Monday, January 19, 2015

Hope you all had a great weekend ~

It was a long one for us -- 
so we took half a day Friday 
and headed to the mountains. 
 
Loved that the holiday lights were still up 
and shining a nice welcome!
 We stayed at a favorite place of ours   - 
Right across from the aquarium - and while it's
 right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of things 
[just one block off the parkway -] 
 when you're in your room with the 
back door open to the creek 
you feel like you're out camping somewhere 
- NICE.
- They also have rooms around the bend there, where you can walk down to the creek - love it.
So, here's the deal - 
I've set a couple of goals this year 
[we all do , right?]
One is to use my REAL camera more - 
Honestly - I've had it for over a year - 
AND HAVE NEVER READ THE MANUAL. ha
[I'm still not sure I love it -- it's a Nikon, you know --]
 But ---> I DO LOVE THAT ZOOM.
Can you see the little buck out there with a few points?
No?
[That tiny spot right below the building -]
How about now? -- lol
And his friend --
Like, I said - I love the zoom.
And the pixels - MEGA.
The reason I bought this instead of the Canon - 
[But I'm a Canon girl at heart --]
So - I'm determined to use it weekly and give it a fair shot [ha] before going back to my one true love.
Another goal is to 
GET MORE ACTIVE
- especially since I've been cleared 
by the heart doctor to DO ANYTHING  -
We decided to do a couple of little hikes while there - 
Starting with the easy one miler 
[mostly flat] behind the visitor center to 
The Great Smokey Mountains
 
Love being out in God's creation -- 
And the water fall at the end was a nice little reward...
But the one we REALLY wanted to do was Laurel Falls.
It's about a mile and half UP THE MOUNTAIN and then the mile + down. I won't lie - there were times when I wanted to turn around and head back down 
- but I was determined to not be a quitter... 
and with Craig's encouragement we made it to the top,
stopping along the way to enjoy the gorgeous views - 
And the falls were beautiful!
The walk down was much easier - of course --
[I didn't love being on the edge of the mountain - especially with signs along that way that said things like 'Warning - falling deaths HAVE OCCURRED'  ha] 
 
And I know those of you who are in great shape are thinking - whaaaaa?!?! - but here's the thing - we can easily walk three miles - but that incline [about 20%, we figured] was TOUGH.
We were tired - but so glad we did it.
 
We also  walked up and down the main parkway and shopped and people-watched 
and watched them make taffy and fudge
and of course got a caramel apple...
and ate pancakes -
It's all part of being in Gatlinburg. ha.
After dinner we took the tram up to the ski area 
- loved the night view below us!
 
So fun to see they were opened for night skiing! 
The next day we drove out to / through 
Cade's Cove on our way out of town...
 
It's still as beautiful as ever -- 
I cannot imagine living there back in the early 1900s...
Shoot -- who am I kidding?
 I wouldn't want to live that far out of town NOW. Ha.
But it IS a beautiful place to visit - 
And as much as I enjoy being a 'city girl' 
[I want my shopping close and my restaurants closer - ]
 
I do LOVE being out in nature... 
and the The Great Smokey Mountains
are gorgeous.
It was a much-needed weekend away...

1 comment:

craftymom205 said...

We go to Gatlinburg every October. This past year we hiked to Grotto Falls. I hiked it in a medical boot on my left foot. There were several times I wanted to stop but was glad I went all the way. Glad you had a good time.

craftymom205 at yahoo dot com