Smokies Family Vacation 2013
Got to Elkmont Sunday after a decent 8-hour drive and a quick trip to Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Set up the pop up and took a walk around the campsite scavengering for firewood in empty campsite fire rings. We did not build a fire this night.
Monday we spent the day playing in the Little River just up stream from the campsite. Found two water snakes and a few salamanders. The water is really cold, but we all swam. Silas is like a polar bear, he seems to never get cold in the water. Cooper had to get out when his lips turned blue. Scavengered for more wood and bought some firewood cuz we were not allowed to bring any from Indiana. Had a nice fire, with wood left over.
Tuesday we spent the main portion of the day on the Little River, then in the evening we took our dinner over to Cades Cove. My step-mother is related to the Shields of Cades Cove. We drove around there and saw the usual turkey and deer, then we stopped at the visitors center and hung out for a bit then on our way out, we saw a young black bear with two cubs on the edge of the road. Wife and kids got on top of the van and took picks and looked at bear with binoculars. That was fun! Had a fire with scavengered wood tonight.
Wednesday we decided to give Clingman’s Dome a shot cuz the “haze” was supposed to be low. After a short stop at New Found Gab we went up to the Dome. It was cloudy as all get out and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. Fun all the same. Silas freaked a little cuz he doesn’t like heights too much. Cooper seemed to love it. After that we decided to head on down to Cherokee, NC. Stopped at the first place and hung out most of the afternoon “shopping” around. Cooper road the mechanical bull and I got video. On our way back to camp we stopped at an old farm, Oliver Farm maybe? Anyway it was way cooler than Cades Cove. It has a garden, bee gums, chickens and pigs along with a bunch of old buildings and what not. On our way outta there we saw an elk and the boys got on the roof again. I forgot to take pics of the elk, but did get some of the boys on the roof. Had a scavenger wood fire tonight too.
Thursday we took a hike up towards Cucumber Loop trail to see a waterfall my wife really likes. We climbed the falls and spent the day playing above the falls in the small creek. I had been reading Cherokee folklore to the kids and we found some small “caves” in the side of the mountain. I told them that that was how the animals got below the mountains to council. We all believed it. Saw a heron on little rive, a real nice one, bigger than ours here and kinda beige with some brown or red in it’s wing. Bought $6 worth of wood to mix with our scavengered stuff. We scavengered every morning when we would see folks pulling out. We check that their camp permit was gone and if it was, they weren’t coming back.
Friday we spent the day in Gatlinburg, TN. Went to the aquarium, kinda expensive, but real nice too. Had a good day even if we were in town, they got free whiskey tastin you canjust walk in and taste, kids can come too.
Saturday we spent on the Little River and in the campsite just hangin out. We took a walk in the evening to a cemetery that is supposedly a Dolly Parton family plot and walked around old Elkmont homes. Saw the heron again. Got some ice cream at the camp store and had a fire with most of the wood we had left.
Sunday packed up, left a few pieces of good firewood and a poker to be scavengered by other gypsies and we left about 10:00. Got to Smokey Mountain Knife Works and I had 22 minutes of free time for my self. I bought a 4’ Cold Steel Big Bore Blowgun and a plastic Andice point magnet. Got a couple of gifts for my son Silas who’s birthday is the 4th of July. Made it back home about 7:15 p.m. Sunday night. I’m back home and the weather is the same, all that’s different is the hills of Brown county aren’t as spectacular as the Smokies. Thanks for reading if you got this far. Have a Gooder, dpgratzI
