dokodemo

Had fast lunch, and continued onto Great Smokies National Park. For the first time, as I checked in, I actuallhy talked to a human about the campsite. I normally arrive at 4pm or so, after the office is closed, or manhy times, there just is not an office. Not so in this mega-park. One woman was interested in the van and also the weather in Washington, but my ranger was just selling me a $17 site as quickly as possible. He gave me what I consider the worst one; across from the toilet building (closed for construction) and consequently across from said construction.

The sites here are densely packed, almost like Montauk, and largely occupied. The park in general is pleasant enough, and I was looking forward to exploring. It started raining immediately after parking, so I erected the awning. Tried a streamlined method of erecting it, allowing me to stand under it while it went up. This more or less worked, but I did realize that the awning is quite sub-satisfying for rain duty. Its junction with the van's rain gutter is messy, so it forms a little cascade of water, and it is quite difficult to get all of the corners set up correctly. The difficulty was compounded since my poles were bent at the badlands.

I have very mixed feelings about this awning (the E-Z Awning from busdepot.com). It was cheap, and I love that it doesnt attach to the side of the van, but it has now failed me twice. This wasn't a total failure, and actually it was better than not having it, as I was able to sit outside and enjoy the rain in a chair, rather than being cooped up inside. Eventually I went for a little rainwalk, but the campsite was so big, I had barely made it to the other side when I decided to go back. On the map, this camp (elkmont) looked to be the most remote, and it was near the highest point in Tennesee.

Most of the other campers were in trailers, and all of them I had seen appear older than me by a few decades. My direct neighbors seemed to peer out with some suspicion or curiousity as I played some guitar under the awning in the rain. Simple dinner (rice and black bean chili) and early bed. Watched some of the film Aguirre w/ commentary and didn't make it past 9pm.

It was still raining in the morning, so I learned to pack up the awning while its still attached.

The drive out of the Smokies was beautiful, at times totally saturated in fog. Sometimes, a blast of blue sky would come through. I took the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was a great drive reminiscent of 1 in CA, but it was almost all fog the whole way. Many of the scenic overlooks had visibility of about 3 feet over the edge. I had to keep a low speed so didn't make it into Mount Holly (to visit friend Josh) until 4 or so.

We had dinner with his grandparents and played some amazing Playstation game, "Katamari Damacy". Its almost worth buying a playstation2 just for this title.

Now its time for brunch, then onto Grampa's in Santee, South Carolina.