Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Smoky Mountain National Park

We have been to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge lots of times now, but never into Smoky Mountain National Park.  We decided to take a day trip there yesterday, especially while Sean is on break from school.  :)  We ate lunch in Pigeon Forge (I had been craving a steak salad from JT Hannah's for weeks) and then we went to the park.  We visited the visitor's center and then did a 2.6 mile hike to Laurel Falls.  After that we had a picnic dinner next to the river.  Almost as soon as we were done eating, it started pouring rain, so thank God we were not still on that hike!!!!  We had a great day soaking in God's glorious creation and spending time together as a family, making memories. 


View from the hiking trail

Alas, we made it to the waterfall!!


The stragglers :) 



Ryan even walked the whole 2.6 miles!!!  Hunter walked 1.3 miles.  Andrew=no miles :).

This was the sign at the start of the trail and it was VERY truthful!!!!  There were lots of steep drop-offs that made me sooooo nervous with the boys!!!!  When we had asked the rangers what was good to do, they mentioned this family friendly, paved trail........I expected something totally different!!!  Nonetheless, it was fun and we all made it back safely!

We worked up an appetite!

2 comments:

forevermyfamilyfourshe said...

What fun!! Great pictures!! So much greenery!

HB said...

It was gorgeous and yes VERY green! :)