I had an early morning American Airlines flight out of LAX. Per the usual, I had prebooked a parking spot at the LAX Economy Parking structure. After finding a suitable parking spot and taking a picture of where I had parked, I went downstairs to catch a shuttle ride over to terminal 4. It was kind of cool to see that the LAX SkyLink automated people movers (APM) had finally entered the testing phase.
LAX Economy Parking
APM finally in testing phase
My flight was out of gate 43. Thankfully, there was a Starbucks right across the way. They were not scheduled to open until 4:30 am, but there was already a line that had formed. They were not accepting mobile orders, so I had to join that line and order the old fashioned way. I ordered a tall flat white for $8.75. With tax, it almost came out to $10!
Tall flat white
Rolling by the Tom Bradley International Terminal
Inflight snack and drink
The flight landed at DFW for a short layover. I had to get from terminal C over to terminal D in a hurry. Thankfully, I knew the airport pretty well and was able to hop on the Skylink to make it to my gate before boarding started for my flight out to McGhee Tyson TYS Airport.
Skylink from terminal C
Inflight snack and drink
The flight landed at just before 3:30 pm local time. I was feeling pretty pooped, so before I went anywhere, I stopped at the Starbucks to get some coffee. I got my usual tall flat white. I wanted to make sure that I was alert and awake for the drive out to Pigeon Forge. For this week, I earned 75 bonus stars for ordering a flat white 2 times.
Tall flat white
While waiting to get off of the plane, I noticed that I had received an email from Budget Car Rental telling me to go straight to the Fastbreak counter to pick up my car. I had not rented a car from them in a while so I wasn't sure if I was a Fastbreak member. The lady there told me that having a Budget account was not the same as being a Fastbreak member. So I went back to the rental counter where that lady said that she couldn't find my car reservation. Eventually, she called the Fastbreak booth to check. Lo and behold, I was indeed a Fastbreak member. We had a good chuckle when I returned back to the booth where I got my paperwork and was good to go. I was given a black Toyota Camry hybrid.
Toyota Camry hybrid
From there, it was almost a 1.5 hour drive out to Pigeon Forge for the race packet pick-up over at Dollywood's HeartSong Lodge & Resort. Lately, I had too many races bunched together to the point where I was not on top of the race details. Thankfully my original plan was to sign up for the Butterfly Challenge, so I had booked everything with Friday as my arrival day. It would turn out that today was the only day that they had packet pick-up! Most races will let you pick up on Friday or Saturday for a Sunday race!
After finding a parking spot, I went inside to pick up my race packet. I was a bit confused as to where to go first. A few of my fellow race participants and I had mistakenly gotten into a line for people staying on property to pick up their transportation wristbands. We were supposed to continue on and join the queue for the race expo. They were holding people up at the entrance and limiting people from going inside so that it wouldn't get too crowded. Inside they had separate lines depending on which event or events you were running. The shortest line was for those running in the Butterfly Challenge. Not too long after I had picked up my bib, my race shirt, a drawstring bag, and my park ticket, that my friend came up to me and got my attention. We were both surprised that each of us were running this race! She was running the challenge while I was only running the half marathon. The challenge had already sold out by the time I had gotten around to registering for the race. We chatted a bit and took a selfie before going our separate ways. She didn't go very far as she was staying on property.
Dollywood's HeartSong
Queue for bib pick-up
Race packet
Race shirt
2 day park ticket
Participants could sign the Dollywood banner
Marcia
I hopped in the car and drove over to the nearby Club Wyndham Smoky Mountains to get checked-in. I was checked into a 1 bedroom suite #1013 before having to make the usual stop at the dreaded concierge station. I really tried not to get upset yet again. So when the guy said that there was an issue with my account, that I needed to get something set up, I did not resist. I had him schedule me for 8:15 am on Monday before I checked out of my unit. The incentive for my time was a $100 AMEX card. He was not the first concierge to tell me this, so I was determined to get that set up and only that. As for the unit, although it was a ground floor unit, it was more of an underground unit as it was built into a hill. The tight awkward layout of the unit was pretty much identical to the unit that I had at the Club Wyndham Cypress Palm property over in Kissimmee, FL.
Pretty useless stuff from the concierge
Club Wyndham Smoky Mountains
After I got settled into my unit, I hopped back in the car to drive out to the closest Publix to buy some salty snacks and water. I also wanted to pick up a quick dinner from the Popeyes that was in the same parking lot. I ended up buying 2 bags of Boulder Canyon chips for $8 and a gallon of Publix drinking water for $1.43. Per the usual, I paid for my items while using one of the self checkout kiosks. After dropping off my items at the car, I placed my order for a classic chicken sandwich for $5 on the mobile app. I also used a reward to get some free regular Cajun fries. Although the restaurant was empty, it was a bit slow for the food to be ready for such a small simple order. When it was finally ready, I took it back to my unit to enjoy. The sandwich was not bad, but I shall stick to the vastly superior Chick-fil-A. I only wanted to eat here as I thought they were part of the AAdvantage Dining program. Unfortunately between checking just before the trip and today, they had dropped out of the program.
Boulder Canyon chips x2 and gallon of water
$5 chicken sandwich plus free Cajun fries
Saturday 4/25
My plan for today was to visit Dollywood with the option of getting there early enough to catch the 5k or just the 10k. While I did wake up early enough to go catch the 5k which started at 6:30 am, I decided to snooze a little more. I ended up leaving my unit at about 6:15 am. The 10k was scheduled to start at 8:30 am, so I first drove over to the nearby Starbucks at the Tanger Outlets to get some coffee and breakfast. On the mobile app, I ordered a tall flat white and bacon sausage wrap before going inside to wait for my food. It was a pretty small Starbucks so they were a bit slow in getting out the few orders.
Tall flat white
Bacon, sausage, & egg wrap
Parking which was normally $25 was free for race participants and spectators. The guy at the toll gate had me turn on the car's hazard lights. It was to signal the other parking attendants that I was to park in lot F or preferred parking. After finding a parking spot, I ate my wrap before heading over to catch the tram.
Lot F
The tram took me over to the Run Dollywood Race Hub which was the Dollywood's Splash Country parking lot. The start and finish line as well as gear check were all located here. I met up with my friend who was running the Butterfly Challenge. She had finished the 5k and was waiting for the start of the 10k. As the park did not open until 10 am, I stuck around until my friend came through the finish line. While she went back to her room to get cleaned up, I took the tram over to stop C. Because of the races this weekend, the tram did not run all the way up to the entrance.
Stage and tent
10k start corral
Achilles athletes started ahead of the field
1st place runner coming through
Headed for the finish line
Runners with butterfly wings
Marcia
Gooner!
Here You Come Again!
Marcia heading up to the finish line
After going through security and getting the contents of my drawstring bag examined, I had my ticket scanned and headed inside. It was drizzling a bit, but not enough to get out the umbrella. The first ride I wandered to was the Lightning Rod. It must be a popular ride as very few people got out of line when it was announced that the ride was temporarily offline. Eventually, the ride was back up and the line moved at a decent pace. When it was time to get on the ride, they had cubby holes for you to store your stuff. They also didn't want you to have anything in your pockets. In addition to a lap bar, they also had an over-the-shoulder restraint. I don't think I've ever been that strapped in even for Six Flags Magic Mountain rides. It was a pretty decent thrilling ride! It reminded me a bit of the Incredicoaster. However in hindsight, I probably should've taken off my glasses. It was still drizzling, making my nose wet and slippery. I had to hold on to it or else it most likely would've slipped off. That would've rendered me blind as I absolutely cannot see a thing without my glasses!
After that I decided to just walk around the park and check out everything to get the lay of the land. Eventually, I met up with my friend near the Mystery Mine and the Lumberjack Lifts. My friend and I were on the same page. We just wanted to check things out and not let our tickets go entirely to waste. We weren't there very long as it was raining off and on. We checked out the Dollywood sign, Wings of American Show Birds, Wild Eagle, and the Demolition Derby. We then checked out the merchandise in the Dollywood Emporium before heading out. There were some shirts that I liked, but I wanted to wait until tomorrow to decide on whether to buy anything as I already have way too many shirts at home.
Dolly, a red-tailed hawk
Wild Eagle
Drizzling
Leia, peregrine falcon
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12
Demolition Debry
Flower & Food Festival
I can't put a finger on it, but these look a bit like... :D
After getting back to my car, I opened up the Chick-fil-A app and placed my order for a late lunch or very early dinner. My order was for a jalapeño ranch club sandwich with grilled filet, a cobb salad with grilled nuggets, and a frosted lemonade. I then drove over and joined the drive-thru lane to pick up my order.
Jalapeño ranch club sandwich with grilled filet
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets
After finishing my rather large meal at my timeshare unit, I stayed in for the rest of the day. Instead of going back out for more food later in the evening, I ate through one of the bag of chips. I lounged around while watching a bunch of TV. Eventually, I laid out my flat runner, took a shower, and called it a night.
Flat runner
Sunday 4/26
Per the race guide, tolls were open for parking at 4 am with the half marathon scheduled to start at 5:30 am. Since it was just a short drive away, I got ready and left my timeshare about 10 minutes before 4 am for the drive over. I parked fairly close to tram stop D. I took the tram over to the race hub.
Half marathon parking & flow
Tram stop D
I sat on one of the chairs underneath the tent to text and meet up with my friend. Once we met up, we went over to join the long queue for the portapotties. Since there was one line for all of them, it moved pretty quickly. After taking care of that, we headed into the starting corral. Once inside, we made our way closer to the front.
Queue for portapotties
Half marathon start line
Half marathon race course
I ran okay for a very hilly course. I had to be pretty cautious for most of the first 6 miles. There was heavy fog and the course was not lit especially on the out and back section along Veterans Blvd. At one point, it was pitch black and I was following a blind runner as he was wearing a Team Achilles fluorescent yellow shirt! Truly, the blind leading the blind! He told me that he was following the white line on the road while his guide went up further to make sure that there weren't any hazards. That was followed by a longer out and back on Jake Thomas Rd. The uphill outbound portion wore me out mentally as I couldn't see the turnaround point. I pulled over and took a walk break to regroup. We finally got daybreak shortly after the turnaround, so I could finally see the road and my surroundings! I must say that running was much more enjoyable when I could see where I was going! My legs were pretty wiped out by the time I had reached Dollywood for the last 5k of the race. After doing a loop inside the rather hilly amusement park, I started making my way back to the race hub. It was a rather steep climb up to the finish line. I was very glad to have finished in just under 2 hours, 1:59:36. To put things into perspective, I was 6 seconds slower than the new Marathon World Record that was set over at the London Marathon!
Finish: 1:59:36
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I received my hard-earned finisher medal. Then further up the finisher chute, I received a bottle of water, about a quarter of a sandwich, and a soggy box of post race snacks. Unlike the runDisney races, these boxes weren't quite sturdy enough to handle such high humidity!
Finisher medal
Finisher medal and post race food
Run Katie Run
After finishing the sandwich, I headed over to the tram station to get a ride back to my car as I was starting to feel cold. Once I changed into some dry clothes, I hopped back on the tram for a ride back to the finish line. Since the park wasn't going to open until 10 am, I stayed and cheered on my fellow runners until the balloon ladies came through.
People out on the course
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas!
Balloon ladies
I then took another tram ride back to my car. I hung out at the car for a bit. In addition to eating the apple slices, I cracked open the pretzel and hummus. That was much better than the fake plastic "cheese" that runDisney gives out! :D
Pretzel and hummus
Eventually, I headed over to Dollywood to use up my park ticket. Since I had run a half marathon, the only thing that I had on my to-do list was to check out their famous cinnamon bread. That especially was the case since I did not get to sample any of it during the race. Supposedly, small pieces of it were being passed out at one of the aid stations inside the park. After checking out some of the rides in the County Fair area, I came up to the Grist Mill and found that there wasn't a line. There was only one person ahead of me. The cinnamon bread with icing was $12.99, plus tax came out to $14.39. The cashier told me to head over to the adjacent building with the waterwheel to pick up my bread. I was given a box of cinnamon bread and a cup of icing in exchange for my receipt. I then found a nearby vacant table to enjoy my treat. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but even I had to admit that that was some good stuff! I had no trouble finishing that whole loaf on my own.
Lemon Twist
The Amazing Flying Elephants
Grist Mill
Worth the hype!
A line had formed
After I was done polishing off that entire box, I continued on through the park in a counter-clockwise direction. I decided to get in line for the Blazing Fury ride. The line wasn't very long and it looked to be a pretty tame ride. I definitely wasn't about to ride something that would involve any risk of losing my glasses. The ride was entirely indoors so it was dark. I believe the ride was about firefighting, but the animatronics were creepy and weird looking! The ride had a few small drops. I don't think it was a must-ride especially if there's a long wait.
I then made my way up to the Wildwood Grove area where I bumped into my friend. It would turn out that she had lost her phone some time during the race. It had fell out of her compression tights. While she had a backup phone, she had reported it lost and was hoping that it would turn up in lost & found. Thankfully, later on, she would get a call that her phone was found out on the race course and was turned in.
We were both kind of done with the park by noonish, so we started heading for the exit. Before leaving, I decided to go into the Dollywood Emporium one last time to buy a souvenir t-shirt. I bought the peace, love, and Dolly shirt that caught my eye yesterday.
Reminded us of the Haunted Mansion!
Bye bye Dollywood, it's been fun!
After getting back to my timeshare unit, I got cleaned up and vegged out until it was time to go back out for dinner. My plan was to eat at the nearby Cracker Barrel just south of the timeshare on Great Smoky Mountain Pkwy. I first stopped in at the Starbucks on Christmas Tree Ln to get a tall flat white for a quick pick-me-up and to earn 25 bonus stars.
Tall flat white
I finished my coffee before hopping in the car for a quick drive over Cracker Barrel just a couple of blocks away. After I was seated, I started things off with some more coffee while I looked over the menu. I ordered one of my usual items, their steak and eggs with fried okra as my side. My waitress was young and aloof. She did a decent job, but definitely your typical teenager. I messed up while paying for the bill using Google Pay which somehow skipped the tip screen, so I had the cashier break my emergency twenty dollar bill so I could leave a tip.
Coffee
Biscuits
Steak & eggs with fried okra
Monday 4/27
I woke up pretty early to pack up my things and prepare for my trip home. Even though check out time wasn't until 10 am, I had to drive over to the nearby Wyndham Preview Center for my owner update. They had texted me yesterday that it would at 8:30 am instead of 8:15 am. They had me sit through a presentation before I sat down with the sales rep. For once, the guy (Steven Malone) just flat out told me that there was nothing wrong with my account. I thanked him for being the first rep since I had become an owner that was honest with me. Since an hour had passed, I was free to go. I had even put all of my bags in the car in case it had dragged on. I drove back to my unit to hang out a bit and use the restroom before finally checking out at 10 am.
After dropping off the room key at the front desk, I hopped in the car and drove over to the Cracker Barrel further north on Winfield Dunn Pkwy to get some breakfast. Per the usual, I started with some black coffee. Then I ordered my usual Country Boy Breakfast with steak tips, hash brown casserole, and grits.
Coffee
Country Boy Breakfast with steak tips, hash brown casserole, and grits
Since my flight home wasn't until almost 7 pm, after I paid the bill, I decided to drive around town and check out a few touristy spots. I first checked out Hulk Hogan's Wrestling Shop, Cooter's Place, and WonderWorks. I then drove up to the Sevier County Courthouse to get a picture with the Dolly Parton statue.
"Whatcha gonna do when these 24 inch pythons run wild on you?!"
Cooter's Place
"Them Duke boys are at it again!"
WonderWorks
Veterans Statue
Dolly Parton Statue
From there, I started heading out to Knoxville. The drive over was just a little over 30 minutes. Right before getting on the 168 highway, I pulled up to a Starbucks to get some more coffee and to put in some work. On the mobile app, I ordered a tall flat white.
Tall flat white
After putting in a couple of hours of work, I packed up and drove over to the airport. Before going to the airport, I drove past it to gas up the rental car over at Hunters Crossing. Since there was a Chick-fil-A there, I decided to get some food first. I found a vacant booth near the restroom. I then placed my order for a grilled chicken sandwich and a strawberry hibiscus frosted lemonade on the mobile app. Instead of a grilled chicken sandwich, they gave me a spicy breaded chicken sandwich. It wasn't a big enough of a mistake for me to send it back. However, I must say that that strawberry hibiscus frosted lemonade was really good!
Chick-fil-A
Grilled chicken sandwich
After I was done with my food and used the restroom, I drove over to the Murphy Express gas station. Not sure why, but it was about 20 cents cheaper per gallon at $3.60/gallon than those in the vicinity. The really fuel-efficient hybrid Toyota Camry only needed a little over 2 gallons to fill up!
When I arrived at the rental car return area at just before 4 pm, there wasn't a sign for Budget, so I had to park the car and figure out where to go. It turned out that it was the first entrance. I had at least a good 2 hours to wait before it was time to board my flight. I was definitely not rushed to get through TSA security screening.
Nice little rocking chair!
Inflight snack and drink
I had a fairly short layover at DFW. So as soon as I got off of the plane, I had to hurry over to catch the Skylink for a ride over to terminal B. I made it to my gate in time to use the restroom before it was time to board the plane.
Inflight snack and drink
The plane landed at LAX shortly after 11 pm. By the time I had gotten off the plane, used the restroom, and caught a shuttle ride back to my car, it was about a quarter to midnight. Thankfully, there was little to no traffic and was a quick drive home.
