Gatlinburg TN: 4th of July parade

It's the 3rd of July and it feels like July!! And we have staked out our places on the sidewalk around 11pm. Of course, we were late by everyone else's timetable...yep, they line up around 6pm to get a good seat up and down the main street of Gatlinburg. We decided we'd rather take a nap since we knew we'd be up until 2am. :) As you can see in the first picture, Jeff is ready and waiting for the parade & I'm right next to him (that's my basket on the left).

I'm not sure how the tradition started, but about 10 minutes before the parade begins at midnight, people start throwing their loose change into the streets and all the kids run out the grab what they can. Bet it's the only time the kids would dive for change and not dollar bills. ;)

I'm not really sure what this is, but the parade hasn't officially started and here's this Puppetone Rockers rolling down the street!

And let's not forget there's always these hawkers selling those sparkly lights and stuff for the kiddies.

The parade always starts with the local fire departments. Yes, that's a big dog character in the bucket up front.

Just in case you forgot what you were waiting for...after all, most of these folks have been here since 6pm.

The first in line, the military branches proudly at the beginning of the parade.

I don't remember seeing one of these type of floats last year. We were at a traffic light, so it was fun to watch them coordinate and get the floats under the lights.

Toys for Tots Float:

More Military:

Gatlinburg Inn float:

And of course, Cooters:

Gotta show the police car:

And "Boss Hogg" waving to the crowds:

OH, this one is our favorite. The economy has been bad,you know:

One of the "General Lee's" in the parade:

Every parade has to have a grand marshall & this year it's miss Daisy Duke:

Wow, she looks good for her age!

Ripley's Aquarium:

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with Miss Cherokee:

Lots of antique cars all decked out for the 4th of July:

Local radio station:

A local chapter of the Red Hat Society ladies:

Ober Gatlinburg:

Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre:

Food City float....awesome gigantic grocery cart!!

Haunted Mansion:

Ghostwalks through Gatlinburg:

Dolly Partons' Dixie Stampede:

Tennesee State Bank....yeah, we'd like to have that for a camper, stuffed full of money:

Christian float:

Lots of antique cars through out the parade:

Ole Smokey Tennessee Moonshine (Tennesee's first legal moonshine...you can get free samples in there stores OR buy some to take home):

Really, it's in Tennesee, didn't you expect to see some tractors?

White Water Rafting:

Knoxville zoo:

Soul of Shaolin Theatre:

Cool tiger float!

Frightworks:

Tennesee River Old Iron:

Antique tractors AND a few John Deere:

LumberJack Feud (Pigeon Forge's newest dinner theatre):

Hatfields & McCoys dinner theatre in Pigeon Forge (where Black Bear jamboree used to be next to the Titantic):

Yes, you can buy your own fairytale carriage:

Grand Majestic Theatre:

Majestic Magic:

Majestic Soul of Motown:

Chocolate Monkey:

He's patriotic (woof, woof):

Another float that almost didn't make it under the traffic lights:

Santa store:

Well, we thought the parade seemed alot shorter than last year. We talked to a few others and they agreed. It was still good though and we got back to our motel by 1:15am...we just had to scooter up the street!

We arrive in Gatlinburg!

And it's all decked out with flags for the holiday:

I love these gigantic flowers!

Oh, I'm so happy I caught this cutie!


The weather is HOT and we are scooterin' from shade to shade!

Don't park in that handicap ramp space!

According to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Handicap Accessible Parking Regulations:

Van Accessible Spaces must provide an access aisle that is at least 8 feet wide next to the van parking space to permit a person using a wheelchair or scooter to exit or enter a van with a side-mounted lift.

And yes, that access space is always clearly marked with boldly striped markings on the ground. However, you will often see another vehicle with or without a disability parking plate/placard parked in that loading space without any regard for anyone else.

You know what this means? The wheelchair driver has no choice but to wait for the other driver to return and move their vehicle so they can use their ramp or side-mounted lift!

Lately we have noticed this over and over again, especially at different Walmarts we have been at. Finally fed up with it, and angry about people being inconsiderate of our van with a ramp & the clearly marked Handicap decals on the van stating that we need atleast 8 ft space so we can use our ramp (in addition to our handicap plates), we decided to "do" something about it.

We were at a Walmart recently and parked in the end aisle spot with the striped markings on the ground where our ramp would extend out. We're thinking "great! now we will have no problem getting back in!" HA. When we came out of Walmart, there was an SUV parked right on top of those boldly striped lines. I really could not believe it. I mean I see it all the time, but how rude! I would barely be able to get in the van passenger seat from the outside of the van, so forget about extending the ramp for our scooters.

That was it. We had had enough. We went right back into Walmart and complained. They paged for the owner of the vehicle, but no one showed up. Walmart would not call the police to ticket the vehicle, so we did. The state police came and the owner of the vechicle was paged AGAIN. We waited for another 20 minutes or so at the front of the Walmart near their SUV.

The trooper asked us how long we had been waiting. By this point, it had been almost an hour. My husband spied a woman coming out on a Walmart scooter and sure enough, this was her. She said her daughter had dropped her off and went to a nearby shop in the strip mall and must have parked it there; it wasn't her fault and she shouldn't get a ticket. He told the woman to move the vehicle to the front of Walmart so we could get in our van...and he proceeded to write her a ticket.

We loaded up and counted it a victory for all the handicap drivers who have had to wait for an inconsiderate, dare I say selfish driver, who parks on the ramp aisle access lines without regard or care for anyone else.

Oh yeah, and on a side note, she drove off from Walmart without her "daughter" who supposedly parked the SUV there, not her.

New River Gorge National RIver: Sandstone Falls

We decided on Memorial Day, we need to escape the house! We are tired of looking at boxes, boxes, and MORE boxes to unpack, and decided rather than the traditional "grilling out", we would just run away for a few hours. We are within an hour of West Virginia, so it seemed natural to go that direction since there's so many unexplored roads for us there. So with no real direction in mind, except "West", we went!

"The largest waterfall on the New River, Sandstone Falls spans the river where it is 1500 feet wide. Divided by a series of islands, the river drops 10 to 25 feet. Sandstone Falls is located on the north-flowing New River, 8.5 miles north of Hinton, WV. Take River Road (Rt. 26) from the west end of the Rt. 20 bridge in Hinton. drive slowly as much of River Road is one lane.

At Sandstone falls, an accessible boardwalk crosses two bridges leading to islands and observation decks offering views below the falls.

Sandstone Falls is a popular fishing spot for smallmouth bass and catfish: a West Virginia fishing licience is required. The river around Sandstone Falls has been the site of several drownings - always wear a lifejacket when in or near the water."

Ducks! Oh my! You know how I LOVE ducks!

Hmmm...why, did we find a place to scooter?

Yes! I love it when we stumble across a handicap accessible place!

Great day for fishing I see.

Nice little boardwalk with plenty of places to stop and rest. It was a really humid day and the mosquitoes were having quite a lunch on me. The air was so damp and moist around the river and it smelled all woodsy and full of honeysuckle.

The side view of this bridge reminds me of Monet's japanese foot-bridges he loved to paint.

Hey! Wait for me!!

View from the bridge...

And the other side....amazing what a difference.

So I'm on my way to the end of the boardwalk to see the Falls, and this Lizard-Thing decides it's HIS boardwalk. I think it's one of the many salamanders that are around this particular area. He was not backing down despite the size of my scooter! Of course, Jeff was behind me beeping the whole time and yes, I was holding up a line. :) But I personally have issues with "wildlife" and "nature" and being a bit creeped out, I wasn't about to drive over this guy. You know me, I had the image of him catching a free ride under my scooter and I wouldn't know until he jumped out a few hours later while we're driving down the road. Yeah....that's how my imagination goes. ;)

Beautiful Sandstone Falls

Rapids below the Falls

We went scootering a bit down the road to get a better view of my ducks, and I spied this little guy. I had to get a real close-up view of him since he was only a bit bigger than a silver half-dollar-piece.

My ducks!! :)

Yes, I'm pouting...I wanted to take a duck home. There had to be a hundred or more of them standing above the Falls in the shallow water, just waiting for dinner to come to them. Smart ducks!