Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We left Nashville Tuesday for our next destination, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  We arrived safely at the rv park and settled into our spot for the next week.  We're on Eastern time now and it has been hard getting used to the time change.

Friday, we drove over to the Bush's Baked Beans plant.  The visitor's center is located in the old A.J. Bush General Store.

Fall decorations were everywhere,

as well as Jay Bush and Duke.  Jay is a fourth generation member of the Bush family and Duke is actually his dog.

There was a movie presented with lots of clips of Duke and then a guide through the plant.  You cannot actually go into the plant any more.  There are too many people visiting to accommodate all of them.  The film was very good and gave a great overview of how the beans are made.

There is also a museum to tour.  This large can of beans was just one exhibit.

We ate lunch there and on our way out, I took this picture of the Bush house across the street.

It is located right next to the plant.

Today, we made our first visit into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Our first stop was this view overlooking Gatlinburg. There were clouds still hanging on the mountains.

The trees are just starting to change colors.

Fall is in the air!

We reached the Newfound Gap Overlook to see the view at the boundary of North Carolina and Tennessee.

We visited the Mingus Mill, a water powered grist mill that still operates.  You can even buy the flour that has been ground there.

At the Oconaluftee Visitor Center you can tour the Mountain Farm Museum.

Today was kind of an exploratory visit into the Smoky Mountains.  We're looking forward to more visits!