JIM COLYER IN GATLINBURG

May, 1979 - Gatlinburg

My third trip here was my first enjoyable one. Karen and I absorbed the mountain beauty. The town sits on the northern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road to the park's highest point, Clingman's Dome, was closed. We hiked to Abrams Falls in Cades Cove. The Smokies are part of the larger Appalachian range.

May, 1981 - Gatlinburg

Karen and I made our second trip to Gatlinburg, This time, we saw Clingman's Dome, the highest place in Tennessee. From the observation tower, the panorama of green trees is impressive. We hiked again to Cade's Cove, a five mile walk round trip.

We went to Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge was built during Word War II for the purpose of working on the atomic bomb, the so-called Manhattan Project. In this respect, the city is like Los Alamos, New Mexico. We saw the world's first nuclear reactor, operated between 1943 and 1963.