Good ol' Rocky Top

We had a great visit to the Smoky Mountains this week. Our final animal count was....4 black bears, 1 coyote, a box turtle, several deer - quite a few racks!, squirrels and chipmunks, and two salamanders!

T was sooooo excited to see bears, but she must have been thinking of teddy bears. When we saw the first one she screamed and decided that she didn't want to see anymore bears. Because the animals come out at dusk, they were hard to catch on camera, but we did our best. We named each bear after a family member, and we only had the 'Daddy' bear to go when she started whinning, "No daddy bear, no more smokies". I guess it worked!

Ch had a great time navigating across a river on one of our hikes. He was almost all the way across, when the rocks got slippery and he got soaking wet (this was only the first time...). We hung his pants out the window until we got to our next destination in hopes that they would dry out a little. SM stayed dry since he let Ch lead and make all the mistakes...

SM was determined to see a salamander, but we got a little discouraged when the rangers told us that most of them were already burrowing. He perservered, and was even willing to go on a three + mile hike in the rain in already soggy, wet clothes (more on that later) to find one. We were so excited when we found two at the head of the trail! Very COOL! (On a spiritual note, SM had prayed to be able to see a salamader. Mom and Dad were a little worried, but as usual, we were taught a great lesson by a child. After we found them, SM immediately said a prayer of thanks - what a good kid!)

Dad was the cause of any colds that might result from this trip. We drove up to Clingman's dome, some 6,000+ ft. and were going to go on the hike up to the observation point. We had two days of awesome weather, but it rained the third. So, because it was only misting, we decided to go. Oh, did I mention it was a balmy 40 degrees and windy? I turned back with T once it started to rain and assumed Dad and the boys would be following, especially since it started to rain even harder...nope. They went all the way and back. I had frozen popsicle boys by the time they made it back to the car. And the best part was that they couldn't see anything for the clouds!!!! =P

I enjoyed the gorgeous scenery, especially the changing leaves. I couldn't help but think what I could have done with a camera like Amy or Jill...=) I loved the Smokies, but was sad to see the commericalization of Pigeon Forge and Gattlinburg. There were a few out of the way places (and J and I get lost on a regular basis and mangage to 'find' them), but I have to wonder how long they will stay 'out of the way'. On the way home I did have to air the car out on a regular basis , on account of the musty wet clothes and boys.

Now, back to the laundry!!!