We left Cookeville, TN at about 9 am after a leisurely morning. The coffee at the La Quinta Inn was atrocious so our first order of business was to locate a Starbuck's on our way to the Smokey Mountains. We headed up I-40 towards Asheville, NC and found our coffee place at Knoxville, TN. We then traveled I-40 through beautiful forests of the Great Smokey Mountains. While we did not have time for side hikes, this would be a great place to spend time in nature.

The first place that we explores was Waynesville, NC. We visited a few years ago and thought the town was very small. However, we entered the town through a different route and discovered it is much larger that previously thought. We revisited a brew pub called Boojum, named after a mythical big-foot created believed to live in the area, and had a sandwich and beer.

We then had a brief visit with a local realtor and learned more about Waynesville. It definitely has four seasons but the winters are fairly mild and snow is not very abundant. The higher elevations of course get more than the valley but it doesn't linger long.

We then drove towards Asheville, NC and briefly visited Clyde, a rural town and Canton, a paper mill town. Neither of these towns excited us so we decided to drive to Hendersonville, a town south of Asheville as we were tired and there was another hour time zone shift. We got off the road at 5:30 pm. We decided to try a Red Roof Inn that is pet friendly. Costs are about $139 +tax and this is high because it is a tourist area and we are having weekend rates. There are no discounts for AARP or AAA.