We drove up through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through Newfound Gap, Cherokee, Dillsboro, Franklin and then on to Highlands. This drive is so beautiful and peaceful, and if you're looking to getaway for some r&r, ahem, and some great shopping, we would highly recommend this drive or visit to Highlands.
Everyone's abuzz this year about the bear activity in the park, and we were amazed to see FOUR bears on the way up! One was in a tree and the others for foraging on the ground no more than 15 feet from the side of the highway. If there's an animal in the park that will back up traffic for miles and cause people to lean dangerously out of sunroofs and windows, it's a bear! Here are some of the pictures we captured. Man, if we had just had a zoom lens! Oh, and we also saw a big elk near Smokemont. He was in a wide open field and seemed to enjoy getting his picture made. Elk were reintroduced to the park a few years ago, and it's been a big success. These animals are beautiful to behold!
This is not uncommon to see along this route. If you see this many people out of their cars, you try your best to park somewhere and run as fast as you can to the scene to get a glimpse of....
A bear!
The following two bears were sighted a few miles up the road from the little guy in the tree.
Everyone assumed they were siblings, and we were DEFINTELY looking for momma, but she never showed. Good thing! Strength in numbers, right? It turns out that these two bears didn't know each other and one turned tail and lumbered off when it saw the other.
This photo of us was taken at Newfound Gap by some very nice folks from Louisiana. The view here is breathtaking!
Here's Mr. Elk. He was very large and quite impressive! Double click to get a better view of him.
Enjoying a delicious lunch at a little cafe in Highlands. I had apple cider ginger vinaigrette on my salad, and I am going to have to find a recipe for that!
The last morning, we went outside on our rustic balcony and had a great talk about where we felt like God was leading us. He's using each of us in different ways, no doubt, and we talked about how the Lord has prepared good works in advance for each of us to do. Some we've likely fulfilled, but there's more ahead, and we're looking forward to that! I think that's so cool about God. He knew each of us when He formed us and said, "I have a purpose for each of them." He gave us certain talents and gifts to be used here on Earth. If you're around me and Ben long, you'll discover that our minds and gifts are very different. Kristie, would you agree? :) Isn't it great that each one of us is completely different!? God uses each of us to fulfill His purposes. We just have to join him. I really would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord and join Him than to be lofty here on Earth and everything go MY way.
You can completely trust that when you were born, God said, "I love this one with an unfailing love, and I have good things planned for him or her. I have a purpose for this one."
Step...step... discovery...step... step...unknown....step... step... faith....step... step... trust. If_______then God.
Oh, and we saw another bear on the way home!
We had a wonderful weekend and look forward to going back someday. The mountains are simply my favorite place in the world to be.
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