Smokey Mountain Weekend

This past weekend we went with some very good friends up into the Smokey Mountains. We planned to drive, hike, picnic, view, eat and slide - and that's exactly what we did.

Here we started at the base of the Foothills Parkway.








Here we are, trying not to freeze. We jumped out of the vehicle long enough to snap a couple of pics, then right back in and further up the road.









Our friends, Janee, Shannon, Savannah and William.














And the other friends who came with us, Cheryl & Tracy. (We've got the same pic of them on the top of the Mountain, but it's on a different camera - so here they are in Cades Cove.














Up at the top of the parkway is Look Rock and an observation tower that's a half mile hike - all uphill - so we got all bundled and headed up the hill.

















The tower itself is probably 5 stories high and the observation deck is three, still you get quite a veiw from up there - beautiful!
















You could see the Moutains in the distance with some clouds around them, some houses with wood buring stoves smoking and well, it was just very cool - to see and to feel! :)

We're all bunched together for a pic, to try and stay warm and to not fall on the ice we were standing on! :)






We got snowed on while we were up their and Natalie and Cheryl were trying to catch a frozen drink! :)

After we hiked back down and got warmed up in the vehicles again, we headed to the nearby campground for a picnic - not realizing it was closed for the season. A ranger station at the entrance had a picnic table so we comfiscated that and made lunch. The kids ate in the vehicle to not freeze through and through and the adults stood around and ate a yummy meal!









The original plan was to hike a trail right next to the campground, but since it was closed and cold we decided to drive up to Cades Cove and drive around the loop to see what we could see.

We saw close to 100 deer eating and laying in the fields. It was cool and the kids were pretty excited about it.







Along the way, since we were just creeping along enjoying the view I let each of them have a turn sitting in my lap driving the vehicle - boy did they have a BALL doing that! Joelle did great!








Natalie did really well for a 6 year old. Only had to help her steer a couple of times.











We took a break at the restrooms at the Cades Cove visitors center and then walked around looking at the old barns and house they have there. They have an actual waterwheel to grind flour during the summer. Very cool. It was closed cuz the wheel was frozen and had ice all over it.














After finishing the loop we headed into Knoxville and timed it just right to have supper at 5 Margaritas. (We passed on those though!) It was yummy food and good company, then to the sliding portion of our night! Ice skating at the Ice Chalet. Boy was that fun. This was the first time for Joelle or Natalie to go ice skating.
Natalie got to use this little walker/slider to help her learn to get a bit better cuz her feet wouldn't stay under her otherwise! :)








Joelle needed help for one lap around the rink then took off on her own the rest of the night like she'd been skating all her life. She did great. Towards the end of the evening when she was getting tired, she landed on her rear a couple of times, but otherwise did great!








Doreen and I had a lot of fun too. I remember not liking ice skating that much, but now going YEARS later - it was lots of fun. Still never figured out how to stop though. :)

It was a really fun Sabbath day with friends and God in nature and all around.

Can't wait to do something like that again! (When it's a bit warmer! LOL)