Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and kennel question lovers. There is a 6 bank kennel to park your hounds if you want to. I did not take a picture because I am a fool. I forgot. We went down and looked at it.

The set up is all outside. There are self locks and keys. There were about 4 dogs staying there. I was not comfortable leaving Chaps and Emma as you can imagine. It is very primitive. I was very mad. Howl can an estate such as the Biltmore leave dogs to languish like this? I complained to anyone that would listen.

It is a pound type set up with a pad lock. Most of the pad locks did not work. Again, it was very sub par. So, do not bank on this.

Thank Dog the weather was good for us and we could leave Chaps and Emma in the car. It was about 60 degrees and we parked in the shade. The mountain breeze was blowing. Here is where they stayed.

We considered the kennel until we saw it. What really makes me mad is that this is the Biltmore!

They loved dogs in their day!

Picture 6 pens stuck down behind a parking lot. Very sad! GIVE ME A BREAK!

I give the Biltmore an F for this effort!

More grading later…Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Biltmore at the end of the day lovers.

Check it out! The last self tour for the Biltmore was at 3:45pm. We took that last self tour with an audio visit. It costs 10 bucks but it was well worth it. You really must take the audio tour. Just go to the front desk and get your audio package.

But the best part of this last tour is your total access to the property. We went back to the BHV that had Chaps and Emma in it. Of course this is all weather permitting. It was a 60 degree day and the kids were totally find in my BHV. We drove back to the front of the property for sun set.

You can drive right in front of the estate as you drive out. You don’t know this when you pull in and you are directed to the parking lots. But, you can pull right up front if you want to go to the garden store.

It is also your way out but they don’t tell you that.

Anyway, we figured it out! After the last tour we basically had the estate to ourselves!

We had so much fun walking the kids all over!

Look at the Lions. The kids are hooked up to each one!

This picture is the kids hooked up as well. Just check out the enormity!

Then we had the run of the place. Every one was gone.

You are not going to believe this….A fellow and his wife were volunteers from GA basset hound rescue that took this picture. What? Can you believe it? They were so excited to meet us. They saw the BHV in the lot!

Emma was watching from a far!

Then the sun went down.

There was no one at the estate but us. We parked down by the gates right off of the parking lots. It is the way you go to the garden shop. It passed right pass the estate. We had the best experience.

It was so cool!

More all to our selves later…Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and tee shirt art lovers. I have come to the conclusion that air brush art is kind of like tattooing for really good artists. This guy is really good! As promised here are the pictures of his art work!

This is the tee I bought Grandma…..

Grandma actually took this picture of Emma and we call it the glamour shot.

I picked the Chaps photo for my shirt. I am going to order an Emma shirt soon.

I am just awe struck with this air brush artist. Can you believe it?

More loving my fantastic finds later……Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and blogging in a dog friendly hotel in Gatlinburg lovers…..

Back when I was making reservations for our trip I was getting desperate for lodging in Gatlinburg. I finally found lodging that would take dogs over 30 pounds. Whew….

It is called the Midtown Lodge. When we pulled out today I made the comment, “well I guess the Midtown Lodge served it’s purpose allowing dogs over 30 pounds but not much more.”

I would call it a dump. The owners were rude and snobby. Howl can anyone be snobby to the Mayor?

Even the cabins in Asheville had internet access. This place only had access in the lobby. Since I was close to the lobby I was able to dip into the lobby’s hot spot via this location in my room but no where else…

I am sure there must be more places in Gatlinburg that take real dogs, dogs that have some meat on their bones! hehehe

I will never stay here again. Here is an ariel shot of the hell hole. I took it from the sky lift ride. It is the brown one in the front.

Grandma and I took a sky lift to the top of one of the Smokey Mountains.

It was scary fun! See the chair behind me?

Anyway, back to the bug infested, smoke alarm going off hell hole.

Here are the kids after I tucked them in. Sorry for the bad photos. It is almost like night vision….

I had them all covered up because the AC did not work and the air was pretty stale. I had the windows open and the mountain air was getting pretty cool. It just felt and smelled so good, plus I could hear the bluegrass band playing across the street. Ahhhhhhh mountain music! Just like Chaps and Emma howling;)

The kids slept really good the entire trip.

I was just glad to check out. I cannot tell you howl much I am looking forward to buying my mini RV.

More almost home later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and the number one thing you must do while in Gatlinburg lovers…..

Can you guess?

Maybe eat a foot long corn dog?
Maybe eat a hot funnel cake?
Maybe get a photo of yourself in a petticoat holding a shotgun while eating salt water taffy?

Nope none of those……..

The number one thing to do while in Gatlinburg is to research air brushed tee shirt designers!

I picked mine!

Stay tuned for more of his art work that I will pick up tomorrow.

More loving the one thing that is a must do in Gatlinburg later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Log Cabin Motor Court Lovers……Some of you may have remembered a blog I did about finding this place! Grandma, the kids and I loved it! Look howl cute! This place is right outside of Asheville, NC. It is about 30 minutes from the Biltmore Estate and 10 minutes from downtown Asheville.

Grandma and I each had our own cabins. They are very rustic with a modern touch. I had wireless internet access! YEAH! The kids and I had the Snuggle Inn and Snuggle we did!

Chaps was totally hangin’ with his Grandma!

Then I took off to walk Emma and the Mayor was concerned……..

Emma and I are coming back from the dog walk area. This place is pawsome. There are poop bags and deposit cans along the way. Woot, Woot!

This is us checking out today! I had just got back from Granny’s Kitchen, right down the road. I bought 2 cups of coffee and crispy bacon and cheese sandwiches. Delicious! “Granny” waited on me. The place was about the size of my small living room. Everyone was laughing and it was 7:30am. Lovely, even though the fog was as thick as the gravy Granny was making behind the counter!

I wanted to show you where we had dinner last night. This is the restaurant for the cabins! An authentic German dining experience! It was soooooooooooo delicious! The potato pancakes were to die for!

Bye, Bye Beautiful, Blue Ridge Log Cabin Motor Court! We will always think of you fondly!

More heading to Gatlinburg, TN later lovers…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and cute picture lovers….

I cannot tell you howl good the kids have been. The weather was great and we found a huge tree to park the BHV. Grandma and I got to visit the Biltmore as the kids stayed in the BHV with a bunch of blankets. It worked great but not without a few hours of trying to figure it out. The weather was perfect and the parking space was Princess.

More updates about dog friendly Biltmore later…Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Reflecting Lovers…

I have so much more to blog about the grand Biltmore butt for now I reflect on today’s adventure!

A pool of reflections…..

And a lawn of joy!

We all reflect in our own way! Herz don’t need to see to reflect!

More reflecting later…..Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and stretching out the Mayor’s birthday lovers…Who is not one of those?

This is the Mayor eating his special birthday breakfast in Lexington, VA before we heading out for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Shimlette is enjoying the same breakfast, the normal kibble with hot potato chip mush mixed in. Yum!

We could not wait to get started on our Big Birthday Blue Ridge Adventure!

The kids are doing so great. They love the comfy setup in the back of the BHV, (basset hauling vehicle). The Blue Ridge Parkway is only 5 miles from the hotel. The entrance is called Buena Visa. It took about 8 minutes for us to get this photo op!

There is just no way one can capture the enormity….but we try!

This is about 20 minutes later…..

You can probably tell why we kept the kids in the car!

The kids got out at this rest stop. After we loaded them back in the BHV we went in the gift shop and bought a lovely chunk of butter pecan fudge. OMD! My mouth just watered typing that. It was so good.

Next stop on the way to Roanoke was the Peaks of Otter Lodge. We would have stayed there but the Blue Ridge Parkway lodges are not dog friendly. This place is stunning and it is such a shame that our best friends are not allowed. We decided to keep them in the BHV while we snapped a few shots. When we take them out of the BHV it adds about an hour to the stop;)

More Peaks of Perfection Later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and “That is the happiest dog I have ever seen” lovers….

A gentleman walking past Chaps and I today told me that.

Can you imagine howl I smiled? Chaps was prancing like a dandy down the VMI parade ground as we headed towards Washington and Lee University which is in prancing distance.

Yesterday we saw this!

As we all know, the Mayor loves to march!

Check himz out at Washington and Lee University!

He rolls……….

And rolls…….

And, roll, roll, roll…..

Not bad for a 10 year old! Kicking both back feet like a 10 month old! Happy Birthday Mayor!

Residents, you should have seen himz today. Prancing from VMI to Washington and Lee like a young pup. I am just so happy! Himz moved like a young pup!

Someone told me that petting himz made their weekend!

Can you believe that our Mayor is 10 years old? I love himz x 10 bazillion.

Happy Birthday Chaps, the happiest hound I have ever seen!

More loving a Mayor Later….Mommy, Chaps and Emma

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