Sunday - May 5, 2013
"Beergueritas" in hand, we toasted Cinco De Mayo with our buddies, the Duponts. Our official first day of vacation began leisurely tailgating the Bob Dylan Concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. Perfect weather accompanied our evening of entertainment as we kicked back and enjoyed the deep, raspy and still quite unintelligible lyrics of Mr. Dylan
---So what's next on
our agenda?
Monday - May 6, 2013
I need to
reconnect with my inner mountain woman
so off we go to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park for some "souling".
Departed Palm Coast 1030
1230 tire blow out!
1310 tire blow out #2...yikes!
$250 later, thanks to some
awesome folks in Brunswick, GA who attended our tire needs in a timely fashion,
we were back on the road at 1500. Made it
as far as Irmo, South Carolina before calling it day.
Tuesday - May 7, 2013
Stopped at a
"waffle house" along the way and as we exited our truck, Lana (our chihuahua) leapt
out, landed and broke a puppy nail off.
Blessedly, the bleeding stopped in a short time after applying pressure. I ended up getting my patty melt to go. Close to our destination we stopped to
stretch our legs and her wound started to bleed again...held pressure for
another 30 minutes before it let up.
Finally arrived at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cosby, TN
at 1500. We're heeer.
Wednesday - May 8,
2013
The landscape is a brilliant green and so different from our trip here last October. We decide to revisit our favorite trail noticing some of the changes that had taken place.
Wild iris are spotted along the way and some fallen trees that must have made a big boom when they landed on the ground. A few dogwood trees still hold onto their blooms.
Thursday - May 9,
2013
I enjoyed some time
playing with my paints today.
We made a lovely
little campfire in the late afternoon, the sun still offered a bit of warmth
and dazzling light as I sipped on my wine.
I felt content.
Friday - May 10,
2013
Feeling adventurous
on this fine morning, we decide to explore Hen Swallow Falls. A distance of 2.2 miles didn't seem too far
out of our capabilities. Well, halfway
into the hike and climbing at about 1 mile an hour, we began to feel our lack
of mountain hiking conditioning.
Tenacity is the word of the day and best describes our pathway laden
with tenacious tree roots competing with one another for a bit of precious
mountain soil for survival…
So quiet at times
you can hear a bumble bee buzzz and then suddenly a noisy creek can emerge
chasing your daydream away.
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| Is that fairy dust I'm seeing? |
At last our tenacity pays off and our reward is the majestic waterfall. A splendid show of water sluicing over massive, gleaming rock in a rush to the mountain's bottom.
Saturday - May 11
Mother Nature is
truly the master designer using repetition with an unending variety of flora.
Sunday - May 12
Happy Mother's Day from the Smoky Mt National Park in Tennessee.
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| an interesting mushroom sprouting from a fallen hemlock tree |
Sunday - May 12
Happy Mother's Day from the Smoky Mt National Park in Tennessee.
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| a mountain road winding thru our camp |
Monday - May 13
We took a road trip
thru Gatlinburg on our way to Cades Cove. A mountain cove is a sheltered valley with deep,
rich soils and this one was inhabited by pioneers long ago before it became part of the National Forest. A beautiful and most interesting mountain
stream led the way for us, twisting and turning, up and down, over and under it
wove thru the landscape. Peacefully
meandering or with roaring gusto, the water steadily followed its course until
we arrived in the Cove.
We drove the loop along mountain meadows, past ancient log cabins, and thru tracts of forest in the hopes of seeing a black bear. We did spot a mamma and baby from afar. Very cool.
Tuesday - May 14
A hike on Snake Den
Ridge Trail near our camp in Cosby was most satisfying. Amazing weather was our companion boasting
blue skies and warm temperatures. I
tried to savor each lovely detail encountered here in the Smokies. Noticing the groupings of mountain wild
flowers, graceful ferns, furry mosses, the way the sun shines on the cascading
water of a stream, a bowl made of rock holding pebbles in a brook, ancient
trees standing tall and majestic against a backdrop of brilliant green foliage,
earthy scents wafting my way as I carefully chose my footing on the rooted and
rocky path. My heart rejoiced and I was
grateful for the journey.
Fly fishing may be
my next passion thanks to two young men I met while hiking my favorite
trail. They were traversing the wild
creek at Cosby, rock hopping with their poles in hand and having a grand day! They stopped to chat with me and I learned so
much in just a short time. Like, where
are all the fish? Hiding under river
rocks, of course. Apparently, one has to
lure them out with a "fly" on the end of their pole and with a quick
flick of the wrist, the fish is snagged.
So one of the guys actually demonstrated how to catch a wild brook
trout. Within a few minutes, he had a
gorgeous little trout, which they promptly photographed and released back into
the stream. Well, that clinched my
desire to become a fly fisherwoman and is right up there with my ever
evolving mountain woman status. Its amazing the impact we can make on each
other's lives in just a few precious moments.
Unfortunately, I left my camera back at the camper and missed this
important "photo op".
Thursday, May 16
This is our last day here in the Smokies, so I decide to go for one last hike of course. Sweet mountain air fills my lungs as I breath a little harder walking up the steep rocky incline. For my delight, I always discover something new and I love to collect bits of nature to add to my journal reminding me of where I've been. I imagine myself as a tree growing in the same spot year after year, season after season, thru good weather and bad. What would it be like to be planted in the same spot your entire life? Does the tree wish it could just once take a little journey and move up the path?
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| Gathering wood for our last campfire with Little Lana watching! |
