A Day in the Smokies

Our friend Brian came to visit over Easter weekend, and we spent a day in Smoky Mountain National Park (about an hour away). It was our second time there and his first. Once we got there, we had a picnic lunch.

this is the cutest face I have ever seen



The main event was a four hour (round trip) hike to a waterfall. Thankfully it was mostly shaded because it was a very warm day. Jamie rode in style on Thomas's back.

There were several of these bridges along the way, just a log with a little handrail. Crossing them made me glad I wasn't the one carrying Jamie.

The path bordered a river.

We were glad to make it to the waterfall and rest for a while. It was pretty impressive. Thomas and I took off our shoes and put our feet in the water. It was so cold! It felt great. There were some people wading in quite far; they must have been freezing!

Jamie got a little unhappy on the way back but finally crashed. What a sweetheart.

We saw a couple of black bears on our way out, which was kind of neat, but mostly it was a nuisance. Tons of people stopped and got out of their cars to take pictures, backing up the traffic and making it take an extra half hour to get out of the park. Lame. But the rest of the day was really fun. We're lucky to have the Smokies so close and plan to take more advantage of them!