North Landing Beach 2020

/

We just got home from a much needed get away!

Thank goodness we have a camper and are able to take these trips. I didn’t realize how stressed out we have both become as this pandemic and semi-lockdown continues. I missed so much the fun of summer and fall travels and I know we will be back to it one day but still this is flat our hard so anytime we can “reward” ourselves with these quick trips I think we will.

First time we took all three dogs with us in the camper, it was more work but it worked out really well. We created a fenced “yard” for them and once Ben got use to things they all settled in for a relaxing weekend of their own. So glad we know they can join us and I won’t worry as much about it because we have lots of trip ideas for 2021 in our plans.

Camping With Friends 2019

/
4C8D8D5A-0AB5-4522-8672-F00E5FB2B8C0.jpeg

We are just back from our annual camping trip with family and friends. The group continues to grow, but with that new friendships are created, more laughs, more fun is had.
Weather worked for us this year. Sunny days with cool evenings allowed for campfires each evening which is always welcome. I so enjoy this weekend and we look forward to it all year.

Already booked for 2020 😀

RV Road Trip To the Smokies - Clingman's Dome Trail

/

It was a very cool and foggy morning for a hike so we bundled up and headed out to Clingman’s Dome trail taking us to the highest viewpoint in the Smoky Mountains.

While this is a short hike, a half mile only, it was very stressful, straight up hill. We were not prepared for it to be truthful. Thank goodness they have resting benches as we and many others needed them :)

IMG_0677.jpg
 

**** If you enjoyed this video make sure you pop over and see the other videos we have from our RV Road Trip to the Smoky Mountains by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/2MU77dr ****

RV Road Trip To The Smoky's - Cades Cove

/

Finally finding some time to get caught up with things including editing the remainder of our spring trip to the Smoky Mountains.

In this video we head to Cades Cove which was just as beautiful and amazing as we had been told by so many it would be. Definitely a place we will visit every time we head back to the Great Smoky Mountains. Hope you enjoy watching.

RV Road-trip to the Smoky Mountains Day 3 - Roaring Fork Nature Drive & Hiking our first trails.

/
3CA8F738-FE6E-48FC-89DD-5B475040779A.jpeg

Up early, quick breakfast and we were out.We were excited to get the exploration started after counting down the days for months. Again taking the advise of the Park Ranger we headed to Roaring Fork Nature Drive which included beautiful sights, several historic homesteads to explore and a relatively easy trail along the North Pigeon River. It took us a few extra minutes to find the start of the drive (signage surprisingly is not that great) but once we did it was amazing.River and cliff views started almost immediately and continued throughout the drive. 

We took the advise of the ranger and did not enter the trails at the first trailhead as he said this would be more strenuous than the second entrance.What he didn’t tell is was this second entrance was actually closed , something we learned at the end of the trail as again there was no signage telling us we couldn’t use it . Oh well, no harm done. Not sure why it was closed as we had no issues or problems hiking it. It was rocky and rooted but other than that no problems.

When we merged to the 2nd trail we were met with such beautiful waterfalls throughout the trail. We hiked out for about 1 hour out and then turned around as we knew we had much more to explore.So glad we did as while heading back to the truck we saw a baby bear in the woods.I am sure momma was somewhere close by but we could not see here anywhere so we decided it was best to move along.It would be the only bear we would see all week so I am so glad I saw it when we did.

Leaving the trails we came upon the most gorgeous overlook and decided to have our lunch at this spot.When getting out of the truck I was shocked at the temperature change.It was about 15 degrees colder and very windy so we bundled up, lowered the truck bed and picnicked atop the Smoky Mountains. 

After out picnic we headed further up and down the mountain exploring more homesteads and pulling over to photograph more waterfalls. About 2 miles from the end we came upon what ended up being the most beautiful falls just on the side of the road. Of course we had to pull over and take lots of photos and selfies.

Before we knew it we had completed Roaring Fork and had been out for almost seven hours so time to head back to the RV where we made dinner over the fire (BBQ chicken, potato and veggies) relaxed for little bit and headed to bed.Another day of exploration was waiting for us.