GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Eugene Davidson said he and his wife have traveled just about everywhere.
"We just come back from India last week, we used to travel every year and we'd leave in January and come back in March," he said.
But he said there is no place quite as special as the Great Smoky Mountains.
"Everything is nice here, we enjoy coming," he said.
After delays, the park is just now opening the gates to several picnic areas and campgrounds. Park officials say the park is typically open a bit earlier.
"This year we have a lot more openings later than normal, usually some fo these are early April, even the first of March," park ranger, Brad Free. "This year things are opening, a lot of things are opening in mid April and the first of May."
But Davidson says the delayed trip only meant he and his wife would spend one of the most important days of the year in the mountains.
"It is our 42nd wedding anniversary and we've been here a little bit over a week," he said. "We been camping ever since we been married but we started off in a tent."
Years later they still make the drive through the Sevier County to spend a little extra time where they started.
"We got older we can't get up the ground so now we got a camper," he said. "We're actually glamping, that's what they call it now, you have a bathroom and a kitchen and a bathroom."
Although opening weekend brought a little weather, Davidson says it wouldn't spoil their trip or their 42nd memory in one of their favorite places to go.
"Rain or snow or whatever, you just go," Davidson said.