Recharge

In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also.  Psalm 95:4 (ESV)

Andy secured a few days off and said, "Let's get out of here!"  I've had just a couple of days off since finishing the school year.  We thought this would be an early anniversary trip, but Julia caught wind of the plans, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to share the mountains with our not-so-little people who were too small to remember our last trip to the mountains.  We really only had one full day there, but we sure packed in a lot. 

On the drive Wyatt and Julia entertained themselves with sibling trivia.  They decided that they are terrible siblings.  Among the things they didn't know - how to spell each other's middle names.

Some of our first lovely views on the drive.

I can't even... the road to the little cabin Andy rented was straight uphill and curvy.  YIKES!! Even Andy said, "absolutely not!" when asked by Julia if we would be willing to buy such a cabin for our retirement.

The next few pictures depict the same view from our cabin at various times of the day.

I had forgotten how beautiful the mountains are.  After our arrival - late afternoon

start of sunset

after sunset

sunset

morning

Julia and Wyatt take a selfie at the golden hour

Our full day

We started our day by tubing down the Little Pigeon River.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as a real lazy river until last year and did not realize the mountains had them.  The consensus was that this was the best part of the trip, and we want to return and include Zach and Savannah in this activity, possibly spending the whole day at it.  I don't have pictures --yet.  Yes, we did buy a waterproof, disposable camera and hope it took good pictures.  We still have a few shots left on it, and it does need to be processed the old fashioned way.  I am sure I will share when we get those pics.

After the tubing we drove into the national park for some hiking.

We had heard that Cave's Cove had seen much bear activity.  This was the best we could get of a bear playing in a field.  We just missed two adult bears coming out of the forest near our parking spot when we finished our hike.

Our hike was a five mile round trip.  While it ran along a river and was mostly shaded, it was still pretty hot even late in the day.  

We had several of these bridges to cross.  This one was the worst.

We hiked to see this.  It did not disappoint.

Wildlife

This butterfly was a nice treat to watch on our way back out of the trail.

Is this a coyote?

The drive on a one way loop out of the park was frustrating.  We had Floridians in front of us, and they drove at 10 MPH or less until we could get around them.  They stopped to watch deer frolicking in fields.  Kentuckians do not care about deer.  I have seen a doe enjoy snacking on my next door neighbor's landscaping.  The park where Andy and I walk regularly has plenty of deer.  However, I will snap pics of a young buck right on the roadside, and Julia's 'road rage' over the slow drivers in front of us with her commentary was certainly amusing.

As we were cleaning and packing for departure.  I found this uninvited guest.  Lesson learned - The Great Smoky Mountains are home to scorpions.  However, these scorpions have a sting no worse than a honey bee.  Thank you, but I would rather not be stung by either.

one of the last looks

We wrapped up the trip by letting the kids see Gatlinburg. We were on a mission to find a percussion shaker or rain stick.  It took a drive to the arts and crafts community, but we found the rain stick.  We also bought lots of fudge and replaced my sunglasses which I lost in the river while tubing.  I had to replace them before I did any driving because my eyes are very bothered by the bright sun.

Favorite trip quotes:

"One of those horses looks like it has malaria." -Wyatt

"What does malaria look like on a horse?" - Mom

"It just has lots of dots." -Wyatt

"I thought the higher you went the better the WIFI." - Julia (upon discovering that the cabin had no WIFI)

Final Thoughts:  It was a great recharge.  Andy returned home in time to play the Cajon at a small, local church.  He cannot take Tuesdays off.  He can, but he has to work remotely, and that did not go so well at the beach last year.  It also seems a little unfair to work remotely most of the day while also being charged a vacation day, so a full week vacation is not going to happen while he holds this position.  I am grateful that we could pull this mini-trip off, and we have not ruled out another one.  We know people who do not see the value of just getting away--not just being off work but getting away from the demands of life.  It really does recharge your batteries and remind you of just how big our God is when you can marvel at His creation.