Rich Mountain Drive

After visiting the Methodist Church in Cades Cove last Thursday, we drove somewhere we have never been before. We drove across Rich Mountain on a one-way gravel road.... It was FANTASTIC---and we had a great day. Here are some pictures taken as we went over that mountain... Above is the sign telling about the road. Below are more!

Here's what the road ahead of us looked like for the most part. I'm glad it was one-way --so that we didn't have to worry about traffic going the other direction. The road was in fair shape --with some big ruts in places that Mrs. P (and George) did a great job of missing!!! Overall, it was fun being 'way back' in the mountains!!!!

We stopped at an overlook so that we could see Cades Cove. Enlarge this picture and you will see the Methodist Church that I talked about in yesterday's post... Click HERE if you missed that post.

This picture is looking toward the right ---from that overlook. Cades Cove is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.

This picture was taken looking toward the left. You can see the gorgeous Smoky Mountains --and some of Cades Cove.

On farther up the mountain, we found another small overlook. We need to go back when the leaves are off of the trees to get better pictures of the cove from this spot. George had to climb up a bank above the road to get this picture.

There wasn't much Fall color yet in the mountains, but you can see some color on the dogwood tree toward the right side of this picture.

Finally, we made it to the other side.. This picture was taken on the Tuckaleechee side of Townsend, TN. In the 1820's, when there were no schools in Cades Cove, the children from the 'cove' were transported across that mountain to attend school in Tuckaleechee Cove. Since it was a rugged trip across the mountain, the children were boarded at the school there.

Pictured above is Rich Mountain --which we had just crossed!!!!

We love our geo-tracker--- because it not only keeps track of where we take our pictures. It also tracks our entire trip!!!! Enlarge the map above and you can see where we went last Thursday. We went the same way both coming and going until we got to Townsend. We took the road to the left around and into Cades Cove. Then we turned right, to go over Rich Mountain.

Once we got to the bottom of the other side of Rich Mountain, we got lost. We went the wrong way TWICE --trying to get back out to the highway. Our GPS (which could have helped tremendously) wasn't with us that day (due to a recall), and the roads were not marked. SO--we just took a couple of side trips --the WRONG WAY....

On the map above, you can see where we turned right and sorta went around in a circle once, and then went to the end of another road before turning around and trying again. Finally, we went LEFT and then had no trouble getting back out to the highway... It was a fun side trip though... George did his blog yesterday on this and published a close-up map of our Townsend adventure as we tried to get out of that area without our GPS!!!! Click HERE to read what he said about this adventure!!!!

I have one more set of Rich Mountain pictures which I will share with you soon.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Hugs,

Methodist Church and Cemetery, Cades Cove, TN

This past Thursday, on a very cloudy day, George and I again drove to Cades Cove to check out the gravel road between Cades Cove and Townsend --over Rich Mountain. Before we went up the mountain, we stopped at another church in Cades Cove, the Methodist Church.

J. D. Mc Campbell, a blacksmith and carpenter, built a church, in the 1820's, in 115 days for $115. He later served many years as its minister. The congregation started in a log building, which lasted until they built this church in 1902.

Above is a picture of the little church taken from the cemetery beside it. Below are more.

Several of you have asked us to take more 'inside' pictures when we visit different places. SO--we did it for YOU, even though it was dark in there!!!! This picture shows the inside of the little church. There were several rows of pews, an altar/pulpit and even a piano... That's George standing there on the right!

Of course, I had to check out the pulpit.... BUT--luckily, I didn't start preaching... ha (See the old upright piano on the left?)

As we walked around the cemetery, this stone caught my attention... Look at it carefully... This family lost 3 baby boys in 3 years. How sad.

I couldn't read any words which may have been printed on this one, other than the word, MOTHER. BUT--I loved seeing the heart.

Another infant death; there were so many back then... What caught my attention here was the little lamb. Sweet, huh? And I loved those words at the bottom.

Finally, this is a picture of the front of the little Methodist Church. NOTE the two doors entering the church... This usually indicates that the church follows the custom of men sitting on one side and women on the other... But--I read that this church did not follow that custom. It seems that the church borrowed the building plans of another church that did divide its congregation by gender. Interesting, huh????

Hope you enjoyed seeing another one of the little churches in Cades Cove. In tomorrow's blog, I will show you this little church from up on Rich Mountain.

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Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had 3 inches of rain on Saturday (YEAH RAH)---and Sunday was a PERFECT day in Tennessee (mild temperatures, gorgeous blue skies).... What can I say???? Life is GOOD!!!

Hugs,