Smoky Mountain Memories

 It's been a long time since we traveled north during the spring, actually, I don't think any of our kids had been out of Florida in the spring-time.  So this trip was full of colors and sounds that they usually don't associate with visits to our families.  The little weedy flowers that surrounded us were too tempting to leave in the ground.  And I have to confess that we picked a few even when we knew we should not. 

There are puff ball flowers in our neighborhood, but they don't blow as nicely as these did.

 The first day of our trip, we traveled to within about 1 hour of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Since we got a late start, this is a potential one day trip for us in the future.  We only took a day to sight-see and then drove on about 3-4 hours that night.  Our timing was good - nothing was crowded.  We fit in a full day; what a beautiful place.

Contraband Clover Blossom Crown

We are...so small.

Did I mention we picked a few flowers?

Climbing Clingman's Dome

Irene and me on top of Clingman's Dome

Appalachian Trail

Definitely hoping to return for a longer, more leisurely visit.