Day 1 and 2 from our vacation!

We had a vacation plan for this time to Gatlinburg, TN, but since it had been a really strange and somewhat stress 4-6 months, we cancelled it about 2 months ago. But Mike still had the vacation time off, so his last day of work he started to talk about vacation again. If you know Mike, then you know he has wanderlust quite often. He loves road trips as well. So, we found a nice deal for a cabin located between towns (off road 321). Our best location so far. The house was nice. Very homey. Nothing fancy. After all, it was under their quality level (there is still about 3 levels above - the highest called the Premier Silver has an inside pool) Maybe if in a future trip we can have the whole family going then we can rent a bigger premier cabin with all the trimmings. But, we still had a pool table and hot tub, and it was very clean. Very important in my book. Also, Arianna able to go up and down the stairs made it really easy for us. No gate to carry this time :) gives more trunk space.
We left on Sunday and drove to Lexington, KY (about 6-7 hours). We stopped at the Holiday Inn, and left on Monday for the last 2-3 hours of the trip. We usually take 2 days to go for two reasons: 1. Not to be totally tired. 2. Baby gets used to be in the car longer. So, in our way back we come all the way home (about 10 hours).


Here is a shot of the back view from our Cabin. It was located on Buena Vista Road. This road needs a 4-wheel drive during winter, but it is worth it. It is very private.

Our first day consisted mostly of getting to know our Cabin and shopping at the Food City off stop light 2B in the arts and crafts. But, day 2 was more busy. Our first stop we went to Clingmans Dome Trail. I had never been there since it was always closed. (It is closed from November 1 - March 31).

This was the view from the parking area. You still had 0.5 miles to hike. We thought 0.5 miles no biggie. Well, it was really steep, we were pushing the stroller, and the oxygen levels are way different due to the altitude ~ somewhere 6000 ft. We stopped quite often, but we made it. It is really worth it.






This picture was taken just as we got to the top. Ari decided it was a good time to take a nap. From here, you still can go into the tower that is about 2-3 floors high. That will be the highest point.

View from the highest point!


In our way down we saw this tree with lots of cherries. Yummy. Well, there are not for human consumption, but we saw squirrels enjoying them.

The forest is having a huge problem with lots of trees dying. They brought some trees from nurseries in Europe awhile back. These trees had a fungus that native trees cannot seem to fight and that scientist and such cannot destroy so far so the result is lots and lots of trees just dying (same story as the chestnut trees that now are extinct) :(


We made it back. Here is just slightly above the parking area. The house has some restrooms, but we did not use them.

View from the parking area as we were coming back.

Arianna woke up for the next part of our day. We went to our favorite spot, Oconaluftee Farm in the southern part of the park in NC.


The times we went before was on March, and we never saw the corn or any other vegetables or fruit that they grow there (squash, apples, etc). There was someone working on it. The corn was gone, but you can still see how nice it looks.


They also had 2 pigs and lots of chickens and roosters. Ari was having a lot of fun.

We were surprised by the camera. We were walking around the barn looking for the chickens that were in the second floor.


We are home mommy! It always amazes me how old this house is and its great condition. But, I want electricity, water, and gas please!

After here we went to the Cabin to rest and ate some of the food we bought. It was a very nice day indeed. :)