We left Florida in mid-April and spent the next two weeks at Georgia Veteran’s Memorial State Park, McKinney Campground on Allatoona Lake (north of Atlanta; a Corp of Engineer park), and at River Plantation RV Park in Sevierville, TN.
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| Gin and Dan on ant patrol at Georgia Veteran's Memorial SP |
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| Our site at Georgia Veteran's Memorial SP |
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| Our site and McKinney Campground COE |
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| View of our site from the other side of the lake - big sites! |
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| Cooking dinner over the campfire |
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| Day hiking at Red Top Mountain SP |
We didn't realize how much we missed seeing hardwood trees when we were in Florida! We really enjoyed our time “in the woods” and spent a lot of time hiking and biking. The biggest highlight was hiking an 8 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail. We saw many thru-hikers on their way to Maine. They were so inspiring and so positive.
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| Abram's Falls |
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| Springtime in the Great Smokey Mountains....beautiful |
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| Yellow Trillium |
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| Wild iris |
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| Old, old cemetary |
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| Smoky Mountain Hiking Club Cabin c1936 |
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| Very cool bridges |
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| Nancy and Bill |
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| Dan boulder jumping |
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| Butterflies and Bees |
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| Wow! What elevation! |
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| We're going to hike from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap (pink highlighted route) |
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| Stunning views atop Clingman's Dome |
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| It was a chilly morning to start! |
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| I love the rows of the mountains |
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| Start of the hike! Here we go! |
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| Syl and Bill "under the tree" |
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| Trail Magic - non-hikers celebrating thru-hikers with food, drink, and chairs! |
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| Two of the thru-hikers we talked to |
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6.2 miles hiked; another 1.7 to go....we can do it!
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| Field of white wildflowers; most of the trail was not this even! |
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| Hmmmm...how does one navigate this? |
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| Just like.... |
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| this!! Way go to Nancy! |
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| We did it! Syl, Dan, Nancy, me, and Bill |
Dan, Gin, Syl and I visited the Old Smoky Moonshine Distillery to sample their wares…
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| Gin, Syl, and Dan |
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| Samples served in "communion cups" |
We tried about ten samples of moonshine and left with peach and apple pie. Yum! Although we enjoyed our time at the distillery, we quickly realized we didn't enjoy the massive crowds and “touristy” parts of the area.
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| Downtown Gatlinburg |
Gin, Syl and I set out one day to drive the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. We made several stops along the way to take in the sights up close.
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| My framily |
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| Love the sound of the creeks |
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| Old homestead |
We arrived at our “home base” in NC just in time to celebrate our friend Kork’s birthday. She is recovering from shoulder replacement surgery and we have been able to help her recuperate.
We (ah I mean Dan!) also had a maintenance item to take care of….
Our fridge had been acting really cranky and we knew that it was on it’s last leg. We decided to install a residential fridge and, oh my, the space is wonderful!
We were also able to celebrate Ashleigh and Brandon’s birthdays with a fiesta!
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| Silly kids! |
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| And even sillier |
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| Happy Birthday Ashleigh and Brandon |
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| Smiles! |
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| Enjoying birthday sweets! |
My sister, Barbara, came up for a few days and she says I wore her out! We stayed quite busy! Dan, Barbara, and I biked 13 miles of the Neuse River Trail. It was a gorgeous day and the first trail that Barbara had been on with her bicycle. Barbara and I picked 14 pounds of strawberries at a local farm and I taught her how to make homemade strawberry freezer jam. Kork made us strawberry daiquiris and we enjoyed them while watching Survivor together.
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| Barb and I on the Neuse River Trail |
My best friend (of 27 years!) Linda and I ran away to the beach for a girl’s weekend. We had an absolutely wonderful time catching up, laughing so hard our bellies hurt, watching our chic flicks (Thelma and Louise!), and relaxing on the beach. We also popped over to see my Mom and Dad for a little bit one day. It was so good to see them. Mom sure is proud of her new flower garden we helped her with….and with good reason. It is beautiful.
We start heading north to the farm in about a week. It seems that time is just flying by!
