As we say goodbye to Townsend and the little valley that has been our home for the past several days, we take a final parting shot at the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

 

And so we began the drive to Chattanooga, TN.  This place still holds a very special place in our hearts as it is where we spent the first 5 years of our married life together!  Needless to say, these two days brought back a lot of memories as we drove around.

Now, it’s been 13 years since we had been here, but as we start getting closer and seeing the signs leading to our old hang-outs something magical seemed to be happening to our mood.  It was very exhilarating!  Since it was on the way, one of the first places we drove by was our old house.  We sure miss this place, nestled in the woods in a quiet subdivision outside of town.  Of course, it is not as far out of town as it was 13 years ago.  As time has moved on, the city of Chattanooga has began to spread throughout the hills as well.  It still looks pretty peaceful out here though.  (hope the current owners don’t mind their house being on the net)  🙂

As we begin our descent into town through the “ridge-cut”, our breath is taken away by the beauty of this “little” city that sits in this quiet little valley.  We entered town at about 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, and I have to say that the “rush-hour” traffic here, even after 13 years of growth, is NOTHING compared to the DFW metroplex!  In fact, about the only traffic jam I saw was when three people were at a four-way stop and they were each motioning for the other to go first!  You don’t see that much these days!

And almost everyone asks, so I’ll just answer, Yes, there is a Chattanooga Choo-Choo and here’s the proof!

They actually took some of the sleeper cars from the old train and converted them into hotel rooms.  It is now ran by Holiday Inn and if you like you too can see in a part of the past.

We had decided that Friday would be our evening to spend with some old friends, so we met up at the “Cancun” Mexican restaurant.  You may ask, “you go from Dallas to Chattanooga to eat Mexican food?”  Yep!  I’ve been craving the nachos from this restaurant for over 13 years and nothing was going to get in my way of going there!  🙂

We met up with our friends Kay and Tom, and Kim at Cancun and talked and laughed for a few hours.  As the karaoke started cranking up (well, that’s new) we decided to call it a night and had a long good-bye in the parking lot.

Day 7 found Karen and I driving all over town, just reminiscing.  We enjoyed the view from Lookout Mountain and the history there with the Civil War memorials.

We watched some hang gliding from the mountain…

And took our own pictures to remind ourselves later that we were really there!

Then we (or rather I) just had to drive by to see if the “space-ship” house was still there on Signal Mountain. (it is!)  I still think it would be cool to live here!  But if you look close, you can see that time is starting to take its toll on this place.  Someone should really buy it and bring it up to date.  (hmmmm)

We drove around so much on these two days that the streets once again became so familiar we felt right at home!  Karen made the comment that when retirement time comes, if we have to live in a city, this one is certainly doable!

We decided to take one last chance and have dinner with our friends again.  We really do miss them and hope that it is not another 11 years before we get to see them again.

Tomorrow begins the drive home back to north Texas.  The land of no color or mountains.  🙁

Day five starts out as planned.  Up early and at the entrance to the cove shortly after dawn.  The first thing we notice is that the fog over the cove gives it a very cool appearance!  And the next, is that we are finally seeing some wildlife.  There are deer all over the place!  But still no bears.

Shortly after entering the park, we found these guys trying out their antlers.  They would spar for a bit and then turn to see if the girls were watching.  Then they would spar a bit more.

The early morning fog gave a very surreal feeling when I looked down the hill to see this young doe in front of the muted colors of the trees.

And who can pass up the “sunlight-bursting-through-the-fog-covered-trees” shot?  This whole place seemed like a completely different park than we had visited yesterday.  The fog, mixed with the light and deer added something extra to the entire experience.

 

And much like the previous shot, the “dew-on-the-spiderweb” shot has been a long standing staple of the photographer.  And so much better when taken at about 25 yards with a 400mm lens while sitting in a vibrating jeep.  🙂

 

After a few passes of the most known locations for bears in the park, and even getting out and trekking through the woods in search of them, we finally accepted that our one bear crossing the road a night experience would be our only encounter with the black beauties this trip.  So we decided to take the other “primitive” exit from the park and drove out to the south this time on Parson’s Branch Road.  This was much like the Rich Mountain Road we took yesterday, except it went to the south.  Very primitive and heavily wooded.  It was a nice hour and a half 8 mile drive.  Let’s just say it was an adventure, in a good way!

 

Once we left the park we made our way back to Townsend on the Foothills Parkway where we stopped for this obligatory “yes, we were really here” tripod and timer shot.  When looking out over these mountains it still gets me how they just seem to go on and on forever.

With still quite a bit of daylight left, we decided to take yet another cruise up and down the Little River Road.  This is a great relaxing drive (when done during daylight hours) that follows the river through its twists and turns.  There are many pull outs available for stopping to enjoy all the water features.  And later in the afternoon as the sun is setting, the colors start reflecting off the water and it is a sight to behold.

 

Karen had noticed this calm spot a couple of days ago while we were headed home but we were in a hurry to get somewhere.  Luckily, she remembered where it was and we were able to stop and I got this shot of her enjoying the reflections of this peaceful spot.

 

And of course, it seems that no day on this trip would be complete without a stop at Pizza Hut for our dinner!  You’d think they would know us by name by now. 

Tomorrow we pack up and head to Chattanooga to meet up with some old friends and see how much our little town has changed in the past thirteen years since we have left.  From what I’ve heard, it’s not such a small city any more.  Guess we’ll find out the tomorrow as we explore some of our old spots!

Day four of our adventure here at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park began a little late.  We had planned an early morning to be at the entrance to Cades Cove when they opened at dawn, but we were blessed with a little rain during the night and into the morning, so we got to sleep in a little.  We have been really excited about going to Cades Cove because they say that the largest concentration of bears in the park lives there.  We are hoping to see one now in the daylight to get a picture.

There are currently three standing church buildings in the cove.  This is the Cades Cove Methodist Church.  All the churches have grave yards attached.  Talking with the guide I learned that there are still people being buried in these grave yards.  The only stipulation is that you must be able to prove that you are a direct descendant to someone who is already buried there.  We noticed several graves that have been placed in the last decade and he stated that he had spoken to a gentleman who had just received his validation to be buried there as well.  An interesting side note is that his wife would not be able to be buried here unless he dies first and is buried there.  Rules…  🙂

Driving through the cove it is clear to see that the colors here at the lower elevations are still quite brilliant!  This lone tree in the field is an example of the beautiful color that can be found all throughout the park.

At the west end of the cove is the visitor’s center with several original buildings.  This old grist mill is still in operation today.  They actually sell the ground corn that they make here.  I overheard the gentleman who runs the mill tell someone that he had been working here as the operator for over 10 years.

 

An example of the homes that were lived in during the time that the cove was private land.  This cozy little home was nestled in among the trees at the foot of the hills.

And one can’t walk through the woods here during the autumn without looking upwards and seeing the splendor of color that God had blessed His creation with.  This truly is a wonderful place.  Sometimes we need to get away from the day-to-day grind of the city and just get back to the basics of life.  Count me in for a simpler time.

 

As the day rolled on (and after circling the cove 2 and a half times), it became apparent that we would see no bears today.  In fact, we saw very little wildlife at all this day.  It was as though they had all been given the day off from their “entertain the guests” duties.  So we thought we would try one last place.  One of the exits of the park is an 8 mile long one-way, one-lane, “primitive” road over the mountains called “Rich Mountain Road”.  So, earlier vehicle troubles not withstanding, we decided to give it a try.  True to it’s description, it was a very primitive road, through a very heavily wooded area.  But alas, no bears were found there either.  On the other hand, there was a nice overlook of the cove where we stopped and took this shot.  If you look near the bottom, you can see the Methodist church we saw earlier.

 

So, even though there were no bears, it was still a great day.  As we headed down the other side of the mountain from the Rich Mountain Road, we called ahead to Pizza Hut for our dinner order and then back to the cabin to sort through the day’s pictures.  Tomorrow, we will try the early morning option for Cades Cove again.  One more chance for bear!