There's a quip people would make in Los Angeles that you could ski and surf in the same day. And that was true, theoretically. Big Bear was only a couple of hours drive from, say Huntington Beach, and if you were a particularly adventurous type of person, you could probably make it happen. Though I've never tested the theory, I've always though that it would lose some luster because, ultimately, you're experiencing two different parts of the same landscape. And, if you're from LA, then you probably know both of them pretty well.
We, on the other hand, were wrapping up two weeks in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and heading nine hours southwest to the Gulf of Mexico and Dauphin Island, Alabama. Now THAT feels like two different worlds.
Our second week in Gatlinburg was as pleasant as the first, though I think Rachel and Nathan were getting a little bit of cabin fever at this point. We were perched on a hillside with no real yard to speak of, and even getting down to town was a hair-raising experience with the windy mountain roads.
Nevertheless, we got our money's worth out of the hot tub on the porch, and Nathan and I played hide-and-go-seek pretty much ever day (it had replaced frisbee as the official sport of our trip).
And, halfway through the week, we had the most beautiful snowfall. It dusted the mountaintops like powdered sugar.
Rachel also gave Nathan a haircut (FINALLY) after months of him getting shaggier and shaggier.
Nathan played Minecraft in his down time.
And worked his way through a couple of good books.
Rachel caught up on her knitting.
I had a small but pleasant workspace in a corner of the bedroom ... which had a great view!
And on our second weekend we had more amazing adventures in the park.
The week's snow had left the higher elevations frosty and beautiful.
In particular, the ice was amazing to the point of being otherworldly. Nathan, who had developed an intense fascination with ice over the past couple of months stopped to examine every icicle and frozen puddle. Another interesting thing that we'd noticed, even back in Shenandoah, was the amazing clarity of the mountain ice. You could literally see through it like glass!
The Smokies must have been the most amazing collection of picture perfect streams and waterfalls I've ever seen. They're everywhere! In fact, they're so ubiquitous that some trails end in amazing waterfalls that they don't even bother to list as attractions.
Though the trails weren't always easy ... especially for us tall folks!
I think that some of my best memories of our trip will come from the unexpectedly incredible trails of the Great Smoky Mountains.
But, eventually it came time to say goodbye to our mountain cabin. We bid a fond farewell to our mascot, Clarence ...
... and packed up to head south.
There was a heavy snow Monday night that had us tromping through 6 inches of powder as we loaded up the car on Tuesday morning. But, after a long, nine-hour drive, we went from this ...
... to this:
Here's the map:
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