October 22, 2014 – Today we headed out of The Great Smokys, but finally on a road less traveled. There is a 4×4 road road that departs the park to the west, and it made for a great final morning in the park. We saw a bunch of wildlife on our way, and I had some fun bouncing the kids down the trail. Marcy, feeling the need for some exercise, jumped out and ran ahead for a nice 20 minute run.

Ironically, this trail terminates at the “Tail of the Dragon”, a stretch of road famous for its 318 curves in 11 miles. Of course if you’re traveling by motorcycle or sports car, this is a little piece of heaven, but in a 10,000, lifted, 4×4 camper van, you’re pretty much in the way. Adding to the humor of all this are the professional photographers at each of the biggest corners, capturing images of riders carving their way through the curves. We weren’t doing much carving, but that didn’t stop them from snapping a few shots as we lumbered past.

Overall the van handled very well in its dual purpose day. The 4×4 section was a nice easy test run for the off-road systems, and the tight corners of the Tail showed us that Brienne is up for anything we can throw at her.

On to Arkansas…