Smoky Mountains

For our ten year anniversary, Ryan surprised me with a trip to Gatlinburg. We had three days with no kids and a chance to be adventurous. I don't think I've ever been so sore and exhausted in my life from all the hiking we did! We had a great time, and it was a wonderful surprise.

Here are some pictures of our cabin. It was three floors and very secluded. We definitely enjoyed having a hot tub to soak in after our long days of hiking. Also, you can see the view we had from the balcony attached to our bedroom.

Our first hike was to Laurel Falls. It was a paved trail that was 2.6 miles round trip. I had the brilliant idea of "let's run it - it's not too far!" We didn't get 5 minutes into it before I was walking. I didn't realize it was going to be uphill the entire way there. At least I was able to run all the way back since it was down hill :)

Oh yeah, this is where we saw our first bear. As you can see people weren't too afraid of it, and Ryan was way too close filming it. I was just glad there was a bear crossing the path because it gave me a chance to stop running and catch my breath!

Our next adventure on Day 1 was Abrams Falls. This was part of Cades Cove which was the slowest, longest drive of our lives. Part of the reason is because there were more bears on the side of the road, so people stopped their cars and blocked traffic. The trail was 5 miles round trip and we were absolutely exhausted after finishing. There were lots of hills - you'd think we were hiking in the mountains or something :)

On Day 2, we started off by hiking the Chimney Tops trail. I can honestly say that I have never been as scared in my life as I was at the top of this trail. It was 2 miles straight up, and at the end you had to crawl out on a rock wall to get to the top. If you made one mistake and fell, you'd fall off the side of the mountain to certain death. Ryan made it all the way up and I stopped halfway. After a long while I convinced myself to climb up the rest of the way. I wish I could say I enjoyed it - but I pretty much cried the whole way up convinced I was about to die. I couldn't even enjoy the view once I was a the top because I was so scared about how I was going to make it back down. Oh well, at least I never have to do that again. Ryan enjoyed it though!

Here's video of me trying to climb up the wall of rock:

And here's some incredible footage Ryan took from the top (while I was stuck in fear down below)

We spent the rest of day 2 wandering around Gatlinburg shopping, going on a sky lift, enjoying our anniversary dinner, and playing Hillbilly Golf.

Overall it was such a wonderful trip and I am so thankful to be married to such an extraordinary husband. Thanks to him for a wonderful ten years - I can't wait to find out what adventures the next ten have in store for us!