The drive down was mostly interstate, but when we got close, this is what the GPS (her name is Rosie Mae) looked like:
Score! Bear sighting on the first day!
The next day we went to Dollywood. It is a wonderful park that wasn't a bit crowded and almost all of the people who work there are older and so friendly!
And we had our second bear sightning.
And a kitty and a dragon and an ostrich and loads of lovely horses.
Even though the tour guide book promised easy and level...I was dripping sweat off of my fingertips before the end of the 1.3 mile continuously inclined hike up to the waterfall. I tried to keep going, but I had to stop every once in a while to take a photo, right? pant pant huff huff
Look at that tree growing in that rock. The determination of those plants you see growing in the most unlikely and inhospitable places always amazes and encourages me.
As does their determination to reach the sun. This tree was hanging out from the edge of the walking path with a nearly 90 degree bend out there - always toward the sun...and see the little plants growing in the cleft? Amazing.
Yeah. Take your time taking this picture....no, really, I will just stand here...
The next three were taken by hanging the ever popular and versatile PaS camera out the car window as we were driving...I wasn't doing the driving!
Click.
Click.
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Enough green for you? It was everywhere...and so hard to get a picture with a view. All those dang trees were always getting in the way. The last morning we were there, Stevie and I were determined to get a few good shots, so we got up early for the sunrise and walked across the road and down the hill a couple of cabins to see what we could see...now, there's a view! (the wires are for the cable car that runs from the valley to the top, almost directly over our cabin.)
And there it is again, complete with the smokieness.
We were basking in the glory of the awakening morning when Stevie says, "Oh, look, it's a bear." There he was below the deck we were standing on. Score! Snap a couple of photos.
Aw. Look, he's sitting down for a photo. Cute.
Whoa! Look! The sun is all the way up.Hey. The bear is up, too...and uh, is he walking this way? Up the hill, around the house with the deck that we are um, standing on? And not looking quite as cute????
OK. Back to the bear story.
Now, I am standing on the front porch of our cabin with a door knob within reach. This is exactly where I saw the bear on the first night we were there.
And again I ran through the cabin to our back deck which is plenty high, with no access from the outside. See? All safe...even after doing so many things wrong! We decided that he probably wasn't looking for us for a meal, but wanted us to get out of the way of his morning forage around the cabins...right?
And this last one is to show that there is no place like home. My mountains and vistas are just as amazing to me each and every time I see them.Tomorrow I will show you house progress.
I am trying not to think too much about not going to school tomorrow for the first time in, oh, 50 years! I did get to go in today and help one of the teachers new to my old school set up her room. Thanks, Tina for letting me be a part of it all one more time.
8 comments:
Oh, Donna!! Those photos are breathtaking! And, scary of the bear!! You tell a great story of that adventure! LOL! I love the Smokies. They are magical. But, I'm with you... coming home is always the best and I can so see why you love your nest. blessings ~ tanna
ps~ just think of all the fun things you are going to find more time to do. ;) {hugs}
Tanna, today my friend and I are going to go and celebrate with a few other of our recently retired friends...on a boat on a lake...not a bad way to start my first year of retirement!
What a vacation! I am in awe. A bear! And not just a bear, but a bear everywhere... I'm glad you made it home alive. :)
Blessings, Debbie
Hello Donna! Wow, that was a special experience meeting the bear! I like to follow your building and would like to see how your sweet dog is doing!
xxx Teje
So I write as a voice from the grave. Wedding stuff. I have stories to tell, but I can't get quiet enough or alone enough or through enough with the tasks of showers and luncheons and whatever to do anything. Not even to read. But I read this. And loved it. And am thinking I spend half my life running away from bears - bears that are very real, but just shambling along -
You've spent today not teaching. Chaz and her buddy Chelsea both start their teacher meetings this week. Tomorrow, in fact. But you get to drive out to a hill top and make something that will stand for decades (assuming no tornados come along) and breath the air and stand under the sun - with no schedule but your own. This is a miracle. Not often repeated in the history of the world =
Glad you went. Glad you shot (woo-h00, the pictures - and of smokey but not on fire mountains). Glad you're home. I'' show you the merry-go-round shots I took at Disney. Soon. Maybe. Maybe I'll just hide in a closet and they won't find me -
Kristen, I have been thinking of you and thinking of you! Praying peace and joy and the strength to get through tender moments. I have really been wishing I could be there to give you a hug and just be your go-fer or guard the closet where you are hiding or whatever.
Today was fine...
Although I did wonder how I was going to fill the "make a difference" void. It will become clear...
Aaaand, since I'm so darned late getting here - I hope the "make a difference" void is, um, gone. Or there is greater clarity. And I'm tired, and haven't anything intelligent to say.
But you, YOU are darned funny. The bear is not. We saw a cub amble through our fields this spring, no mama in sight. Have been VERY vigilant of the littles ever since. And, and, I can't believe you had SO MANY bear encounters.
WSW-not sure about the "making a difference" void just now...currently thinking that I may need a little time to just make a difference to me. That's Ok, right?
And, will be perfectly OK with no bear encounters for a very long time...but, a bear did take out my husband's bee hive at La Ti Da this spring...2 days in a row! Hmmmm.
Rest up. Are your kids back in school or do you homeschool?
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