October is such a great month. It's almost as good as
September. You start to feel a little nip in the night air. The leaves start to change colors, and harvest festivals are available to all who look for them. Football season is already well underway, but hiking and festival season is just getting cranked up.
Last weekend was the Newport Harvest Street Festival. We went, walked around the town center, and quickly left. I hope this doesn't set a precedence for the other festivals we plan on attending for the next few weekends. Honestly though, we went last year and this time around, it really seemed to be more of a junk sale or there were too many booths for those who wanted to make a small buck selling by their gold, and not near as many crafters as we remembered from last year. Anyway, we decided people-watching in Gatlinburg would be more fun and I had an itch to check out
NOC's new Great Outpost in Gatlinburg, located on the main drag just before you enter the Great Smoky Mountains. That place is huge and has all the outdoor gear you could possibly want, albeit at a much higher price than you can normally find online for most things.
Anyway, the next couple of weekends seem to hold a lot in store for us. This weekend I'll be running in
another 5k. I can't wait either. I finished a short, taper run of around 1.3 miles or so earlier today and then taking two days off to rest the legs. Afterward, there are several festivals to choose from. The
Apple Festival in Erwin, TN is this weekend along with the Fall Homecoming at the
Museum of Appalachia in Clinton/Norris, TN.
Next weekend is no different. Cleveland, TN will have it's annual Apple Festival. The
Heritage Days festival in Rogersville, TN is surely not to be missed either. Oh and I forgot to mention that from now through the 9th is the
River Rocks Festival down in Chattanooga, TN. That one is sure to please the masses with all the outdoor activities available. Whether you like to bike or canoe, kayak or hike River Rocks has what you're looking for. You might also want to check out the
October Sky Festival in Oliver Springs on October 22nd. We've still yet to see the movie.
Anyway, if you are heading to this area and want to find out what all is going on, then head over to
www.tnvacation.com and check out their calendar of events. There's tons of stuff listed and you can filter it by region, activity, and dates if you so desire.
Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin
