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July 27, 2015–Day 22 Cumberland Gap Day 1

Clean feet!  This little guy’s feet are not often clean when we are out and about camping.  I took a picture of Cody sleeping because he had his feet on his mat and his head on my pillow.  As often as I gently put him back onto his mat he put his little head right back onto my mat.  We both started the day a little exhausted. During breakfast Cody said, “Teton is probably a werewolf right now. Oww! Oww!” Teton howls when she misses us.  Thankfully Scott’s mom hangs out at our house now and then to keep Teton company.

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July 23, 2015–Day 18 Smokys–Longest Hike EVER!

We parked at the Trillium Falls hike trailhead to try to hike Grotto Falls.  We should have kept driving further to get to Grotto Falls, but we were concerned that we weren’t going to be able to find a place to park as at 9:30 most of the parking lots were filled. We weren’t going to make the Grotto Falls recommended hike from where we parked because it would be too long of a hike for the kids, so we decided to go with the Rainbow Falls hike. That was even a stretch at 2.7 miles each way.

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July 24, 2015–Day 19 Smokys–The Last Day

After a quick breakfast of pancakes we headed back to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center that we were at last night.  This morning they had a blacksmith demonstration and a toy demonstration.

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July 20, 2015–Day 15 Hiwassee, TN to Cherohala Skyway

We were able to leave the fly off the tent last night.  What a beautiful view to wake up to. Cody was demonstrating, “the squirm is strong with him,” moments after his bright eyes opened.

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July 21, 2015–Day 16 Cherohala Skyway to Smoky Mountains

We woke up at our dispersed campsite and headed to a rest stop on the Cherohala Skyway to cook up our breakfast of porridge with a twist.  The rest stop did not have picnic tables in the shade like we hoped it would, but we managed to get eat in the shade of the clouds as they rolled in.  Scott brushed his teeth on the wall overlooking the valley.

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July 22, 2015–Day 17 Oak Ridge

We hung out at the American Museum of Science and Energy today.

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July 18, 2015–Day 13 Cherokee National Forest, TN–Hiwassee River

ADRENALINE OVERLOAD!

We woke to the soothing sound of an acoustic guitar from our neighbor.  After a breakfast of porridge with a twist we headed to canoe the Hiawassee River.

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July 19, 2015–Day 14 Hiwassee Day 2

ADRENALINE OVERLOAD DAY 2

Cody woke up and checked on Snaily, Jr. Snaily, and Mini Snaily.  We found more smaller snails hiding on our picnic table. Scott took Cody to the creek on the path from our campsite.  The kids worked on reconstruction of The Lost Creek.  After cleaning up our mats, sheets, and sleeping bags I eased on down to the creek to see what they were up to.  I caught a quick picture of Cody’s wet footprints as he scurried across the rocks. It turns out it is easier to catch a picture of his footprints than a picture of him.

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July 16, 2015–Day 11 Foster Falls, TN

Cody was up at 5:45 which was much too soon since the campers a few sites down that joined us after we had gone to sleep were up until at least 3. The kids quietly amused themselves until 7:20 and then the giggling could no longer be contained.  Brooke was busy with dressing and accessorizing her American Girl doll this morning while Cody was busy working on his Lego creations.  Scott had checked on the towels we had put on the line from swimming at the falls last night.  He said, “Nothing is dry. No surprise. This isn’t the west.”  Brooke didn’t skip a beat and said, “West is best.” Score!  Scott has been on a quest for years to get the kids to fall in love with the west. Then they can go to school out there and live out there long term. Then we can retire out there. (Lynn W. you are an inspiration!)

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July 17, 2015–Day 12 Chattanooga, TN

A rooster crowed at 3:33, 4:44, and just kept on going hourly.  I was thankful there was no crow this morning, like yesterday, answering back. Somewhere in the five o’clock hour I had nudged Scott and told him it was raining, so that he could help me put the fly on the tent.  He responded, “I know about it. Don’t worry about it.” I was rather tired, and so I rolled over even with the slight water torture on my head every now and then.  It turns out Scott did not remember the conversation at all.  The conversation only came up because he was wondering why everything was slightly damp. We laughed about it later as it seems to be his default statement to cover all of my concerns. “I know about it. Don’t worry about it.”