SMOKY MOUNTAINS

The weather set in today with a vengeance, thunder, lightning, the full works you get to see the smoky as well. The moisture on the forest lays on the canopy and mixes with the plant juices to form a VOC, volatile organic compound that billows smoked mist from the tree tops.

That's the border. You have to show id to get a drink in Tennessee, nothing needed for North Carolina. It's crazy, the time zones are jumping between Eastern and Central every stop we make.

Visited a Cherokee Indian village who told us about their crafts. Despite all the promises and agreements, they were forced off their ancestral land in 1838 and made to trek elsewhere. Many thousands died, they called it the Trail of Tears.

Weather improved dramatically once we got off the mountain and down into Gatlinburg. Back into the 90's. It's like a frontier town for families. It has roller coaster on rails running down the side of the mountain where you sit on an individual sled that you control yourself. Plenty of walking trails, campgrounds - know anybody who would enjoy that? We went up onto the Skypark that you go up in an open ski chair lift. It has a very long wobbly suspension bridge with a glass floor several hundreds of feet up - know anybody who wouldn't like that?

Finished up with a dinner at a nice restaurant and then off to pack.