Our Trip Back East, Part 2

After spending a day wandering around the Land Between the Lakes, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN.  Wow, I did not know how touristy that town was going to be!!  The Ripley's guy must be from this area, because we saw several Ripley's attractions on the main street.

I'm not much into tourist traps, so we didn't spend any time in town. 

We spent all of our time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Wow is this place GORGEOUS!  Hubby and I were poking fun at the Appalacian Mountains - being from a Rocky Mountain state and all.  But they are so different from the mountains back home.  MUCH greener and I do love all the deciduous trees, and streams you can actually walk/swim in because they're not ice cold!

We took a couple of hikes to pretty waterfalls - Laurel Falls and Abram's Falls.

 Laurel Falls

Dipping our toes

Abram's Falls

Another toe dunk

I think this is E's last year to ride in the baby backpack.  She's getting HEAVY!

We drove to the top of Clingman's Dome - the highest point in TN - to see the view.  We were going to walk up to the observation tower, but 5 minutes after we got there it started POURING rain.  I forgot rain gear, we only had an umbrella.

We took a hayride around Cade's Cove and took a look at some of the historic buildings.  We also spent a little time at another 1850s farmstead, but the one at Land Between the Lakes was MUCH cooler.

Another highlight of the trip (for me, anyways) was getting to hike on the Appalacian Trail.  I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson several years ago, and I have been wanting to backpack at least some of this trail since then.  Backpacking with a 2 year old is a bit difficult, so we settled for a quick hike.  I'll be back someday!

Next stop: Charlotte, NC!