Hiking the Appalachian Trail...

After surviving our camping experience, we made our way to our final stop on our trip, Gatlinburg, TN. We successfully avoided most of the crowds and spent most of our time in the park, hiking. Since we were in the area, and the Appalachian Trail also passes through the area, I thought it would be great to hike the Appalachian Trail. I did a bit of research and found a hike that followed the Appalachian Trail to an area known as Charlie's Bunion. It was four miles out and four miles back, so we successfully hiked "eight" miles on the Appalachian Trail. No need to mention the other 2,181 miles of trail, crossing another 13 states. I like to keep it simple and say, we hiked the Appalachian Trail. :) Probably some of the best views we had out of all our hikes.

Other than the Appalachian Trail hike, we hiked to a waterfall location that gave us the opportunity to actually stand behind the waterfall. A very unique experience, and a beautiful hike, too. In order to fuel some of our hiking, we made a stop at a place my family would visit when we were in Gatlinburg, The Apple Barn. Henry loved the apple, cinnamon donut. It was fun taking Henry to a place I remember visiting with my family.

And for the best part, pictures!!

View from our cabin rental.

When you drink too much water during a hike, you have to hang your pants up in a tree (see background) to let them dry. You also learn Pampers are excellent at picking up leaves. 

Family photo at Charlie's Bunion. 

Henry just hanging out on a cliff, enjoying the view.
No need to panic, Ryan was standing in front of him the entire time. 

Waterfall hike. 

The Apple Barn.

If you would like to see the other photos from our time in Gatlinburg, click on the link below:

Gatlinburg Photo Album

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Camping. A true story.

It finally happened. I avoided it for six years of marriage. I went camping....and survived. After we left the lake house in North Carolina, we entered the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and camped at one of the campgrounds in the park. Two nights of camping, it was an experience.

I can't say it is my favorite thing to do. I don't see why you can't cook on a campfire, or camping stove, roast marshmallows by the fire, stare up at the stars, then go inside. Sleep indoors, enjoy all the modern day conveniences indoor beds, and indoor plumbing provides, then go outside and repeat the cooking on the campfire, sitting by the campfire, etc. etc. The only thing I noticed about camping, that would be hard to experience unless you were camping, was the camaraderie one experiences at a campsite among other campers. When you all are homeless, living outside, you have nothing else to worry about besides being nice to one another.

One particular bond we formed was with two older couples from Alabama. They immediately fell in love with Henry. They let us borrow a few items to help with setting up our campsite, we thanked them by taking over some wine that evening, and they brought over some sweet potatoes they had cooked on the campfire. Friends. Wine. Sweet potatoes. What else do you need?

Ironically, when I told people, it was my first camping experience, they said, don't worry they rarely see bears in the campsite. I wanted to explain to them, it's not the bears I am worried about, it's the sleeping outside, being cold, public restrooms, dirt, did I mention being cold? The bears were the last thing I was concerned with, especially since the weather was so cold the two nights we camped. I figured any sensible bear would stay in his warm, bear cave rather than wander around a campsite.

Henry helped me survive the camping experience. He was having a great time, hands down, loved it! He liked running through the leaves, tripping over hidden rocks, helping Dad build the tent, build the campfire, sampling all the lovely food we were making. I liked to think of him as the campground morale builder. I would take him on walks around the campsite area (in order to give Ryan some time to build the campfire/cook without Henry's help), Henry would walk around and greet everyone. I think he was the youngest camper there.

In the end, I came to the conclusion I would be willing to go camping again. You read that correctly, I. Would. Be. Willing. To. Go. Camping. Again. Not anytime soon, but eventually, we can go camping agin. Ryan said I experienced the worst possible camping weather, cold, rainy, cold, cold, cold, so anything I experience after this trip should be better.

Henry "helping" Ryan build the tent. 

Henry "helping" Ryan start the fire. 

Isn't this great, Mom?!?! We are camping!

Sampling the pancakes. 

Sampling s'mores. 

You can see more pictures of this, and read about the story involving this tree in the photo album.
Needless to say, BEAR did not have a problem driving over this tree. 

Hiking to Mt. LeConte. 

Alum Cave

Alum Cave

We stopped for a family photo session. 

Many more precious pictures like this in our photo album, click on the link below:
Camping Photo Album

In search of fall colors...

One of the things I miss most about living in the South during Fall is the lack of fall colors. I suggested a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. When I was younger, my family would travel to the Smoky Mountains, and I remember the amazing colors that covered the mountains. Ryan said he had never been to the area before, so we started planning. We decided to start our trip on the southern side of the Smoky Mountains, in North Carolina. We found a beautiful house rental on Lake Chatuge. It was the perfect location to begin our trip, relaxing, not crowded, and plenty of opportunities to get out an explore the great outdoors. One day we hiked to High Shoals Falls which was actually in Northern Georgia, and the next day we travelled back to the Northern Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains and hiked to Brasstown Bald. On the way back from the hike we detoured to an offroad trail, perfect for BEAR to show me just how much he can do. It's impressive what the Jeep is capable of.

Perfect morning view from our lake house rental while enjoying a cup of coffee. 

Family photo at the first waterfall of our hike.
It's a miracle all three of us were looking at the camera,
especially since we were using the camera timer. 

Second waterfall on the hike.
Beautiful hike, with only a few other hikers on the trail. 

Driving through a stream. 

Family photo at Brasstown Bald. 

Beautiful views. 

We are lucky to have a lot of family photos from this trip. Everyone was so kind to offer to take our picture, I don't think I had to ask once. 

Henry spotted his first black bear. 

The trees were beautiful! 

Father and son photo shoot on our last morning in North Carolina. 

We said goodbye to the lake house, packed up BEAR, and were off for our next adventure in the area. The plan was for us to stay in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was an adventure.

If you want to see the other pictures from our stay, click on the link: North Carolina Photo Album.

Sometimes we need to stop...

Sometimes we need to stop, and reflect on what matters most. It's about time spent together, when you let the day take you away, when you realize some of the things that make you most happy are right in front of you.

Walking into school with Dad.

Being served champagne to lessen the stress

of knowing you will be camping in the near future. 

Seeing how excited your child is for this new thing we call a tent.  

Park Ranger Henry

Enjoying chocolate like only a toddler can

Throwing pebbles in the river

Learning to shoot a gun for the first time. 

Fishing in the river

Celebrating Fall

The only way you can in Louisiana, indoors, in front of a picture of Fall colors. 

Understanding the point of cookie decorating is eating the final product. 

Spending lots of time and effort on your child's playroom.

For him to still empty the kitchen drawers.