We left Smoky Bear Campground mid-morning. We weren't in any rush as we only had 117 miles to drive. Instead of heading back into Gatlinburg, we headed towards I-40 near Cosby, TN. While en route, we passed a sign that said "Foothills Parkway" ~ we were not anticipating any parkway to exist on the west-side of the Smoky Mountains. So, I did one of my famous 180's (or is that infamous?) turns and headed back. We're glad we took the "detour" as we rode the crest of the foothills and had some great views of the hills and the Tennessee River Valley. If you ever thought deforestation was taking over ~ we have seen thousands of miles of beautiful forests on our trip!


Once we arrived in the "flat lands", there wasn't much interesting to take pictures of until we arrived that the Costco in Knoxville! On our way in, this Polaris Slingshot caught our eye! What a beauty!


We soon arrived at our friends, Ken and Sandy Griffith's home in Decatur, TN. Lorraine Torplund (who we visited in Tarpon Springs, FL) and Sandy Griffith are sisters. Sharon attended church with them at Bethany Chapel in Long Beach back "in the day" before I came along. I had met Sandy at her mom's 90th birthday party in Seal Beach a few years back, so it was nice to see her again and meet her husband, Ken.

We tried to park our trailer in their yard, but because of the trees and poor traction on damp soil, we had to give up. We drove to Spring City and checked into Bitner's RV Park. Sharon was starting to feel "under the weather" so we agreed that we would get together with Ken and Sandy the following day.