Ramey Road Trip Day 12: Goodbye West Virginia

Today was our last day in West Virginia, it’s very sad but we have to head back home. We got to sleep in a bit which was nice but we still had to get up somewhat early because we were having our last family breakfast, this one was at Aunt Louis’ house (sorry if I spelled that wrong). Today’s breakfast consisted of homemade biscuits, omelets, and warm cinnamon apples. Once we finished breakfast we did our last checks to make sure we had everything (plus all of the snacks and sodas that we acquired from all of the family, they were very prepared for us) and we said our goodbyes.

I am really glad that I got to come along and meet those relatives they are all really nice and we got along well. Plus, they seemed to like me so that is a good sign (I even got a homemade ring made out of a bolt from one of Jared’s uncles, so now CC and I have matching rings).

And so we set off on our drive for the day. This was another uneventful drive since the main goal was to get to our next stopping place which was in Tennessee. So we only made the usual stops at rest areas to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom in a toilet that doesn’t move.

Eventually we got to our first border crossing for the day, we crossed out of West Virginia and into Virginia but we didn’t stay long. We kept on driving all the way to Tennessee.

On the way to our campground for the night we passed through a really strange town; there was a giant castle with a King Kong statue on the back, a titanic replica, and a LOT of random dinner theaters. Apparently this place is called DollyWood(???) because Dolly Parton basically funded it….. that explains so much.

We got to our campground and we all pretty excited because there was a Pokestop (a place where you can get Pokeballs, eggs, and potions) right next to our campground.

But before we could play Pokemon we were going touristing in a town called Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg is another one of those tourist traps that you have to spend a couple of days in just to see everything. There were restaurants, stores of all kinds (and I mean ALL kinds), breweries, arcades, and lots of other entertainment. We hopped on the shuttle and headed over to the city; once we got there our first task was to find something to eat for dinner. After looking around for a bit we all decided to go to Bubba Gump’s Shrimp since none of us had ever been.

For those in the North who don’t know what Bubba Gump’s is, that is sad. I could try and explain it to you but I won’t. I shall merely tell you to watch the movie Forrest Gump and hopefully you will learn something.

Anyways we had dinner (mine was good though the fish was dry) and while we were busy grubbing it flashed rained. Luckily by the time we stopped grubbing the rain had stopped. So we all went out to go and explore. Mama Ramey wanted to take us to this haunted mansion that her and Mr. Ramey went to on their honeymoon.

It was really spooky; there were actors who jumped out, flashing lights, rooms with no lights at all, and some rooms where you had to find your own way out. I was scared pretty much the whole time since I don’t like haunted houses but Jared was with me so that helped a lot.

After the haunted house we headed back to the main part of the city to decide what we wanted to do next. There were mixed opinions on what everyone wanted to do so we decided to split up and meet up again in an hour. Jared and I went to go find an ice cream place because he had spicy jambalaya for dinner and wanted something to ease the pain (the poor dear).  We found this little shop called the Chocolate Monkey and Jared got himself some ice cream (I tried it, it was alright nothing super special). Then we walked around for a bit so we could look at some more shops, we found a really neat one that was full of random kitchen gadgets.

Then Jared had to go potty so we took a detour and went to go look for a bathroom. While Jared was in the bathroom it started raining again, this time with lightning and thunder, so I took cover in a nearby art gallery and looked around for a bit at the paintings. Finally, Jared came back and the two of us went to look at a Celtic store, which was fairly difficult in the pouring rain. After a bit we decided to head back to the meeting place so we ducked underneath overhangs to try and get to a store that sold umbrellas or ponchos.

We finally found an umbrella and met up with the family on the way out of the store so all of us went and headed to the shuttle stop. After a very long wait we got on to the shuttle and packed like sardines with a bunch of other people. 

Eventually we got back to the campground but it was still raining so Jared and I grabbed our ponchos (that we got from the West Virginia monsoon) so we could go to the bathroom. When we got back to the RV we all started playing Pokemon. We would take turns putting lures on the Pokestop (the lures draw the Pokemon in), though I was mostly after the Pokeballs. While we were playing Jared and I watched Forrest Gump until we finally went to bed.