Knoxville, Smoky Mountains & Flat Tires

This is a slightly longer Quick Blog, but this one chronicles the day Deb and I had planned out in Gatlinburg. First we needed to make a detour to Knoxville to take my hat back to REI. Why? Well, the Winter Tilley Hat that Deb got me for Yule didn't fit right. It wasn't her fault I had sized it in the store and thought it fit fine. Well I was wrong. To make a long story short I had to take it back. So I called the new REI in Knoxville and while they didn't have my color but the Sales Representative Carolyn said she could get it from another store.  I just had to bring the one that didn't fit back to the store. So, I decided to do it so I would get my hat. Anyway, when I got to Knoxville Carolyn helped me and they had the hat at my local REI. I like REI because they have the best  customer service. We then made a stop at Mackay Books just down the street. It had been years since I visited this store and it had moved...again, but it was still good as ever.  So it was now on to Gatlinburg. We first had to treverse the construction at Exit 407 on I-40. After passing through Kodiak, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge we decided to bypass Gatlinburg because I wanted to go to the Sugarlands Visitors Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. First let me say the park lived up to its name as it looked "smoky." Anyway, the main reason in coming to the visitors center was to get a Trail Log. We then decided to hike the short flat trail to Cataract  Falls. This nice, well maintained trail led to a small 40-foot cascade that was well worth the mile round trip. It misyted on us the whole way but it was a fun hike. Well, that is where the fun ended. On the way out of the park I heard the car make a loud noise and I told Deb that I thought it was the tire. Right after I said that the tire pressure light came on. We pulled into the gas station across the road from NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center), where we were headed. The gas station was flatter so it was easier to change a tire, which I had to do. It was wet and the tools to change a tire that were provided by Honda were not the best. However, I got it changed but we didn't want to drive home 60 miles in the rain on the "donut." So we decided to take the car to Walmart and get the flat tire plugged. Getting there proved difficult. Traffic was terrible, it took over an hour to travel 12 miles. When we finally got to Walmart it was another two hours before the jpb was done. Anyway, we got back on the road but before heading back to Greeneville we decided to stop and look at the Christmas light display at Tennessee Smokies Stadium. No we didn't pay $20 to drive through, but took them in from the FREE Cracker Barrel parking lot across the street. In the end it was a long day of highs and lows.