What can I say? There's a whole lot that has happened since my last post in June but, I hadn't traveled anywhere since that time! After college, you discover that your life revolves around work as you are pursuing your first initial job career. I finally got the chance to break away for a little while and travel to Tennessee (some parts of North Carolina too) with my parents.
We spent every day hiking and visiting different lookouts in the area. I should have logged where we went throughout the course of the trip but, some things are better kept as a secret!
Overall, we had a wonderful time and completed a handful of different activities. I sampled a variety of moonshine flavors in downtown Gatlinburg. We had a great experience going on an ATV tour of Bluff Mountain. Our tour guide, Rocky, enhanced the ride with his humor and genuine personality. We went to a craft fair to view a variety of homemade goods. I got to spend quality time with my parents as we hiked for miles together and shared these precious, crazy fun moments (as seen below).
My Dad and I smoked cigars on the back porch of our cabin as the sun went down. I carved a pumpkin and then proceeded to toss it into the woods on our last day. My Mom and I were thrilled to attend a local fall festival down in the valley and dragged my Dad along with us. He ended up enjoying himself as we split a bag of freshly popped kettle corn. We met this incredibly talented wood carver, Captain Dave, and he gave us the inside scoop about his life/accomplishments.
I found out that I have a natural talent at spotting salamanders and I am quite fond of the slimy creatures. All of the close animal encounters (elk, black bear, deer) that we had were some of the best that we each had have ever experienced! Keep in mind that these encounters were made safely and may appear at a close distance but, the camera fools you. I just have a really nice lens that allows me to zoom in, nice and tight.
There were many other things that happened and people we met along the way. It was an awesome trip filled with good times and very few hiccups. Here are some of the images that I captured (iPhone 7/Canon 80D) and there's also a video that I produced as well. Enjoy and get out there sometime soon!
Song: Judah and the Lion
