Smoky Mountains

This fall we took our yearly trip to the Smoky Mountains with the Creel's. We rented a cabin near Gatlinburg and had a great time soaking in lots of relaxation. Our trip consisted of a bike ride, horse back ride, fishing and of course shopping. We also enjoyed spending time outside and watching for bears. We went during Labor Day weekend and Auburn's first football game. What a nice win to start the season. 11-0 Auburn.....let's keep it up!

Ready to start our 11 mile bike ride through Cade's Cove

11 mile is tough....so, we took quite a few breaks to enjoy the scenery

A little entertainment along the way...

Horses making sweet molasses

Thank goodness there is no picture, but during our treacherous bike ride, I had a bit of a fall.....the only thing hurt was my pride, but I was more than ready to ride around in the back of James' truck and look for bears instead of pedaling!

Claire loving it!

Look it's our friend Charlie, the bear!

After bear watching.....we went with Daddy to do some fly-fishing...aka wading in the cold water!

The National Park is so beautiful!

James looking for fish!

Next on our list was horseback riding.

Claire didn't make it for this adventure....but maybe next year.

Here we are about to pick out our horses.

Cara & CoCo

Heather & Meller' Yeller'

James & Ralph

We made it to the end....with just a little bucking along the way. Actually the horses were amazingly well trained and just followed along in a straight line....we really didn't even need to hold the reins. Cara's horse tried to start a fight with Meller' a few times, but our amazing riding skills calmed them down! :-)

Of course there's no time for picture taking when shopping is involved, but here's a shot of Claire and Granny in their new matching sweaters! Thanks Granny & Paw Paw for a fun trip to the mountains. We had a great time and look forward to next year!