A Long Weekend

The kids are off school tomorrow, so we decided to take a long weekend and visit the Smoky Mountains. We all took today off and came down yesterday. Here are some pictures from today. The pictures really don't adequately capture the true beauty of the trees. Wow!

The kids started the day off right with a little hot tub time.

We crawled our way to the observation tower at the top of Clingman's Dome.

It is only 1 mile round trip, but it is almost straight up (or down). It was tough but we were not the only ones panting!

The kids had never been to the top before. Ron and I were both several pounds lighter and at least a decade younger the last time we climbed up! Well worth it, though!

I swear this was not posed, although they may have been trying to avoid me taking a picture of their lovely little faces.

A lot of the trees at the top elevations have already lost their leaves. A lot of the birds seem to have migrated already, too.

 

We finished off our day with a cookout and s'mores.