Visit with the Zaklan’s – pt 2

While in Gatlinburg, we enjoyed the Smoky Mountain National Park. We drove out to Cade’s Cove (a scenic loop where you can often see wildlife). On the way there, we traditionally stop at a bend in the river to stretch our legs and skip some rocks.

 

Luke and Savannah are great buds. Hadden and Ethan are, too.

This time, we had an added twist to our usual fun stop. There was a person there who had an inner tube with a bottom in it. He offered it to us to enjoy going down the rapids with the kids. He assured us that we wouldn’t get wet and that it was impossible to tip it over. John, Savannah and I went first (Hadden declined). It was fun, although we did get a little wet from the splashing.

 

Teresa and her boys went next. The picture below is of her second trip. Her first trip was with John, Luke and Ethan. Let’s just say that they proved the whole “impossible to tip” thing wrong. I’m not sure how quickly Luke or Ethan will sign up for river rafting again, but John and Teresa went for another run. They were troopers!

  

Almost all of us at the entry to the park.

Tailgating prior to doing Cade’s Cove loop. We saw several deer – this one is a little buck – look closely for the velvet on his horns.

Since we all couldn’t fit in one vehicle and the max speed through the loop is 20 mph, we loaded everyone into the back of the truck. This was one of the highlights for the kids – they loved it. Thankfully, the weather cooperated, too.

Incredible scenery throughout the loop.

 

After we got back to the visitor center, we divided up. Some went to the Arts and Crafts loop, and others were planning to head up to Clingman’s Dome. It started to rain, so those going to the dome just returned to the cabin instead. These beautiful hydrangeas were near some of the stores. The shoe pile kind of speaks for itself :)