Great Smokey Mountains, North Carolina

On Wednesday, October 15, Audrey and I took our dogs and drove up to Bryson City, North Carolina.  We stayed in a cabin just outside the Deep Creek entrance of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  My parents and my sister-in-law, Lara, drove over from Missouri to join us.

The leaves were changing colors and the weather was crisp.  Audrey loved spending time with Gram, Pa, and Aunt Lara.

We walked leisurely down the main street of Bryson City and enjoyed the general stores and the local bakery.  As you might notice in the photos below, Audrey acquired a new pair of boots, thanks to Gram and Pa!

Our favorite activity was hiking some of the many trails in town and in the Deep Creek area of the national park.  The trails in the park were very family friendly, which allowed Audrey to either ride in her Kelty pack or walk along with us (or ride in Pa's arms!).  We saw several waterfalls and kept our eyes out for black bears.  Audrey was really hoping that we'd encounter a bear.

 

One afternoon, my dad went fly fishing on the Nantahala River while my mom, Lara, Audrey, and I went on a hike on the outskirts of Bryson City that supposedly lead to a waterfall.  The "hike" was only 1/4 mile, but the trail was completely covered in leaves and very narrow.  When we finally reached the "waterfall", we could only laugh as we looked up at a trickle of water flowing down the rock face.  After completing our "hike", we started driving back to our cabin.  Unfortunately, Lara and I both smelled something horrible.  We'd managed to bring a little bit of bear excrement back to the car with us on the bottom of our shoes!  Audrey found it all very amusing and kept laughing that "Mommy step in bear poop".

The trip was a much-needed break for Audrey and me, and the North Carolina mountains were beautiful.  Audrey continues to ask me if we can go hiking and look for bears.  We hope to make another trip to North Carolina while we're stationed at Shaw AFB.