Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Hello again!  I can't believe that November is nearly done, and winter is just around the corner.  Strange that it feels soon, since our slow-mosey south has actually allowed us a longer than normal autumn.  It seems like we've hit every state at the perfect time to see the leaves changing color.  But this last two weeks was the end cap to our fall, I think.  We spent hours crunching through the peaceful leaf-canopy that blanketed all of Cherokee, North Carolina, and saw the season out with appreciation.  

*Edited to add:  We've just arrived at our new location and found...more fall!  So we're not out of gorgeous foliage just yet!  

We weren't planning to visit Cherokee, but ended up having such a memorable visit!  A good reminder that sometimes the best plan is to scrap the plan and do something else.  We stayed at a great campground called Flaming Arrow RV Park.  This park is wonderful! 

First, the park owner is great.  I visited with her a lot.  She and her family traveled full-time for three years when her children were younger--back when the internet was new and they had to do everything the hard way.  They forged their own path across the US and decided to settle here, in the Smokies.  I could have listened to her tell stories for a week!  It was a blessing to visit with such a genuine, honest, intelligent woman, and to share common experiences.  

The park also had fantastic wifi, Verizon, utilities, views, and was one of the most quiet parks we've been to.  I didn't want to miss any morning walks here!  The paths around the park led through the forest areas.  I loved it. 

Morning walk on the park trails.

Jackson loved it, too.  The merry-go-round spun a lot faster than most, and unlike most of their annoyingly screechy counterparts, this one was silent.  Bless.

The girls are "too old for the park" but not too old to scramble their brains on the merry-go-round with their brother.  Scenes like this are becoming more rare as the kids get older, which makes them all the more precious.

Straight out of the gate, we visited the Oconaluftee Visitor's Center.  Not much to do here, but the mountains are phenomenal.  Obviously.  The area is highly trafficked, even in the off-season and even during the week.  The beauty of the Smokies is not a secret!  

I got an over-priced mug in the gift shop but I love it and I'm not sorry and I hardly ever buy myself extra things and no I'm not justifying and trying to make you understand why I need a $20 coffee mug when I have a perfectly good coffee mug already but I just loved the mug and thought, "Go ahead, girl.  Treat yo' self."  So that's how the mug and I came to meet. 

Isn't she pretty?  The bend toward the top sinks into my hand so perfectly and makes me want to drink tea all day long.  (Jeff won't let me drink tea all day long because he's rationing the good honey.)  

Have you heard of Nature Nate's honey?  In the Cato house, it has surpassed dark chocolate as the treat of choice.  It's phenomenal.  How phenomenal?

-Buy-Wal-Mart-out phenomenal.  

-Order-it-online phenomenal.  

-Don't-let-your-wife-drink-too-much-tea phenomenal.

Go buy some, but not too much because some of it is for me.

Moving on from my honey woes, we decided to do the river hike since it was so easily accessible from the visitor's center.  It was a great hike to do before school and work in the morning:  pretty, easy, and close to home.

Jeff liked this fence.

I asked Jackson what he was going to remember about Cherokee and he said, "When we got to go to The Sassy Sunflower for treats!"  No surprise that his favorite part was the food.  I guess I have to agree with Jackson--this cinnamon blossom was pretty memorable!

We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway another day.  The viewpoints are easy to slide in and out of, which was nice since we only had about two hours before we needed to be back for work.

The photos from this drive didn't do any justice to the colors in those mountains.  A lot of the desaturation of color is due to the "smoke" in the Smokies.  Speaking of which, I read an interesting blurb about what make the Smokies so smoky.  It said that the fog is actually volatile organic compounds (VOC's) that the vegetation gives off.  This is what gives the Smokies their blue hue.

Another day, another hike!  Another one of our hikes was at Mingus Mill.  We checked out the mill and then looped around to the trail.

I asked Jeff what he thought of the mill and he said, "I thought the mill was super cool.  Super.  And you can quote me on that."

So, yeah.

 

Jackson liked the way the sun was shining on the bushes from through the trees.  He is always pulling at me, pointing to neat bugs, plants, or photo ops.  It often surprises me to realize that he isn't just tearing through the woods like a road runner (which is what it looks like)--he's actually scoping things out!

"Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day."

Do you sing when you hike?  We do!  We have a rotating set in our hiking concert performances, which often include this Peter Pan gem.  I also like to sing Katy Perry's "Roar" at them when they complain about their legs hurting.  They walk faster to get away from me, which is what you call a win-win!

Another of Jackson's finds.

Jordan likes to take high and low shots.  I like seeing her perspective.

Even though it isn't really blog material, our weekday routine is still happening.  We get up, read the Word, I go for a walk with the dogs while Jeff does something with the kids OR we do a morning hike, we eat breakfast, complete chores, do school and work, play board games, go for more walks (or scramble our brains on the merry-go-round), then eat dinner.

This blog might make it seem like our lives are packed full of vacation-type activities, but we've still got to pay the bills and make sure the kids are learning enough to counteract all that brain scrambling.  I think the mundane normalcy of daily life has been an important balancer in our travels, one that actually helps us to better appreciate the amazing things we are getting to experience.  It's also sort of a stabilizer during this season where everything else is constantly changing.

Weekday activities aren't as photographed as our outings, but they are still important to remember.

Here, the kids made up a game about a plague that spreads across the continents.  There are rules, ways to quarantine and decontaminate, people who are immune to the disease, people who are more susceptible to the disease, and many other details.  There was research happening and a whole lot of brainstorming!  I made lunch and enjoyed listening to them hash out the details.  Every homeschool mom delights in situations like this!  Little do you realize, kids, that you're utilizing things you've learned in Geography, History, Literature, Health, and current events!

We were enjoying the crisp air and beautiful scenery so much that we decided to stay for an extra week.  That meant spending Thanksgiving here, which was our second Thanksgiving in the RV.  (You can see last Thanksgiving at the Grand Canyon here.)  We did turkey breasts in the Instant Pot (surprising success!) and all the normal sides.  We got a pumpkin pie from City Lights Cafe and the girls made soft snickerdoodles that we ate for breakfast on Thanksgiving Day.  It was a weird Thanksgiving because it wasn't a big dinner with extended family, but it was a good one.

We also attempted a day trip to Gatlinburg, but stopped to help a fellow RVer who was stranded near the top of the mountain.  His truck had blown the turbo hose and with no cell phone reception up there, he was stuck.  Thankfully, we found a dealership with the part a few towns over and he was able to continue on his way.

I have more photos that I could share, but they are more of the same.  More pictures of my hikers, more fall foliage, more chilly morning walks.  But I think the above photos give you a sense of what it's like to visit Cherokee in the fall.

We left today with no little reluctance, sad to say goodbye but still excited for the adventure ahead.  During the drive, Jeff and I talked about our travels so far.  He listed the states that we have "lived in" for a month:  Arizona, Utah, Ohio, Maine, and North Carolina.  What's weird is that those are the five states that we have loved the most.  And not one of them is like another!  Together they cover the span of diverse beauty in our country.  Desert, mountains, lakes, farmland, beaches, rivers, and forests.  And the people are equally diverse and beautiful.  I'm thankful for it all. 

💜