Two Creeks

March 31, 2023 – Day 44

Day 44, can you believe that? We both ready to be home. We’re close, under 1,000 miles now, which, 44 days ago would have seemed like a huge distance. But now? Hey, we can do that with our eyes closed.

We headed out from Twisted Oaks with some haste, the forecast was good, but very, very bad behind us. We wanted to get ahead of it. Today was a bit off-highway, which turned out to be both faster and shorter. It was pretty in the country.

Then it was I-40 all the way through Knoxville and then down into some twisty bits to get through the Great Smokies.

Now let’s talk about Kudzu. If you’ve been to the South you seen it, or maybe you’ve just heard of it. I’m surprised we didn’t really see it on our way out. But it is certainly making its way here.

Kudzu is a plant that was imported for erosion control but it has gotten way out of control. It spreads 30 FEET a year. It covers fences, wires, even abandoned houses. It chokes the ecosystems. If you’re from New England you know Knotweed. Trust me, you’d plant Knotweed in your yard if you could get rid of your kudzu.

We had to drive around Knoxville and approach the campground from the south, the road through the Great Smokies is too nasty for an RV. Here’s the “easy” road.

Can you imagine what the hard road was like?

We’re hear for a few days to explore the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, hopefully we’ll find some birds here, but it does look like we’re early for the Spring Migration.

Oh, so why Two Creeks? We’re actually spending the next few nights on Cherokee Tribal Land. When we checked in at the campsite they asked if we would be fishing. We needed a Tribal Permit for that. I think it is kind of cool that we’re on Tribal Land. The Cherokee were among the tribes displaced in the Trail of Tears ethnic cleansing so it good that some part of the tribe is still here. So our campsite is between the two creeks, the Fishing Creek and the No Fishing Creek.

What’s next? We don’t know. LOL.

Daily: 262

Return Total: 2,960

Overall Total: 6,487

Return Miles/Day: 205

New Life Birds: 0