Day 4

The thing about sleeping among all the giant trees in the mountains is it's really easy to sleep in!  I am usually very awake by 5:30 so I've been enjoying sleeping in until 7 every day!  We woke up to a relatively dry morning so I started a fire and the girls helped me with a breakfast experiment.  We scooped out the flesh of a bag of oranges, mixed up some muffin batter and filled the hollow rinds, wrapped them up and threw them in the fire.  Within a few minutes, we were feasting on some delicious blueberry orange muffins, oranges and bananas - thumbs up all around!

After clean up we headed out to explore the park - first top Sugarlands Visitor Center.  The kids picked up their junior ranger books and we discussed possible plans for the day.  First, we had to walk the nature trail to see the waterfall nearby.  It was small compared to some we've been lucky to see, but it was still a very nice (but crowded!) walk.

In order to get their junior ranger badge the kids needed to attend a ranger program and fortunately there was one starting in an hour on bears so we worked on their books and had a picnic.  Check out that beautiful forest!

The kids really enjoyed the program and as always I learned a few things too.  They had a real skin for everyone to touch of a baby bear that had been hit by a car.  The claws on that guy were huge!  As the program was wrapping up the afternoon downpour started so we headed inside to look around the animal exhibits and see the movie.  As it was raining, the next ranger program moved into the theater so we were treated to a history lesson on corn.  I would have opted out of that one seeing the topic on paper, but it was actually very interesting for all of us with stories of the Cherokee intertwined with a history lesson.  It was even better than the movie!

We walked outside and noticed the rain had stopped so we headed to the campsite for an early dinner so we would have more time to explore.  We headed to Newfoundland Gap then on to Clingman's Dome.

The walk up to Clingman's Dome was tough - practically straight up for a half mile - but the walk was paved and dotted with many benches for resting.  The kids felt the experience of a quick ascent into thinner air!  We weren't expecting much of a view with the weather we'd been having, but I wasn't leaving the park without at least going here.  The top was probably 60% cloudy, but I actually might prefer it that way to a clear day.  I'll just have to come back when it's clear to say for sure!

We've been having discussion about daddy long legs almost every 15 minutes as Brayden has developed a serious fear of them and now he thinks just spiders in general.  Ryan was right along with him after being "trapped" in the bathroom with Brayden screaming for me as there were several around the door. As we were walking back down the path, they spotted one so I let him walk across my hand.  That instantly changed Ryan's attitude as you know she is the animal whisperer.  Didn't totally convince Brayden though.

We took the windy road home (no incidents for Laney yet....knock on wood) and settled in with another campfire.  I grabbed supplies to pop some popcorn for the perfect warm snack before bed.  After tucking everyone in, I stayed up to do the prepacking for our departure and enjoy the fire just a bit more before bed (thanks for leaving me a beer, Dave).

Day 4 - Super education and spectacular views