the next day was spent back in the great smoky mountains national park. entering back into the park on the north carolina side, we were greeted by a morning elk,
and then headed to smokemount stables for a trail ride. the horses were great, the kids were into it, and i got to whisper to and stroke the neck of a horse for a whole hour, which is what i want to do all the time every day.
under bridges,
through rivers,
up and down a mountain, until we were back. here is david gracefully dismounting. i think he enjoyed himself too.
after the ride, we drove up to the clingman's dome area again, had a lunch in the chilly mountain top air,
and set out on a lovely hike to andrew's bald. a bald is an open grassy area on a mountain top--rare in these tree covered mountains--and this particular bald is covered in giant azalea bushes, some of which were still in bloom. the whole thing was a slam dunk.
we worked on the junior ranger books (and learned about invasive species and growing regions and bugs)
and then visited the mill where we happened to meet the coolest miller, who is descended from the family who were the original homesteaders on that very land and were ultimately relocated for the formation of the park. his great grandparents' graves, however, were not impacted by eminent domain, and they are still buried just up the hill.
after dinner in the super duper adorable town of bryson city (only a stone's throw from our place) (also, dinner at the nantahala brewery was perfect and i highly recommend), we headed back up the washed out steep gravel incline to the mountain home,
david tried to start a fire by rubbing sticks together for 30 minutes,
and then james finished the job with a match.
s'mores,
sunset,
and total vacation happiness.
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