After a wonderful visit, we bid adieu to our friends and continued our journey. Because of the rainy forecast in Cumberland Gap, we abandoned our plans to camp there and headed west. Today, it was a mostly rainy trip through some pretty scenery with the trees in full leaf. We passed through parts of Pisgah National Forest and Cherokee National Forest.

Although we prefer staying off interstates, our path today took us on a part of Interstate 40 in western NC and eastern TN that has only recently reopened after the massive damage and collapse from Hurricane Helene. It is amazing that highway crews were able to get 1 lane open in each direction so quickly. It is predicted to take another 2 – 3 years before all 4 traffic lanes will be reopened!

Since the light rain became heavy and visibility was lousy, we decided to seek shelter and wait for the morrow. We found a pleasant motel just off I 40 in Sevierville, TN about 25 miles east of Knoxville. We’ll catch up on the blog, read our stories and call it a day. Tomorrow we’ll be off to visit friends in Nashville.

Best to all,
Wayne & Peggy