Rest in North Carolina

          A few weeks ago, Matt was able to take a few days off of work so that we could spend time together as a family in the North Carolina mountains.  I found a fantastic cabin nestled in the mountains near Bryson City.  We happily settled in to our mountain retreat with the girls and our dogs, and we completely unplugged.  No TV, no internet, and barely any cell phone service...it was spectacular!
          On our first full day in the mountains, we explored the Deep Creek area of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  The Deep Creek area is well maintained, and it has plenty of gentle, easy hikes, which is perfect for our little family.  We let Audrey walk as much as she wanted, but we also had our Kelty pack when she got a bit tired.  Matt carried Audrey in her pack, and I'm pretty sure Matt enjoyed it more than Audrey did!  They looked for an escaped monkey in the forest, ran through creeks, and took plenty of breaks to play in the water.  I carried Claire in the Moby Wrap.  She happily looked around for about a half mile then she fell asleep.  The mountains are beautiful this time of year, full of blooming flowers and budding trees.  We passed a pair of amateur botanists on the trail who happily told Audrey that they were looking for a flower called the "Stinky Willy" flower.  She thought that was the silliest thing she'd ever heard.  She spent the rest of our hike trying to find the Stinky Willy flower.
          We drove down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center on our second day in the mountains.  We had a little picnic by the river and watched through-hikers on the Appalachian Trail stop for some lunch (and maybe a shower and rest).  We talked to a hiker who had started the Trail in Georgia 15 days prior.  He was planning to hike the entire 2, 178 miles of the Trail, or as far as he could go by September!
          The weather was beautiful until our last full day.  Storms started rolling in as we managed to finish another short hike along a river in the Smokey Mountain National Park.  We must have looked quite a site as we walked along - Matt had Audrey in the Kelty, I was wearing Claire, Matt was walking Buddy (our lab), and I was walking Sydney (our beagle).  We just managed to finish our hike and load up in the car when the down pour began.  We got back to the cabin in time for naps, and Matt went out for a few solitary hours of fly fishing.  The weather precluded him from catching any trout, but he enjoyed the fishing nonetheless.
          We were loading up to return home before we were really ready to leave, but the time was so precious to us.  It was a great way to spend some quality time together before Matt leaves for his deployment.