The Spring Break Adventure

Part 1

It's the first day of spring break for the kids and we wanted to start the break with something fun. Our first plan was to go to the beach but at the last minute we made a decision to visit the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there. I took Friday morning off at work and we headed out on Thursday night with plans to spend Thursday night in a hotel since we would be arriving around 11:00pm or so...What we hadn't planned on was that upon arrival it would be snowing.

AS a side note, we enjoy camping because it is relatively cheap entertainment that provides a breeding ground for quantity family time...And when you have "quantity" you always end the trip with abundant memories of "quality" time. It's a win-win situation...unless you weren't expecting inclement weather and you aren't exactly prepared. There is a family story my Dad tells about him and my mom. They were a young couple who decided to travel from Arizona to my mothers home town in Montana. Traveling in flip flops and tank tops in a VW beetle and they ran into a blizzard completely unprepared...well all I can say is the tradition lives on. And this "cheap" trip cost us about $300 in sleeping bags and other "keep us warm" Target expenditures in a small town in western North Carolina. The good news: You are never that far from a Target store.

When we arrived in The Great Smoky Mountain National Park it was snowing but not really sticking...Although we could see in the distance a distinct snow line where it was easily a few inches deep. Little did we know that in the course of our 48 hour stay we would be in the middle of that snow storm and that distant snow line would drop way below our little spot on the mountain!

Here are a few pictures from the first day of our adventure...