Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Great Smoky Mountains

Amazing how you don't know what you've got til it's gone, huh? Eric & I lived in Knoxville for five years...and after our recent vacation back to this, our second home, I've realized we didn't spend as much time in the beautiful outdoors surrounding East Tennessee as we should have!

After a delightful Sunday with a visit to our old church family at Cornerstone and an afternoon of swimming with our friends the Trumps, we began our week long trip with a mountain excursion. We chose Laurel Falls as our hike since the trail is paved and we had the stroller. It was perfect for our fam.




We made a few pit stops on the hike up.






Zane loved the stuffed black bears at the Sugarland Visitor's Center.


Picture perfect!



On the way back to Knoxville Kai spotted this huge bee hive hanging from a nearby tree!


And this is the view we enjoyed from Look Rock at the highest point along the Foothills Parkway.


I actually liked it so much that I posed everyone for a timed picture. As I ran to grab Zane, who was running away to the parking lot and then down into the forest, I thought 2 seconds too late to holler out "Catch the camera!". I heard it tumble off the guardrail as it shut down to preserve the battery and smashed into the concrete sidewalk.

So there you have it, the last photo from our vacation. Not a single shot of our lovely friends and their families. I suppose that's what memories are for though, and we certainly made a lot of new great ones during the trip!

It was great to just pick up like we left yesterday with so many people. It had been 6 years since I'd been able to tag along on one of Eric's work trips with the children. So hard to pick a favorite moment (as if you are asking...he he) but I'd have to say the surprise 15 minute chat in the Weigel's parking lot with Michelle Lindsay gets that honor! What a treat! Love you ALL and thank you for welcoming us with some fabulous Southern hospitality!!!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You are most certainly right! It easy to take everything for granted and then miss it when you're gone. The Smoky Mountains hold a dear place in my heart but living on the Wset side of Tn, we don't get there as often as I'd like. But I often wonder if we lived closer, if I'd appreciate it as much. Thank you for sharing your photos with us. (I found you through Google +)