Smoky Mtn Trip 2010

On Wednesday of last week, I decided we needed to head to the mountains for Easter weekend. I snagged a cheap but nice hotel in Cherokee, NC, which was about a mile from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Here are a couple of pics from the Alabama Welcome Center.









On Saturday, we had reservations to go horseback riding inside the park, which was at the Smokemont Stables. The trails were just right for the kids.











That afternoon, we decided to get really crazy and go white-water rafting. We found a small place on the Nantahala River. Interesting fact is that since the river is dam fed, the water is a constant 52deg year around. We decided it was best to rent wetsuits!



Part way through the rafting trip, the guide offered to let the kids jump off a large rock called the Picnic Table. Surprisingly, both kids wanted to do it! The look on the kid's faces after then jumped into 52deg water was priceless! We were proud of them for doing it.



Sunday was our "free day," so we decided to do some hiking. We went to the Deep Creek area of the park and hiked to several waterfalls to have a picnic.







The warm weather brought out the sun-loving critters.



After a midday break, we went to another part of the park for a long hike, ~ 4 miles round trip. There was several very cool bridges over the river to cross. Some family members, who will remain nameless, weren't too happy about the bridges.









Overall, it was a great trip, and we can't wait to go back.

Smoky Mountains 2007

The annual trek to the Great Smoky Mountains occurred Easter weekend 2007, which is late for us. We usually go over Mardi Gras, so we were looking forward to Spring in the mountains. We all had a great time, and we had a few surprises.

Here is the obligatory park sign picture:




As soon as we entered the park, the kids were able to throw some rocks into the river.





Check out Emily in this nice family portrait:







Friday night brought a big surprise... SNOW! It was a rare April snow, so Saturday morning we headed to Cades Cove before it melted.



On Sunday, we headed toward Newfound Gap (high in the mountains at the TN/NC border), where we found a lot of fresh snow. We had a huge snowball fight that was a highlight of the trip.





This was taken the last night of the trip from one of the overlooks.