It ended up being a WONDERFUL idea and the cabin was great...we had a jacuzzi in the living room right in front of the fireplace, a hot tub outside on the deck with a great view, and a pool table upstairs in the loft. Dakota was thrilled to have complete freedom running around the mountain and was happy we hadn't forgotten her stocking...
The weather was gorgeous and we spent some time hiking around Newfound Gap. The views were really great for this time of year--although it was quite a bit colder up here...and David had no jacket.
David proudly showing off the portion of the Appalachain Trail that we hiked. Er, okay we hiked some of it. Alright, we really only walked long enough to get a picture of this sign. It was COLD, okay?
I actually managed to get David on ice skates--he promised he would skate if there were at least five other grown men on the rink. He was appalled to see so many guys out there skating, but took his loss like a man and laced up. David and this little guy in the picture had a quite a show down as they were going in opposite directions and neither one would let go of the bar long enough to navigate around the other. Not that David was holding on the whole time...there were the times he was sitting on his rear on the ice (=
We spent a day at Cades Cove and went for a hike...
There are always a lot of deer (like this one) and sometimes black bears in the Cove. Although we didn't see any bears on this day, we did see an elk. They've just been recently released back into the park. Sadly, I only got one picture of an elk buck with a great rack, but he was already disappearing back into the trees when I snapped the picture.
Kim and David at Cades Cove....................Dakota wearing her holiday finery
We were lucky to have this kind of weather while we were there--except on our last night when it rained and sleeted a bit. But even the sound of the rain on the tin roof of the cabin was incredibly therapeutic.
