Samantha at 10 Months: Our trip to the Smoky Mountains

First of all, I need to give you a warning.  This post may be very long and have many pictures because I have SO much to talk about.  We had a wonderful spring break trip with my parents to the Smoky Mountains.  We stayed in a beautiful cabin up in the mountains for four nights, spent time hiking, relaxing, playing games, and enjoying time experiencing new sights with our new little explorer.  I love introducing Samantha to new experiences.  Everything is so exciting to her, and I so look forward to re-experiencing life through the eyes of my little girl.


We left on Wednesday morning and arrived at our house around 5:00 p.m.  Samantha did great in the car.  Ben and I would take turns driving and riding in the back seat with her when she wasn't napping so that we could interact and play with her and keep the boredom at bay.  Our house was GORGEOUS!  It was called "Grand View" and oh my, it certainly did have a grand view.  The people that owned the house were actually Christians, which is neat, and many guests made comments in the guest book about this being as close to heaven as you could possibly get while on earth.  I think I would have to agree with that.  All of us enjoyed sitting out on the wonderful back porch rocking chairs, taking in the fresh mountain air, watching the fog roll across the mountains and into the valleys, observing the thunderclouds blow in and bring strong downpours of rain, as well as beautiful rainbows.  I love being in nature because I feel like it brings my life into perspective, reminds me of God's omnipresence, and how He is reflected in all creation.


Here are some pictures of the house and view on the night we arrived:

Thursday, the first morning we were there, a thunderstorm came through the mountains early in the morning.  After it was over, there was a beautiful rainbow across the sky, my favorite reminder of God's promises to His children.  We waited out the storm and enjoyed time at the house before heading out on our first hike to Laurel Falls.

We reached the start of Laurel Falls just when the last of the rain was clearing up, which was perfect timing because we beat the crowds and had the trail mostly to ourselves.  One of the reasons we picked this trail was because is was paved and therefore, stroller friendly.  Samantha loved her stroller ride up to see the falls.  She shows her interest in the world around her by sitting straight up in her stroller, holding onto the tray in front of her, and looking around at everything.  When we got to the falls and she first caught a glimpse of the rushing water, her face was priceless, beaming from ear to ear.  She was astounded and amazed.  She loved it and couldn't take her eyes off of it.  After we got some great pictures of us and the waterfall, I pushed up Samantha's pant legs and allowed her to put her feet in one of the shallow pools forming at the bottom of the falls. The water was pretty cold, but it seemed like Samantha loved the feeling of the water rushing over her feet.

Visiting Laurel Falls reminded me of when I visited Iguazu Falls in Argentina back during my Taylor days.  While we were at Iguazu Falls, next to the falls there was a plaque that read, "Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea--the Lord on high is mighty," Psalm 93:4.


That evening, after Samantha got a good afternoon nap in, we went on a driving tour of Cade's Cove.  It was too beautiful for words.  We saw wild turkeys and deer, and the weather was very warm and pleasant.  Samantha loved it.  We think she really enjoys exploring the outdoors and seeing new things.  She particularly likes to ride up on Daddy's shoulders.

The funny thing is, that after we took this above picture, I noticed that Samantha had a sliver in her foot from this wooden fence.  It didn't seem to bother her at all, and once we got back to the house, my dad helped us pick it out of her foot with tweezers.  He's an expert at this, as he's had plenty of experience with it over our years of growing up.


The next day, we hung out at the house in the morning and then drove off to Clingman's Dome, which is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.  The radar looked clear before we left; however, after we got there, had lunch, and began to climb the steep incline, it began to hail and then pour down rain.  Ben, Samantha, and my dad were up ahead of my mom and me.  Ben spun Samantha around in her stroller so that the rain wasn't coming at her head on, and ran while pushing her up the steep incline to the top of the hill.  Luckily, there was an overhang at the top of the observation tower and people cleared the way for Ben to get the stroller protected from the rain by the overhang.  My mom and I waited underneath some trees to see if the rain would pass by, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere so my mom ended up heading back down and I ran up the rest of the way.  We were all soaking wet, except for Samantha because Ben did an exceptional job protecting her from the rain.  Nevertheless, it was an extraordinary view from the top and well worth the drama of the climb up to the top.  We will not quickly forget this memorable hike in the Smokies!

One of the best things about our vacation really was our rental cabin.  It was great to be able to go back there in the afternoons and evenings to play with Samantha, play games, and just enjoy time with each other.

Also, on Friday, March 16th, Samantha turned 10 months old.  We took our obligatory pictures of her being a monster, crawling around and attacking the sign.  You can't really tell in this third picture, but when we were all taking pictures of Samantha, it almost seemed like she was forcing herself to smile at the camera.  It's just hard to get clear pictures because she moves around so much!

Our last day there, we went out for breakfast and went downtown Gatlinburg and took a tram ride up the mountain.  Samantha was a very tired girl, but still did really well, much better than the other baby that was crying during the whole ride.

After giving our tired girl a nice long nap, we headed back towards Gatlinburg to do the Roaring Fork motor tour.  While we were on our way there, there were a whole bunch of cars pulled off on the side of the road.  We stopped as well to see what the excitement was about, and we noticed two bears.  One was walking around on the forest floor, the other was up in a tree.  Ben attempted to take some pictures, but it is kind of hard to tell what they are showing.

The serene motor tour around the mountains was the perfect conclusion to our stay in the Smoky Mountains.  I don't think I'd ever get tired of looking at the spectacular handiwork of God's creation as evidenced in the mountains.  Samantha slept great every night we were there with no problem sleeping through the night, even though we all slept in the same room.  We got her a good solid nap every day, but still had plenty of time to see the sights as well as just spend time relaxing as a family.  It will be fun, when Samantha is older, to show her pictures of her first family vacation with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandpa and Grandma Kappel.  She is such an easygoing baby, and we can't wait to expose her to more new experiences like this in the future.