Sunday Drive

We just returned from a wonderful day out to Smoky Mountains National Park. After breakfast from McDonald's, we loaded up the car and headed for Cades Cove. Dad drove me, Mom, Annie, Alex and Steve through Mom's preferred route (up through Gatlinburg and back through Wears Valley). We stopped at KFC for a bucket of chicken and we were on our way. We detoured by the Sugarlands Vistor Center and had lunch about 3:00 at the Cades Cove picnic area. On the 11 mile loop around the Cove we counted 70 deer, give or take 2 stumps we may have counted. We were trying to beat Annie's record of 153 deer spotted on the drive so we had to pad our count a little but we still didn't get close.

It was a perfect day for a drive through the park. The weather was crisp and clear and sometimes sunny. There were not too many cars on the loop. The buttercups are just in bloom and huge patches of the flowers outlined the old homesteads. Mom did really well on the drive. She got out at the picnic area and walked a little but the weather was too cold for her. Dad, Alex, Steve and I sat outside and ate but she was served her chicken in the car. Except for some discomfort sitting, she had no problems but she did start tiring and experiencing some pain by the time we were almost home. All in all, it was a very good day! Thanks be to God.