Vacation - National Park

We spent a good chunk of three days in the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is beautiful, especially in the the fall when the leaves are changing. This visit, we went to the Cade's Cove area of the park, and also hiked to Laurel Falls. The park is very pretty and has a nice visitors' center at the entrance where you can purchase maps and books about the park. We picked up some maps and Madelynn latched onto a little stuffed bear that Daddy thought she had to have.

Kevin's favorite area of the park is Cade's Cove. This area has several buildings and churches that are left from the 1800's settlements in the cove. You can walk through them and most have hiking trails near them. However, this is not why Kevin likes this section so much. He likes it because at dusk you can see lots of deer and wild turkey. Here is a picture of several does nesting and playing in a field. These are just a few of them many deer we were able to see.

This is a picture of the top of Laurel Falls. We hiked 1.3 miles to the falls and thought we would have a peaceful and pretty view once we got there. It was beautiful, but the large group of adolescents ignoring their leader and the signs that cautioned against playing in the falls and on the surrounding rocks took care of the peaceful part. Oh well, we are pretty sure one of their shoes made a journey over the falls and to the bottom of the mountain. It was a long steep hike up, I almost felt bad for the kid who had to go back down it barefooted.

This sign was posted at a trail head. I have decided after two visits to the Great Smokey Mountains and no sightings or encounters with bears that they just do this for the tourists:). I would like to see a bear, from a very safe distance though. Like maybe when I'm in the car and its walking in a one of the streams you can see from the road.

Maddy's favorite part of Cade's Cove was the ride around it. Cade's Cove has a one lane road that you travel approximately 10-15 miles per hour (if it's not crowded) around following the rest of the cars. If its crowded, which it was, you go even slower. So we let Maddy sit in backseat by me free of her car seat while we took the slow spin around the cove. She enjoyed it, as did the children hanging out of sunroofs, and off the back of pick ups. These sights made me feel less guilty about breaking the carseat rule.

We borrowed this kid carrier from Cheri and Sam. Maddy liked it. She would pat Kevin or give him a little kick if she got excited or wanted him to move faster.

As I said, the park is beautiful and it is also FREE. It has several areas to picnic and hike in, and couple riding stables as well. We have been twice now in the fall and would like to come again in the Spring or Summer to see a different season.