Southern Vaca Day 4: Clingmans Dome

Vacation day number 4 started off early.  WAY.TOO.EARLY!  Avery woke up at around 6am Eastern time and was ready to rock.  Since Eric and Asher were still asleep, I took our little crazy person (and his noise) outside to the upper porch.  Once Asher had woken up and we had all enjoyed a quick breakfast of cereal, fruit and yogurt, we loaded into the rental car and headed back to Great Smokey Mountains National Park for our first day of exploration.

A little bit of coloring before breakfast and heading to the park.

Our first stop in the park was the Sugerlands Visitor Center.  Here, we checked out all that they had to offer (including an exhibit of the animals to be found in the park) and got some more Cancelation stamps for our NP Passports.

Well, it isn't alive, but it is a real black bear.  (Both of the boys seemed a bit confused by this).

Asher's stamps.

Avery's Turn.

Eric's Turn

My Turn.

Avery and I checking out the gallery of Great Smokey Mountains National Park animals.

From the Sugerlands Visitor Center, we got back into the car and drove up to Clingmans Dome for a family hike to the tallest point in the park and third tallest point East of the Mississippi.  Unfortunately, we were bitterly unprepared for this hike.  While it was close to 90 degrees at the visitors' center, up on the mountain it was only about 60 degrees with moist, breezy air.  The boys and I were dressed in tank tops and we had no sweatshirts or jackets with us in the car.  When we stepped out of our vehicle we immediately recognized our mistake, but since it had taken us quite a while to drive the windy road up to Clingmans Dome leaving now would be a waste of our day.  So, instead of turning back for warmer clothes, we decided to give it a go.  On top of having an error in judgement for our clothing choices we also incorrectly judged the week's weather.  The forecast had said that it was supposed to be mostly cloudy for both Monday and Tuesday (our only full days in the park) and that Tuesday had a chance of rain.  We had to make the most of our time there so we decided to do our Clingmans Dome hike on the cloudy day with no rain, and save the potentially rainy day for our drive to Cades Cove on Tuesday.  That gamble really did not work out for us.  We had a cool, foggy day to climb a mountain with two kids who were cold and whiny for almost the entire time and when we got to the top we couldn't see anything other than the cloud that we were in and the next day we had a painfully hot sunny day for some short hikes and lots of driving.  Ahhh...family memories!  ;)

Trying to figure out at the visitors' center/gift shop if we head back to our cabin or attempt the hike.  Note to the gift shop: If you had sold kid-sized sweatshirts we would have bought some to counterbalance our unpreparedness...and based on everyone else around us that looked cold, I'm guessing we are not the only ones.

Roarrrrrr!!!  We found a black bear!

After a while of debating whether or not we should continue with our hike we decided to go for it and off we went even though we were all freezing, the trail was too steep for a stroller and Avery refused to ride in the Ergo carrier.  It would be a long way up, but we (or I) were determined to make it happen.

The happy boy before we started our hike.

Cold boys taking a break.  We had no blankets, towels or extra clothing in the car to help keep us warm, but we did have the carseat bags for flying.  Eric grabbed them and although they probably looked pretty silly, they actually did a great job blocking the wind and helping to keep us a little warmer.

Brothers snuggle to warm up.

Family photo.  I'd like to say that these smiles were completely natural, but truth be told they were a little forced.

As we continued on our walk, the kids became less and less cooperative.  Not only did Avery not want to be carried in the carrier, but he also didn't want to walk on his own.  Additionally, Asher kept whining that his feet hurt and had no desire to walk himself.  Along the inclined path up to the top were benches spaced to provide a place to catch your breath.  We used those to try and up our spirits and along the way we met a stranger that helped boost them even higher.  He taught Asher the "rock game", which was that at each bench he had to find a gray rock, a white rock and a black rock.  Another stranger then told us to bring them all up to the peak of the mountain to make the highest point even a little taller.  :P  I can't say that we played the game exactly how the man had described, but it did help the boys to keep their minds off of the hike a bit and happier boys made for happier parents.

Hiking is also tough when you gotta go!  About half way up to the peak Asher  had to go "bad".  With no potties in sight, Eric snuck him back behind some bushes and let him relieve himself.

Pretty flowers up in the "clouds"

Near the top, Avery insistent upon walking all by himself...and taking the rock game to an unsafe extreme.  This was about the point that the rocks had to be left behind.

At just about 10 minutes before noon on that foggy day, we reached the top of the mountain where the Clingman's Dome lookout tower is.  Even though there was nothing to see but some trees and the cloud we were enveloped in, our spirits soared as we happily walked up the ramp to the see whatever we could possibly see.  We had made it!

Tough guys (well guy & girl) at the top of the tower.

Me and my buddy

He looks so old in this picture!

Here the smiles on our faces are genuine and we noticed it was the same with everyone else.  The grumbling and exhausted looks on the faces around us quickly changed when the end goal was in sight.  Even Asher looked at me and said, "Mommy, everyone is so happy up here!"

Family Photo.  It was tough, but this is proof that all four of us made it!

The Observation Tower

Once we had made it to the top and taken some pictures to prove it, it was time to head back down.  Although everyone was ready to be done, the trek down was MUCH easier.  Our spirits had been renewed and there was no where to go but down.  We were able to make the trip much faster than the trip up.

Me and my passenger.  I told him his options were to either walk on his own or ride in my carrier.  Unlike his little brother, he chose the carrier.  Although carrying his extra weight was tough on the way up, on the way down it was kind of nice as it balanced my weight and made it so that I didn't have to lean backward as I walked down the steep incline back to the Visitors' Center.

Avery catching a ride with Daddy.

When we arrived back at the Visitors' Center, we all breathed a sigh of relief and then headed inside to get some more Passport cancelations.  Then we headed over to the look-out which had cleared up from the foggy morning to enjoy the view and get some more photos before we headed back to our car and back to our cabin for lunch and naps.

The view from the look-out.

On the way back to our cabin in Gatlinburg, we took a quick detour to enjoy a simple family moment walking in the park's river.  After a grumpy morning hike, it may have been the highlight of our day...a good way to make the kiddos (and the adults) smile! :)

Walking down to the river.

When we got back to the cabin, we immediately ate a quick lunch and headed downstairs for naps (all of us).  Once we had rested up we all headed back into Gatlinburg to check out the touristy town and get some dinner.

Eric, Avery, Asher & I enjoying the porch swing before heading out to Gatlinburg.

Asher loves to jump off of things lately.  On this day, he jumped off this rock over and over again, with me snapping pictures, him looking at the picture and then heading back to the rock to do it again...all while Daddy paid at the kiosk for our parking.

This little park area in Gatlinburg was kind of neat. They had a bunch of musical things for the kids to bang on.

Video: Makin' Music

We found a black bear!

Eric and the boys heading to a shop to check out the advertised "free jerky samples".  Asher was very excited to get a free sample, but wasn't very excited about the sample itself.  They did have some flavored peanuts though that were pretty good.  My favorites were a garlic mozzarella flavor and a caramel apple flavor.

The boys watching the animatronic puppies.

They loved this dinosaur!

Watching the dinosaur.

After we had enjoyed walking around Gatlinburg for a while and seeing what they had to offer, we sought out a place to get some dinner.  Pizza sounded good and so we decided to try Smokey Mountain Brewery, which advertised homemade pizza.  I put my name in and was told it would be around 45 minutes, but it turned out to be MUCH LONGER (closer to an hour and fifteen I think).  While we waited, the boys and I took a walk down the street and found a cute little park with a creek and swings.  Eric thought it looked like a scene straight out of Law & Order (a good place to get murdered), but I thought it was cute and it was a good way to pass the time.

Who could resist throwing sticks into water from a bridge?...not this guy!

Avery wanted in on the action too!

Asher waiting outside Smokey Mountain Brewery

Just as we were about to give up, our number was called and we headed into the brewery for dinner.  It was a long wait but it was worth it (mostly).  The atmosphere was fun, the kids were happy to color and eat and the pizza was awesome!!

I joined in on the coloring.

Happy to FINALLY get some milk!  (this boy LOVES his milk!)

Pizza...YUM!

When we had filled up our bellies and paid for our meal, it was time to head back to our car and cabin.  We enjoyed the sights of Gatlinburg at night and then picked up a Kilwins caramel apple for dessert to enjoy back at the cabin.

Another stop to look at the dinosaur.  Roar!!!

Having fun rolling a giant granite marble!

When we got back to the cabin, it was time bed, but not before enjoying our apple and getting the boys cleaned up...at the same time.  A SWEET end to a long, memory-filled day.

The Day's Travels:

Two 2+ Hours of Travel includes some back & forth