Day 6

Last days are hard. It's always sad that your trip is coming to an end, but, on top of that, it's more difficult to enjoy that last full day when you have packing on the horizon. Alas, that last day still comes. 

We decided last night that we better take Mione with us today since she was hyper as all get out yesterday after chilling solo most of the day. The problem here is that, while we walk her, the walks are not very long because 1) it's all uphill, 2) it's terribly hot and humid, and 3) bears. And there is not a yard for us to let her out in, so she isn't getting a whole lot of exercise. This meant, though, that we had to choose a non-NP activity. 

We knew we had to go back to the rope swing in Townsend because Ethan has literally asked 17,000 times to go back since the day we went. First, though, we went to a park in Pigeon Forge that had a path around it so we could walk her a bit on flat ground. The park was very modern with nice playground equipment, some pavilions, a bathroom, and pristine ball fields. It was definitely hot, though, so none of us lasted too long. 

From there, we found the Pigeon Forge recycling center (our second recycling center of the trip, thank you very much) to drop off more paper and cans. Then we took the long, winding road to Townsend more more time. First, we stopped at the visitor's center because Ethan wanted a pin. He has a collection of national and state park pins from most of the places we have visited. He also bought a mug for his collection, and Eleanor got a small bear she named Smoky. 

Finally, it was time for the rope swing. When we got to it, there was another family there. They had set up shop on the bank I was hoping we could bring our stuff to, but they weren't using the swing, so Ethan had fun jumping in. Someone had tied bike handlebars to the rope since the other day, too, and he liked that. Eleanor went, and the kids even convinced me to do it once. It wasn't as deep as I would have liked, and when I jumped in my head didn't even go under. Not too scary. 

It was nice and sunny on some big rocks, so to dry off, we set up our towels on them and did some rock hard sunbathing. 

The plan after swimming was to drive the Foothills Parkway back toward home. It would take us a bit longer, but it is lauded as one of the prettiest drives with a lot of pull outs. The road was quite nice and, to Will's satisfaction, wider and less busy, so it seemed to have been a good choice. And the views were gorgeous! Out the right side of the car were beautiful vistas of the Smokies. The skies were blue with white clouds, contrasting nicely with the green mountains. We stopped a couple of times for Ethan to set up his tripod or selfie stick for family pictures. We even had a Mione photoshoot.

The parkway ended at 321, the road we take to most everything, and we set off to find lunch. I had packed a lunch in the morning and promptly left the cooler in the cabin. I forgot to tell Will to put it in the car. This meant, though, that we stumbled upon a little food truck area where we got the most delicious lunch. It was called the Chicken Coop, I think, and it was yummy. Eleanor got tenders and fries. Ethan got buffalo wings. And Will and I got this cucumber salad with red onion, feta, dried cranberries, and a Vidalia onion vinaigrette. It was delightful, and I will definitely be recreating it with cukes at home. I knew we would also share a bit of the kid's chicken, too, which was yummy! And the beer battered fries were perfection. The bbq sauces (many options) were super tasty, too. A great lunch and love that when we did eat out, we ate at local places, not chains. 

I asked Will to stop in at a couple of little general store places because I was looking for chocolate cake for our anniversary. Celebrating 17 years today. Chocolate cake has become sort of a tradition. The first place didn't have cake but did have homemade fudge and chocolates, so I picked up Will some dark chocolate sea salt carmel bites, dark chocolate almond bark, and some caramel pecan fudge. It will have to do. 

Once we got into Shagbark, our gated community, Will dropped me and the kids off at the pool for another try. This time, it was even more crowded, but since we knew we were walking back up again, we jumped in the water to cool off. The kids didn't make it long with so many people, so we got our clothes on, packed things up into our packs and set up for our final hike...up the road to our cabin. It is just about a mile and a half. I honestly wanted to do it because we didn't do a lot of walking today, but--man, was it hot. I was dripping sweat. 

Back at home I've just been packing up now. We did do a little photoshoot on the deck after we all showered, too. Oh, and there was an incredible rainbow below us in the mountains after a short rain storm. It was so cool - a rainbow we looked down at! 

Leftovers for dinner, and now just trying to make sure we pack everything up. Will wants to get on the road around 6, which seems awfully ambitious, but we will see. I know he is excited to get back into the plains. 

All in all it was a good trip. I do wish our place had been a bit easier to get to and that we were closer to the entrance to the national park. I also wish we could have done more in the park. We really only did 3 decent hikes. There was a lot we were not able to see, mostly because we couldn't leave the dog for the entire day. So that was frustrating. On the other hand, I am usually so exhausted at the end of each day of our trips. I was still tired and slept very well here, but we were able to relax every afternoon. We went in the hot tub, played games and pool, watched movies, and more. On most of our trips, we pretty much go to bed after dinner and then we are up early and out the door. This trip, we didn't leave before 9 often at all. So there were some good trade offs. 

Looking forward to being back home in our own space. But happy to have gotten away and had a safe, fun trip. 

Smokies Days 4-5

 I meant to outsource the blog to Eleanor last night and completely forgot. So I will write about both days now. Yesterday can be summed up pretty quickly with 3 words: lots of driving!

To elaborate a bit, we started the day off heading to the Gatlinburg trail, which is just inside the park right by downtown Gatlinburg. It literally goes right from tourist trap to the park. We avoided downtown Gatlinburg on the way in by taking the bypass. We wanted to hit the Gatlinburg trail because we brought the dog with us, and that is one of two trails she is allowed on. The other is too far. 

I have to say Mione LOVED hiking this trail with us. All her walks up here are just on asphalt, up up up and mountain, and then down. We let her out on the deck (we put up a baricade at the stairs that would likely be useless if any wildlife came near), but otherwise she's on a leash outside always and hasn't really been able to run around much. Anyway, she was loving the trail, seeing people, and other dogs. It's an easy, flat trail and basically goes along a river or creek to the Sugarlands visitor's center and then back out again. I believe it's about 4 miles total. We took our time and let Mione splash around in the water often, grabbing drinks too. She was VERY good, never once barking and holding court every time anyone wanted to pet her or compliment her. It was a really pretty hike, and I'm glad Mione got to experience some of the Smokies with us. 

From there, we had no choice but to head into downtown Gatlinburg because we had not packed a lunch and needed some fuel. Downtown Gatlinburg is, frankly, a bit ridiculous. It's so built up and crowded. Pigeon Forge is similar, but I guess the advantage of Gatlinburg is that it's more walkable. 

We got out as quickly as possible, in search of a recycling center we found online. We almost missed it but asked in a community center and was able to find it. Will had filled the car with all our recycling in hopes to find a place to take it. After we dropped it off, we found a small roadside bbq place with picnic tables outside to eat. Will got bbq chicken, Ethan got pork, I got brisket, and Eleanor got sides of mac 'n cheese and corn in the cob from our meals. Everyone was happy. 

After lunch, we decided to take this longer road along a river (Little Fork, maybe), hoping to find a fun place to get out and swim. In the beginning, we saw a couple of turn offs, but they had cars on them and we kept thinking we would find another. But then we didn't. There were a lot of great spots to go down into the water, but they were all next to someone's cabin/home and seemingly private property. We kept gong and going and going, and then eventually met up with the other highway to take home. By then, we had probably driven an hour. 

A bit deflated, we set our sights on home, thought it seemed a bit early to be in for the day. Will spotted a DQ and pulled in since the kids had gift cards with them. A blizzard is a good cure for a long car ride. While we were in the restaurant, Will found a big lake he wanted to try to go to. It is called Danbridge Lake, and it's ginormous. It has an insane shape with many big and small areas jutting out. Will said he saw it on a map before we left and wondered about it, so we set off.

We tried to stop on at what was deemed a "community park" on the southern end of the lake so as not to drive too much further (about 25 more minutes), but it ended up being a bust where the place you could go in the water was full of trash. (In other news...I really hate people sometimes.) Will wanted to go even further north to this municipal park, so we got back in the car and drove another half hour at least. 

We found the spot, and it was a bit nicer. All around the road that goes along the lake are huge properties with beautiful homes. It is a nice area. The bank of the lake, we discovered, was all orange clay. The water was quite warm, but with the clay as the bottom, walking on it brought it up, so the water wasn't clear. I think we were all a bit anxious about swimming, wondering if there were snakes and other things you wouldn't find back home. I Googled it, though, and found that we didn't have to worry about anything poisonous there. We all swam a bit, including the dog. (Eleanor had to swim in her clothes because she had forgotten to pack her suit like we told her to.) We had Mione on her long tie up leash, and she was going as far out as possible before coming back. Of course, when she came back on the bank, she was sure to step right into the orange clay and then right over our towns. Sigh.

We stayed maybe 30 minutes and then set out for the cabin, which was now at least an hour away. We had driven at least 2 for 30 minutes of swimming and now had an hour drive home. Double sigh. 

Back home meant laundry (see "orange clay") and yummy pasta dinner. Seriously, having my mom here is spoiling me. By 9 am yesterday morning, she had marinara sauce made  and burger patties ready for today. Ethan and I challenged Grandma and Grandpa to yet another game of pool and lost yet again. We watched Loki (season finale) and then went to bed.

Today (Thursday), we got up around 7:30, had a yummy breakfast of cheesy eggs and sausage (via Grandma), and hit the road around 9:30. We left the dog as we were headed for another trail she couldn't go on. We knew she'd be plenty tired today anyway and likely happy to be alone. 

Our destination was Jake's Creek Trail, which the guidebook said had a waterfall less than two miles in that had a good swimming hole. We were able to find the road for our shortcut today, thankfully, and so we entered the park at the less crowded Wears Valley entrance. Once in the park, it was about 20 minutes of driving to the Elkhorn campground area. We found easy parking and walked up the road a bit to the trailhead. The trail itself started on what seemed to be an old road. It was partially paved. And all along the sides were remnants of old log cabins, usually just a chimney. 

Shortly into the trail, it started ascending, and was probably a 30 degree grade. We hiked for a long time without seeing anyone, but then ran into a nice family, who told us the falls were about a half a mile up. We kept hearing rushing water but not seeing where the falls were. At a certain point, there was  clear little side trail down to the water sound, though, so we took that and ended up at the falls and swimming hole. 

It was a really neat area with about a five foot waterfall cascading into a small deeper pool of water. On the side we came down on, there was a big rock jutting out, and a couple big rocks across the way, too, creating a cave or sorts underneath them. I was fairly sure this had to be what the guidebook talked about, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was terrified to go into the water where it was deeper. You simply couldn't see what was below and that unknown is scary. 

I had chosen this hike via the guidebook, though, precisely because of this swimming hole, so I decided to be brave. I stripped down into the suit I had on under my clothes and got in the water next to "the hole." After some meditation and prayer, I plunged in. It was cold! And still terrifying! I sort of treaded water on the surface and then came back to where I could stand again. Will was not really keen on coming in, nor was Eleanor, but Ethan said he would if I did it again, so of course I had to. We were in the water maybe a total of 10 seconds. But, we conquered our fears and made a fun memory. 

We continued up the trail about another half mile or so, just to see a bit more, before descending, which was downhill and faster. At the end of the trail, where was this neat little village of old cabins from the early 20th century. They belonged to wealthy city folk who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle. Some were surrounded with caution tape and deemed "unstable structures" but many you could go inside. I'm a total sucker for touring old places, so I loved it. None were furnished, but it was neat to see the wood floors, built in cabinets, 1920s bathrooms/kitchens and such. A volunteer told me they were mostly built between 1910-20, and they are being restored because of their historical status. I liked to imagine these wealthy city dwellers sipping martinis on the porch. :)

After a van picnic lunch, we went back the way we came but stopped just before leaving the park and discovered a great river spot all along a picnic area. Ethan and I were still a bit chilled from our swimming hole swim, and I know my suit still wasn't dry. I didn't really intend to go in much past my knees. But, as I waded in, I came across a big rock, and when I stepped down, I was up to my waist.  Oops. It felt good, though, and eventually all of us were in. On the other side, it was over waist high, and had a decent current. He grabbled his goggles and attempted to swim upstream but basically just stayed in one place. He saw some big fish underwater. I found a great rock to sit on and kind of sunned in the middle of the lake, facing some rocky rapids with the mountains beyond. It was one of my summer moments in which I take a mental snapshot, willing myself to remember this feeling when it's below zero and miserable in Chicago. In a word, it was glorious! 

All good things must come to an end, though, and we left to rescue Mione from her lonely day in the cabin. We stopped at a Kroger on the way home, where I mistakenly went in with Will, who took forever. I hadn't changed out of my suit and was still wet, so the air conditioning combined with being in a wet suit was a terrible combo. Needless to say, I went right to the hot tub when we got home. 

Now I am showered and about to grill some burgers, hoping a bear doesn't come down for dinner. We just purchased Disney + Premier Access so we can watch Black Widow tonight, so that's the plan. Last day tomorrow. We hope to hike Abrham's Falls, which is open on Fridays, and go back to the rope swing place in Townsend because Ethan has been asking to go back every day since that first one. 

Smokies Day 3 (Bears!)

Even though we were back to the cabin or good today at 3 pm, it was quite a productive day. Grandma spoils us here with good breakfasts, and this morning it was French toast, bacon, and strawberries -  great fuel to have before a long hike. 

My parents decided to take a rest day and stay at the cabin, so we left the dog with her human grandparents and headed out to the park. We were hoping to find this road that would take us to the park with a short cut, but we could not find the road, despite seeing a sign that it was a mile and a half away at some point. Nothing is marked very well around here, we've noticed. Because we missed that turn, we went in through the Townsend entrance again and set off for Meig's Creek trail. The drive was so pretty with the river rushing alongside the road. We made it to a parking area for the The Sinks, a rushing water area where I think people fish and maybe even swim at their own risk. 

From here, we hopped on the Meig's Creek trail. It is a 3.6 one way trail. We had reservations to zipline at 1:30, so we were limited on how much time we could spend in the park, meaning we couldn't do the 7.2 mile total hike but would go in for a ways and then turn around. On Will's more detailed map, we saw there were falls less than halfway, so we aimed for that. The hike started off pretty steep, climbing higher and higher on switchbacks. Then it leveled off at the top, only to go back down again. Eventually, we came to a creek crossing. These are fun, if not a bit treacherous, because you have to find the rocks that aren't going to move, making you step in the water. There is no real danger because the water is not deep, but no one wants to hike with a soggy shoe. We ended up crossing the creek 3 or 4 times. We were about an hour in and knew we should turn around soon, but decided to give it 5 more minutes. Our gamble paid off because we found the falls. They weren't huge, but very pretty and a great spot for a family selfie. 

On the hike to the falls, we only passed one family. I love when we have the trail to ourselves, but I was surprised that it wasn't more popular. Then again, we are pretty good at finding less traversed hikes that are awesome. But apparently more people do know about it because we passed a lot more on the way back. I guess that's good. All in all, a great hike. No major wildlife sightings, but we did see several two inch centipedes. Eleanor = not a fan. 

We got back on the road and set off to find a creek spot for some wading/swimming. We ended up finding a cool spot with easy access to the river and a safe current. The kids changed into suits in the van, while Will and I simply opted to put our water shoes. 

The water felt amazing on legs that have been doing a lot of uphill walking. Water shoes certainly help, but many rocks are mossy and very slippery. I managed to stay upright. The kids made some rock formations and explored. But then about 10 minutes in, several families who were clearly traveling together, descended on the area. They were nice, but boisterous, and the peaceful time was over. But, the one guy seemed familiar with the area and showed the kids how they could jump off this big rock into a deep section of the river. Ethan wanted to, and it looked deep, but we didn't really want him to jump unless we were sure. So these young kids from Louisiana tested it out for us. Once we felt okay about it, we let Ethan try it. :) 

Ethan jumped at least 5 times, and Eleanor did it several times, too. Soon, though, we had to leave to make sure we weren't late for ziplining. It was also getting quite crowded with Louisiana folk. When we left, there were 7 cars from LA. We think they may have all been from the same baseball team, likely in town for a tournament. 

On our way out of the park, we looked for the road that we had wanted to take into the park today but missed. We found it by accident (see early about poor signage), and it turned out to be a great little shortcut. And when we made it to the main drag where we missed it earlier, we were sure to write down details that would help us know how to find it again. The sign did seem hidden. 

Because of the short cut, we got to ziplining a bit earlier than expected, which was great because the other two people in our party were also early. Once the guides were ready, the kids and I set off. We tried to convince Will to come, but he said he was a-okay on the ground. Our funny tourguides took us up the mountain in the back of a pickup truck (part of the fun!), and from the top, we hooked on to our first line. Basically, one guide goes first, then the guests, who are each "caught," on the next platform before the other guide comes to meet us. 

The first line didn't seem much different in height from the zipline tour we did at home last month, so I wondered if I had been swindled. But that next several were very high up and long. The views were super cool, though each one went by quickly. The kids did great and enjoyed it. And we were gone less than an hour, giving Will a time to just relax and look through some guidebooks. 

We came back up to the cabin, then, so we should relax and walk the dog. After their walk, Ethan and my dad got in the hot tub. Ethan had only been in a few minutes when he came to the window, pantomiming that they'd seen a bear and to come out. We did so, only to discover the bear, which Ethan thinks is a cub was gone. It had crossed right through the woods about 20 feet from us and crossed into the neighbor's driveway. The rest of us were sad to have missed it. Will suggested we take Mione out again, this time with bear spray. 

About 500 yards away from our driveway, we passed another driveway and saw a mama and two bears just passing through. I quickly got Mione out of sight while Ethan frantically grabbed his phone to grab some pics and video. I was able to snap a quick picture and video, too. After they passed over the driveway, though, we couldn't seem to locate them in the woods. We are thinking they went up a little higher. 

I texted my mom, who then came down the driveway to come check it out, but we didn't get too far together before turning around because she was only wearing sandals that were not conducive to steep incline walking. Now poor she and Eleanor have yet to see a bear. I still can't believe we did and my lack of fear upon seeing them, too. My biggest concern was that if Mione saw them and got spooked and barked, causing mom to get protective of her cubs. Fortunately, Mione didn't seem to smell them because when she was out of sight, she didn't seem to notice anything. Will has noticed how deeply she sniffs here, seemingly finding all kinds of new smells to log. But if she smelled the bear, she did not let on thank goodness. 

On the docket for tonight will be tacos (it's Tuesday!), some games, and, hopefully, an early bed time. I am still not sure if  Will and I are going to try to bike Cade's Cove tomorrow since we know even if we get there super early, we may not get a bike, but I would like to try. We shall see!

Smokies Day 2

Today was our first day going into the NP, and it didn't quite work out as planned. We set off about 9:30, deciding to leave the dog, who we knew would be more than happy to sleep a lot of today after such an active day yesterday. We drove to the Townsend entrance, about 45 minutes from our cabin. Once in, we drove to the Cade Code loop, hoping to go to Abrams Falls. Unfortunately, shortly into our drive, I saw a sign saying it was closed for repairs. We decided we would go to another trailhead. Along Cade's Cove, there are several places to stop off and either see old homestead buildings or churches from the road, or some are a short hike. We stopped at a few, which were pretty neat to see. They are from homesteaders from the early 19th century, and must have been so difficult to build. We also stopped at a church with a cemetery attached. Seeing some of the dates for the lives of these early homesteaders was neat. 

Cade's Cove road is a one way loop and very picturesque. We ended up stopping at a short trail that we knew would be an out and back called Elijah's place, which took you to Elijah's house, barn, and other buildings. On our way, we came across another trail called Wet Bottom that I had seen in the book. Shortly into the hike, the kids ran into two big deers with antlers. We took some pics and video, but then all of sudden Will was saying, "Back! Back! Back!" We thought maybe the deer were coming at him aggressively. Turns out he had watched a bear cross the trail right where the deer were! Admittedly, I was a little disappointed I didn't see it, though given my adrenaline level just from running away, maybe it's for the best I didn't. I really do want to see a bear, just not close up. 

Back on the road, our plan was to continue along Cade's Cove and then cut across on one of two roads that serve as short cuts or cut-throughs. We saw there was a road we could take back into the town of Townsend. Unfortunately, we failed to notice that the road was unpaved. It was 12 miles of rocky switchbacks. There was a jeep in front of us going 9 miles an hour. I was feeling pretty tired due to Dramamine and was not thrilled with an extra long ride. After several slow miles, the jeep pulled off a bit and allowed us to pass, and Will was able to go a bit faster. We finally made it out. The kids wanted to go back to the rope swing, but we opted to go back to the cabin since the dog had been on her own for over 5 hours. 

On the way up to the cabin, though, Will dropped me and kids off at the pool. We were going to either go to the pool or wade in the creek for a bit and then walk (!) back up the mountain home. We explored the creek (mom soaked sore legs and Ethan found a crawfish) for a bit and then started the trek up the mountain. I started my gps app to track us, and we went 1.4 miles, climbing over 800 feet! It was steep. My parents actually drove up to us when we were over halfway, but we opted not to get a ride the rest of the way so we could see how far we were going to go. Our legs will be sore tomorrow, but at least we got in our good climb for the day. 

Back at home, we relaxed and read up on some things for tomorrow. I made reservations for a zipline, and Will looked up some information on biking Cade's Cove on Wednesday morning. Eleanor, my mom, and I had some hot tub time, and then we showered and had a yummy dinner of sausage, potato, onions, and peppers. After dinner, Will and I took the dog on a long walk. 

When we got back, the kids were playing pool upstairs with my parents. It was clear my parents, who haven't played pool in a while, were having a great time. After they beat Ethan and Eleanor, Ethan and I teamed up against them and just barely lost. After pool, we played several rounds of Scatergories, listening to Ethan's playlist on Spotify. 

And now it's time for bed. This trip is definitely more low key than most of our NP trips, and I am kind of loving it. Usually, we are gone from sun up to sun down, and we have very little downtime. I am grateful for a bit more time in the cabin, making memories and laughing together. 

Smokies Full Day #1

 Hello fellow readers, this is Eleanor, I'm pretty sure all of  you know that I am the daughter of my mom, Michelle. She usually writes most of the blog content for our national park trips. Before I start talking about our day I need to warn the readers that I am sarcastic and this is written from a different perspective that is not my dear mothers. 

Now, my brother and I where sleeping in this one room with a pool table in it. Besides the point but my brother thinks I'm horrible at pool, but I'm not getting a job playing pool, so to move on, it was 6:42 am and my grandparents had gone down to get coffee. So this house was small, with the primary level and an upstairs, so if one light is turned on it lights up everything and you can see it pretty clearly. My dog, Hermione seeing the light went down the staircase making much noise with her claws on wood. it was still a little dark so she saw my grandparents and she barked at them. She's a very protective dog. Then with an exquisite wake up call it was time to start our day. 

After lots of getting ready, a failed game of pool where the white ball fell noisily down the stairs, and some pancakes with raspberry syrup, we got in our car. We where staying  at a place basically on the side of the mountain. you could literally look out any window and see mountains. It takes 10-15 minutes to get up the steep hills and down the hills. There are also really crazy turns. We had driven for a while and I had no idea where we where going. The thing with our family is we research a ton of places to go but never go to them. we find the best hikes on accident. Or we get lost. A lot. 

We Finally arrived at a visitor center and we had lost our grandparents who had been dutifully following us since the house. My mom and dad went into the center and my brother and I stayed in the stifling hot car. My grandparents showed up soon. My brother annoyed me by playing on a loud app on his phone while I thought about how leaving my brother and I in this scorching car is basically illegal. After a long time and a bathroom break, we got to this river that was for handicapped people and their immediate family only. Good time for my grandpa to be here. You couldn't really get in the water their so we decided that we might find a place to go in and park. But, we didn't. We decided to part paths, so the grands went to explore towns while we after a while got lunch at a place to sooth some aching headaches.

 After a bit we found a place where you could use a raft and float down the river. We decided to do it, but dad stayed back with the dog. First we got water shoes then took a short one minute bus ride to the launch area we got in and it was slooooooooooooooooow. But, after a bit there where some fierce rapids. A middle aged man comically fell off twice, he was okay though. Then it would slow down again and do a couple more. My brother was lagging behind a lot so my mom was able to stop in some wild current and wait for him. I located a mossy rock and steered toward it, then stopped my feet on it. I then slipped on it and went to the other side so I was holding on pretty tight for a while. Finally the slowpoke himself  lumbered on over and we could let go of our wonderful stones. Then at the end we got out of the water, where we were greeted by an exuberant Hermione. Since we could actually tube until 5:00 we decided to do it again. Once we got on the bus the person driving it said it was all red on the radar. He also said that it would rain through most of our trip. I  sarcastically   said "Well, that's great." It only actually drizzled a little and took 30 minutes, the other one took an hour. I only stubbed my toe on a rock once and scraped my knee on a rock once at least.

Once we where all back in the car with a tired Hermione we set off. My brother wanted to go to this part of the river with a rope swing that you could jump off of. So we went there. Some people where there, but my brother and I where able to try the rope swing. Hermione got to splash in the water too. We where tired so we went back to our cabin and Ethan and I  hopped in the hot tub after bringing in a couple things. I then went too write some of this, ate dinner and wrote more while my grandparents asked if I was writing a novel. I'm not a great at typing. Thanks for reading.

-Eleanor

*A few mom addendums:

We have not seen any major wildlife, but Will did go to take the dog out in the dark last night and ran into a snake in the driveway, forcing him to abort the walk and skitter back to the cabin. 

Also, Will and the kids walked the dog after we got here yesterday, our neighbors said they had just seen a bear on our property. We must have missed it! 

When we separated from my parents they drove 35 minutes in the wrong direction then got back into Townsend again before going the right way through the park to Gatlinburg. According to my dad, he said, it's just a "tourist trap" and "Wisconsin Dells on steroids." We knew this because we stayed outside of Gatlinburg on our first trip here in 2014. 

We grilled chicken for dinner, and our chef, er, I mean my mom made risotto and zucchini. It was delicious. We plan to finish the movie Cruella, which we started too late last night and were falling asleep to. 

Smokies - Travel days

 Hello faithful reader (Susie). After a several year absence, I thought it high time to resurrect the travel blog. When a global pandemic shut down the world in early 2020, all travel was halted. Our trip to Yosemite for summer of 2020 was cancelled, and we ended up getting a dog instead! And now that 1.5 year old puppy is on her first NP trip. 

We are traveling with my mom and dad. We were supposed to come with my sister's family as well, but sports camps are keeping them at home this summer. And after realizing how difficult it is to get to our cabin (up a mountain), when they were going to be staying somewhat far away, this may be for the best. I don't think it would have been easy to meet up here. 

We left yesterday morning and had an easy drive to Louisville, KY. We made one longer stop on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, just before the border of KY. This state park left much to be desired. The kids wanted to go down by the river, but the paths were full of glass and garbage, so the dog and I stayed up top. It was humid and buggy. My parents left early in the morning and had already been to the Louisville Slugger museum and gotten a flight of bourbon. They were resting in their downtown hotel, so we opted to simply get to our hotel, outside of downtown. 

Our hotel was not great. Tiny, dingy, and in need of major tlc. This was Mione's first hotel stay, and while she did fairly well, she did not love having people walking past our door often, as she is protective of our areas. When it was time for bed, she only barked once (a neighbor dog was very vocal!), but I was anxious all night, and that anxiety, paired with some shoulder aching, meant I maybe strung together 3 hours of sleep. 

We set off in a rain storm around 9 for just a short 4.5 hour drive to our place. My parents left after us, so we took our time, stopping off in Berea, KY, an artsy town and home to Berea College. We went to a visitors center full of fun crafts, and also turned it into a college visit by driving through town and seeing the campus. Pretty, but small, and I'm not sure we will encourage either child to go to school there. :)

We also stopped off at a state forest, the name of which escapes me. It was a much longer detour to see this lake than we anticipated, but we did do a short trail down to some water. Eleanor deemed it her favorite hike so far. Considering it was our first hike, I wouldn't take that for much. Because we took so long, my parents, who left over an hour after us, caught up, so we met them at a Wendy's for lunch, then caravanned the rest of the way.

We stopped at what seems to have been the last large chain grocery (a Kroger) on our way, which was a great choice since our other option would have been an Amish market. The trek up to our place, which we knew was up a mountain, is a bit nutty. We are up here, and it took 15 minutes to get from the gate house (we're in a gated community) to our cabin. The views, though, are pretty sweet! 

After unpacking and getting set up, we had a gourmet dinner of frozen pizza and salad before hitting the hot tub. My dad and I also tried the peach bourbon they bought yesterday. Will and the kids walked the dog down the road and ran into a family who had just seen a bear on our property. I'm sufficiently freaked out about that but am hopeful they are used to people and don't want any trouble. 

The only issue with this place is that because it is not easy to get in and out of, we will only plan to leave once and come home once per day. That means that leaving the dog won't really be an option. This wouldn't be annoying if she was actually allowed on trails. She is only allowed on two, though, and we're not even sure how close those trails are. But she is allowed in picnic areas, in the car, and along the road. We may just have to divide and conquer and split up for some hiking. We knew this would be a different trip than our usual ones (because of the dog), so we will make it work. Honestly, I'm just happy to be some place other than home and trying not to get too caught up on what we will miss but think about what we will see. 

I will stop here because my brain is hardly functioning. I may be outsourcing these entries to Eleanor, to get ready to read some much better writing. 

Day 13 - Last day

We all got a pretty decent night's sleep last night, and the rooster crowed only a couple times this morning and then seemed to stop. That, or we are used to it. We all slept past 7. And Eleanor didn't get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Bonus. Will was saying he has slept better in these terrible beds than at some of our more comfortable places. 

We left a bit later this morning and got to the park around 10 or so. We drove to Signal Lake Lodge, which is along Jackson Lake. The kids got a patch, a pin, and Eleanor got her first Swiss Army knife. Ethan reminded us that he was her age in Mt. Rainier when he got his. We talked to one of the workers, who told us the Signal Mountain hike was worthwhile and would yield great views. We ate lunch first because we knew it was gonna take us a while at 6 miles round trip. The first part had a bit of incline, but then it was a pretty easy trail. A lot of it was walking through a large meadow with tall grasses and wildflowers on either side. It was actually hard to tell that you were walking to a summit. We stayed together a bit more this time, and Eleanor lagged behind as usual. If only her leg speed matched the speed her mouth moves! But we all made it to the top. It looked out onto Grand Teton and her partners. We got a family picture and Ethan was finally able to do his Instagram live video. I also realized I had dropped my sunglasses during a bug spray application and forgotten to pick them back up. Thankfully, they were $10 ones from Walgreens. We looked on the way down but someone likely picked them up. We would have if we found them on a trail. 

Ethan and I went down first, and quickly, because, guess what? He had to use the facilities. So did Eleanor, but for the second time this trip, she happily chose to poop in the woods. She has 0 shame. Ethan and got I down to Signal Lodge, used the bathroom, and then sat at a shaded picnic table, waiting for Will and Eleanor, who followed maybe 20 minutes later. 

From Signal Lodge, rather than go further north to Jackson Lake Lodge, we decided to go back to Jenny Lake. I was interested in seeing the Cascade Canyon. I knew you could take a shuttle across Jenny Lake to the trailhead. I didn't want to do the whole hike but go a little way into the canyon. When we got to the dock, though, the kids weren't interested in a shuttle. They really wanted to canoe. We asked if we could go see the canyon from the water, and they said we could try but that it would be harder coming back than out with the way with wind goes. We all got one canoe because the kids were able to share the middle seat. It was a bit hectic at times with everyone telling everyone else which way and how to paddle. And we seemed to be going against the wind going out, too, and not making great progress. Eventually, we made it to the other side of the lake and tied up on a log. There was a bath there, which I assume is the path around Jenny Lake that goes to the canyon trail. I walked down it a bit, but because I was alone, I was afraid to go too far. I couldn't quite see into the canyon, but there were giant boulders everywhere.

Back at the boat, Will had stripped down to his bright red boxers and jumped in the water. Eleanor stripped down to her undies, too, and went in a ways, but it was very rocky and difficult to swim in without water shoes. I opted to just dip my feet in, because my clothes weren't going to be easy to dry if I got in. We had a funny moment when Eleanor was getting her shorts back on. We had her take off her underwear and go commando. Just as she bent over, bare ass to the lake, a woman on the kayak came riding by from behind a rock. She immediately looked away and said sorry, and we all had a good laugh. When we all got back in the boat, we had 30 minutes to get it back to the dock or we would be charged $100. We thought the wind was against us on the way out, but it appeared to be against us on the way back. We had to give it our Deadpool "maximum effort" and hightail it back. We made it right on time. 

Will wanted to do more swimming, with his suit on this time. It was already 7, and I really thought we should get back since we have to still get dinner and want to get on the road tomorrow. But since it was our last chance and the kids will be in the car a ton tomorrow, they got in their suits. I stayed dressed and watched from shore. Kinda wish I had gone in and just skipped the shower tonight. Oh well. 

Now we are heading back to base camp. We will probably just grab some soup from Albertson's for dinner. It will be almost 9 when we get back and no one is going to want to cook/do dishes at the camp sink down the way. I do wish we had one more day here. We didn't even go on the east drive at all, though looking at the mountains on our side, I think this is the prettier side. I love the rocky, snowy peaks. They are just beautiful. 

We got some news today about our kitchen remodel. Not surprisingly, our contractor discovered some very bad, unsafe, and illegal electrical work. He was having trouble with the electrical and ended up needing to take down more of the kitchen wall to see what was underneath. He found open boxes covered in plywood or something. Whatever it was, it was wrong, and a big fire hazard. It will all be replaced and up to code now, but it's another set back. Our appliances were going to be delivered Tuesday, now it will be Friday. We are at least glad that now everything will be done safely. 

Our plan now is to drive 80, stop somewhere for the night, and then cut north on some interstate (35 in Iowa I think) to 90 and head to the lake for one night. We plan to be home Wednesday. Not sure if we will be staying at our house that night, but we have a lot of offers of where we can stay, so we will see what's happening at the house. Our contractor Lance will be working this weekend and hoped to have everything re-dry walled by Tuesday. All a part of this renovation business. The excitement of the kitchen stuff helps make leaving this trip bearable. That, and the fact that we are all exhausted. As usual, we need a vacation from our vacation. Good thing we're teachers! Ha!