A Day Trip to the Smoky Mountains

Good afternoon.  Today's blog features pictures taken on yesterday in the Smoky Mountains.  For those on Facebook, you all know after my post yesterday that this was my first time in the Smokies since 1996 (when I was in eighth grade).  Back then, let's just say that my focus was not on the natural beauty that the area has to offer.  For yesterday's trip, we wanted to enjoy and capture the early part of the spring.  It was either going to Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge Area or Smoky Mountains.  We chose the Smokies because with the forecast of scattered storms, it seemed that the Smokies would be the better decision...and we were not wrong. From London, the Smokies is only a couple of hours away, so it made for a good day trip (I am used to a 4 hour drive at least a couple of times a week for work anyways).  We did not go into Gatlinburg, but went around on the bypass and into the National Park.  As you can see, we stopped at a few places along the way up to the lookout point at the state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina.  It started raining as we were driving up the mountain, but ended once we gotten to the top.  It was here that we truly got to see the essence of how the Smokies gotten their name.  After coming down from the mountain, we did not have the time to stop in Gatlinburg before heading back to London (maybe next time), but did have a treat eating wings at Quaker Steak and Lube on Merchants Drive in the Knoxville area.  

Spring is here and in full effect.  Take advantage of the beauty that is around us, especially as we have had some beautiful weather.  I still hope to make it to the Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge area this spring in addition to a few other places on my list.  Once I make it to some of these places, I will be sure to share them. 

Smoky Mountains on Dwellable