Hope you all had a great weekend ~

It was a long one for us -- 

so we took half a day Friday 

and headed to the mountains. 

 

Loved that the holiday lights were still up 

and shining a nice welcome!

 We stayed at a favorite place of ours   - 

Right across from the aquarium - and while it's

 right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of things 

[just one block off the parkway -] 

 when you're in your room with the 

back door open to the creek 

you feel like you're out camping somewhere 

- NICE.

- They also have rooms around the bend there, where you can walk down to the creek - love it.

So, here's the deal - 

I've set a couple of goals this year 

[we all do , right?]

One is to use my REAL camera more - 

Honestly - I've had it for over a year - 

AND HAVE NEVER READ THE MANUAL. ha

[I'm still not sure I love it -- it's a Nikon, you know --]

 But ---> I DO LOVE THAT ZOOM.

Can you see the little buck out there with a few points?

No?

[That tiny spot right below the building -]

How about now? -- lol

And his friend --

Like, I said - I love the zoom.

And the pixels - MEGA.

The reason I bought this instead of the Canon - 

[But I'm a Canon girl at heart --]

So - I'm determined to use it weekly and give it a fair shot [ha] before going back to my one true love.

Another goal is to 

GET MORE ACTIVE

- especially since I've been cleared 

by the heart doctor to DO ANYTHING  -

We decided to do a couple of little hikes while there - 

Starting with the easy one miler 

[mostly flat] behind the visitor center to 

The Great Smokey Mountains

 

Love being out in God's creation -- 

And the water fall at the end was a nice little reward...

But the one we REALLY wanted to do was Laurel Falls.

It's about a mile and half UP THE MOUNTAIN and then the mile + down. I won't lie - there were times when I wanted to turn around and head back down 

- but I was determined to not be a quitter... 

and with Craig's encouragement we made it to the top,

stopping along the way to enjoy the gorgeous views - 

And the falls were beautiful!

The walk down was much easier - of course --

[I didn't love being on the edge of the mountain - especially with signs along that way that said things like 'Warning - falling deaths HAVE OCCURRED'  ha] 

 

And I know those of you who are in great shape are thinking - whaaaaa?!?! - but here's the thing - we can easily walk three miles - but that incline [about 20%, we figured] was TOUGH.

We were tired - but so glad we did it.

 

We also  walked up and down the main parkway and shopped and people-watched 

and watched them make taffy and fudge

and of course got a caramel apple...

and ate pancakes -

It's all part of being in Gatlinburg. ha.

After dinner we took the tram up to the ski area 

- loved the night view below us!

 

So fun to see they were opened for night skiing! 

The next day we drove out to / through 

Cade's Cove on our way out of town...

 

It's still as beautiful as ever -- 

I cannot imagine living there back in the early 1900s...

Shoot -- who am I kidding?

 I wouldn't want to live that far out of town NOW. Ha.

But it IS a beautiful place to visit - 

And as much as I enjoy being a 'city girl' 

[I want my shopping close and my restaurants closer - ]

 

I do LOVE being out in nature... 

and the The Great Smokey Mountains

are gorgeous.

It was a much-needed weekend away...