It feels like so long since we have taken a real vacation and I mean more than just a quick, long weekend. And so it feels glorious as I sit on the lower deck of our cabin with the view of the mountains, the warmth of the sun, and the sound of the birds. This seems just the right place to begin this blog.
Wednesday morning, our day started very early. We had sights we wanted to stop and see along the way. We left the apartment around 5:30 a.m. and were driving through the Cherokee National Forest sometime after 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
We had some beautiful views even before we left Alabama.
As soon as we entered the Cherokee National Forest, we passed by a lake and then followed a beautiful river for quite some time. Fortunately, there were many spots to pull over and enjoy the view.
Some of these next photos might be from our drive through the Nantahala National Forest. I don't recall exactly where the Cherokee National Forest ended and the Nantahala National Forest started.
Due to a cyber attack that disrupted the Colonial Pipeline (which supplies a large percentage of the gas to the southeastern US), people had started panic buying and many gas stations had completely run out. Other gas stations were limiting gas purchases to $20. And so whenever we saw a gas station with gas, we tried to top off our tank.
Almost right after we entered the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (coming from Cherokee, NC), cars were pulled over on both sides of the road, so we slowed down and pulled over ourselves to find a group of Elk just feet off the side of the road. One of them was jumping up to eat from the tree.
We continued on and found a few spots to pull over and enjoy some incredible views, including of a river that followed much of the road.
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| I just love these roadside waterfalls. |
As you can see from the last two photos, the higher we climbed, the more fog we experienced which then started to turn into light rain. Even with the fog and rain, we proceeded to
Clingmans Dome which is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the state of Tennessee at 6,643 feet high. To get to the observation tower, you first follow a long, windy road that continues to climb higher and higher. Even with all the fog, it was a beautiful drive. Our phones said we were at about 6,300 feet above sea level when we reached the parking lot which meant we had over 300 feet to climb over a half mile paved trail, which was a challenge for someone clearly not in shape. But in the end, the climb was worth it and I would imagine on a clear day it is probably far more amazing.
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| A Dark-eyed Junco made it all the way to the top! |
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| Squirrel having a feast of dandelions |
After Clingmans Dome, we continued north through the park and found a few more overlooks. The fog followed us until we started declining.
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| Morton Tunnel |
After a long day of sightseeing and getting the entry code from the cabin rental company, we headed to our cabin. We had rented a two-bedroom cabin with decks on both levels, a fire pit and grill area, a game room with pool table and arcade games, and theater room. We shared the cabin with our friends and their two young children.
