There and Back Again

(... with apologies to Bilbo Baggins.)

Last Saturday (8/31), we flew out of Anchorage to the 2024 Crew Reunion of the USS William M. Wood (DD715), destination Gatlinburg, TN. Alaska Airlines doesn't go there, so it was Alaska to Seattle to Dallas, then American to Knoxville. Layovers? Seattle was over 6 hours, and Dallas was nearly four hours. 

Departing Knoxville in an Uber, the ride was 1 hour, 15 min., so our total travel time (factoring in the transition through four times zones) was 22 hours. The driver said he's often asked how long it would take "if there were no traffic. We'll never know."

We didn't sleep much on the way there, so I'm sure we looked thoroughly zombified by the time we staggered into the lobby at 7:30 Sunday evening.

The hotel had the friendliest people, and we felt the genuine Southern hospitality while we were there. But the hotel itself seemed to be stuck in 1972. No microwaves, and no housekeeping supplied while you're there. If you want clean towels and washcloths, and/or clean bedding, just help yourself. It's on the housekeeping cart, conveniently left on the walkway on each level, from 9 to 11 a.m.

Due to labor shortages, the hotel's cafe - which did have good food, and was supposed to serve food from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily - was open for breakfast only Sunday and Monday and was then supposed to be closed for the week.

But since breakfast was included in our group reservation, they brought in a short-order cook and had a front-desk lady run the register and act as server. And to be fair, breakfast was really good.

Since we arrived a day early, presumably to sleep off the lack of sleep/jet lag. On the advice of the front desk lady (the same one from breakfast), we walked across the street to another hotel and bought sodas and Hot Pockets from the coolers in their lobby. That took care of lunch and dinner. 

On a lighter note, the hotel offered some non-advertised amenities, like the local wildlife:

The creek which runs past the hotel

Gatlinburg is overrun with the fur-bearing critters, and folks were surprised that we just shrugged and said, "Oh, you have blackies? That's nice." We live in bear country and have black and brown bears. Of course, we also have moose, coyotes, Arctic fox and snowshoe hares which wander through our yard fairly often. But I digress.

On Tuesday, the group went to Dolly Parton's Stampede in Pigeon Forge, roughly adjoining Dollywood. 

The goomer in the Hawaiian shirt is me.

I tried to upload the Stampede's video, but Blogger didn't like it. So you can watch the 30-second film yourself at www.dpstampede.com ... if you want. It's a rodeo made into a musical event, and ain't half bad. 

Wednesday was a tour of part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which was very beautiful. Even after living in Missouri for 45 years, we'd never seen terrain and green growth like that. Of course, the highest point in Missouri is only 1,325 ft above sea level, whereas the highest peak in the Smokies is just over 6,600 feet.

Part of the ship, part of the crew.

Me and my very patient wife.

There's a view like this around almost every corner.

After the bus tour, we also did a bit o' shopping in Gatlinburg. I bought a new pair of shoes, as the ones I brought with me had died an untimely death. And lunch at the Pancake Palace was quite good (they serve lots of things besides pancakes).

On Thursday, the group went to Pigeon Forge for an official shopping outing. We stayed behind, took a long nap, and did most of our packing.

Thursday evening was the final night, and we had a nice banquet in the hospitality room. 

I met some guys who'd been on the ship in the decade or so before me, and one first-time attendee turned out to be the guy who trained me when I first got to the Wood in '73. I hadn't seen him in 51 years and hadn't expected to. But he remembered me too, and we had a great time remembering and catching up.

Due to the gaining back of the four hours we lost heading east, it took only about 15 hours to get home again. 

It was a great time, and I hope we get to do it again before too much time goes by. 

All and sundry ...

And the crew that attended (excepting the guy on the upper left; he was
somebody's friend, but I'm not sure why he was in the picture).