in it! They also have your usual cafe food plus a Southern favorite, Fried Bologna sandwiches. You can see more  at www.bushbeans.com

      We continued our road trip to the town of Dandridge TN. We took part of the walking tour around town and got a lot of information about the town and county from a local historian at the visitors bureau. There is a small Revolutionary War Graveyard in town. The town dates back to the early 1700's. The town was named after America's First Lady, Martha Dandridge Washington, wife of George. We also toured around Douglas Lake, part of the TVA project. See more at www.mainstreetdandridge.com  and  www.jeffersoncountytennessee.com

      On the way back to the RV we stopped by the Deer Farm and Exotic Petting Zoo. Another Dollywood perk.  This was only $10.99 each, but still it was $22. that cost us nothing. We did get to see two baby goats that were born that morning. We were greeted by a peacock that walked up to us and spread his plumbs for us. He must have been trained to greet guest. There were, goats, camels, several type deer, zebra's, etc. All the animals see you with a food cup and come running to the fence. It was ok, but nothing to special. We did meet a couple from our home town while there.   You can see more here   www.deerfarmzoo.com  They also offer horse back trail rides with a discount for Dollwood employees, or "Host" as we are called. At Disney we were "Cast Members".

Pigeon Forge TN April 2012

    We arrived in Pigeon Forge TN at Bear Cove Village. We will be here for about 2 months. The reason we are here is to work at Dollywood. The RV Park is on the small size. It is about a mile from Dollywood and about 2 miles to were we have to park for work. It is a nice park. We will review it at a later date.
     On Thursday we had a 6 hour orientation. Then we were fitted for our costumes. Our costume is  a white short sleeve shirt with black pants and a black cap. We are working  the Festival Of  Nations food areas. We had OJT training starting on Friday. Linda trained in a baked potato kiosk. I trained in a kiosk were we had orange chicken over rice and kangaroo stew, plus a few other things. We had to taste what we served, so I got to taste kangaroo. Taste like beef, just a little tough. The next day we were off so we went to the park to familiarize ourselves with it, so we could answer guess questions as to were is...whatever they are looking for. There are a number of show from other countries during the festival. So we got to attend a few of them. We saw a super show called "Paper" from the Ukraine. Hard to describe,. It was 4 clowns doing a hour show with paper.  I tried to Google them but came up empty. We also saw Los Pampas Gauchos from Argentina. Another super show of Gauchos dancing and doing tricks. A very high energy show. Then we saw the Russian Academic Band. Did I say super again. They played a few Russian folk songs, but mostly Dixieland music. And we saw a few others. There are about 17-18 different shows. We hope to get to see them all.

   On Sunday we took a long drive through Smoky Mountain National Park. We are about 5 or 6 miles from the entrance to the park. It was a beautiful sunny day about 75 degrees. On the top of old smokey it was about 60 degrees with a slight breeze. The air was clear and the views just great. We drove up to Clingmens Dome. We started the half mile hike up to the top of the dome. It is very very steep. About half way we stopped to rest on one of the benches along the trail.  Linda decided to stop at this point. I started up the rest of the way and found myself puffing after  another quarter of a mile up and found another bench to rest on. Then after a few minutes I got up and made it to the top. We were here two other times and I don't remember the climb being so hard. I guess I'm out of shape. Going down was a lot easier, but I think I wore out my breaks. After I got back to the car we had a nice picnic lunch looking out over the vast beauty of the smokies. We then took a long drive around the park and took a different road back to the RV. What a great day.

 Looks like Fall with all the different colors

 The trail up to Clingmans Dome

 That's Linda in Red

 The tower at the top

 Our GPS, see the elevation

 The National Park is in two states.

 We followed this roadside stream for about ten miles.

 The Wear Valley

 A small country church still in use today.

 The back of the church

       One of the perks for working here is our ID card gets us into over 40 different shows and attractions in the area for free or a greatly reduced price. There are also many things out of the area. For instance, Callaway Gardens we just visited. It cost us $40. Hershey Park is another attraction we can get into with our ID's. On Tuesday we went to the "Country Tonight" show. Move over Bronson and Las Vegas. The show was very well produced. Voted the number one show in the Smokies from 2001-2012. The price of the tickets were $27.50, for us $0. We had seats in the 9th row center. Perfect seats. Rows one to about six you would be looking up for the whole show.  The show lasted about  two hours. It was a wonderful show. Since it was voted the number one show we hope the other shows we can attend measure up. Maybe we should have save this show for later.

 He player Amazing Grace on a harmonica, and it brought tears to both Linda and may eyes. It was wonderful.

 They must have gone through 15-20 customs changes.

 Every country show we ever attended, here in Branson, Nashville or Las Vegas and elsewhere, always pays tribute to our Men and women in the armed services and our country.

Camping World Chattanooga

Name; Camping World RV Sales 6728 Ringgold Road Chattanooga TN 37412  423 892 8275
Date;3/31/12
Staff; Had to go into store to register. There is a campground host, but she wasn't there when we came in.
Price; $22.15 with Good Sam discount.
Site description; We had a pull Thur full hookup site with 30 amp electric. There are 50 amp sites, but these are not for Good Sam discount. The site was gravel. The site was narrow. No privacy between sites. Most sites are pull Thurs.  Fairly level. Small cement patio.
Big Rig friendly; Yes
Amenities; There is a pool and restrooms. didn't check them out. Camping World store.
Laundry; don't know didn't check it out.
Phone/wifi/TV; Verizon phone had 4 bars. TV over the air got all major networks
Dog friendly; yes. lots of room to walk a dog. there is a large field aside of campground
Night lighting; Very few lights in park.
Comments; About half mile off I75 at exit one. Good place for an overnight stop. Roads in RV park had some large pot holes. We would stay here again, just as an overnight. the site was long enough so we didn't have to unhook.

R. Schaefer Heard COE West Point GA

Name;R. Schaefer Heard Corp Of Engineers 101 Schaefer Heard Park Road West Point GA 31833  706 645 2404
Date;3/26-3/31/12
Staff;Very friendly host.
Price;$24. We paid $12 with our Golden Age Passport
Site; description;We had a back in site. Very long. We had 30 amp electric and water hook up. There is a dump station, 2 lanes. Our site was level with a good packed gravel. Many sites are paved. These are sites with a grade. Some are very steep grades. There are 117 sites. 11 are pull through. 10 are double sites. Sites 1-27 and 85-106 are 50 amp. On loop 1 to 39 we liked 26 and 27 best. Sites 1,10/13,22/23,25, 34,36 we would avoid. The rest are good sites. Very wooded. We were backed up to the lake.
Laundry;There were 2 bath houses with 1 w/d each
Phone/Wifi/TV;Our Verizon phone had 3-4 bars. No wifi in park, we used our phone. Over the air TV was poor, no network stations, a few PBS. Hard to get a satellite signal from our site. The park is very wooded. There are some areas along the lake that are more open.
Dog Friendly;Yes, miles of roads to  walk.
Special Features;On West Point Lake. Very large park, with trails, tennis court, picnic areas, boat ramps.
Comments;About 5 miles from the town of West Point. There is shopping there and about 12 miles to a Kroger in AL. LaGrange is about 15 miles with many restaurants and shopping.
Opinion;This park has the WOW effect. We would definitely stay here again.

Chehaw City Park Albany GA

Name, address;Chehaw 105 Chehaw Park Road Albany GA 31701  229 430 5257
Date;3/25/12
Staff;Register at entrance to park, zoo,pond, plus other thinks in city park. Staff was very busy and check in was not to smooth, took about 15-20 minutes. They were very busy and only one person to check you in and collect fees for other events. But friendly.
Price;approx $20 for electric and water., $28 for FHU. We had 50 amp electric.
Site description;We had what was called a pull thru, but we had to back out. There are about 40 sites, 16 listed as pull thrus, some were. There were about 10 full hook ups. We had a lot of room, the on site 16. Sizes of sites varied. The sites were laid out between the large pine trees. Must shade. The road into the campground was very dusty, as it was packed dirt. Could be a mess if it rains.  We parked on grass.
Amenities;The campground had nothing to offer other them a large site, fire ring, peace and quit. Although there were a lot of other activities in the park, they were away from the campground. There is a bath house with clean but not modern showers. Flush toilets.
Laundry;There was one w/d in the bathhouse.
Phone/Wifi/TV;Our Verizon phone had 3-4 bars. There is wifi with a good signal. Lot of trees for satellite, but we moved our Tailgator around and got a signal.
Dog friendly;Yes, aceas to walk a dog
Night Lighting;Very dark. Only light was at the restroom.
Comment;Nice if dry for an overnight stay or short visit. We would avoid if there is rain or they had a recent rain.

Fawn Ridge RV Resort Davenport FL

Fawn Ridge RV Resort: Davenport FL a Members only resort
Date;March 2012
Staff;Very friendly staff
Price; As members we pay for $2.00 toward electric, we do not pay a nightly fee. We can stay for two weeks then have to leave for one week. We can buy an extra week for $140. and then stay an extra two weeks.
Site discription;All sites are back in full hook ups with 50 amp electric. All sites and roads are paved.
Big rig friendly;Yes
Amenities;A heated pool, clubhouse with schudgled activities, tennis court and schaffel board court.
Laundry;There is a nice very clean laundry with 4 w/d. with a ironing board and iron.
Phone/Wifi/TV;Verizon phone was 3G with 4 bars. Wifi in park was good at times and slow when in high use. TV over the air was good, received all major networks. We had to move our Tailgator satlite several times to get a good siginal from the site we were  in.
Dog Friendly;Yes lots of walking areas and a small fenced in area to let then off leash, long and narrow.
Night lighting;Low to very low night lighting, depending on your location.
Book exchange;a small book exchange in the clubhouse.
Comments;Many resturants in area. Wlmart about 7 miles. Large shopping center within one mile. Easy acess to I4, about 1 mile.
Opinion;This is a super deal for us as we can more to Thousand Trails about 11 miles away. It is a very nice clean park with only 94 sites. We can store our RV on sites from $1.50-2.50 a day if we go somewhere with just the car for several weeks.