On the last weekend of spring break we took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trip was very nice although a little rushed. The weather was a little wet the first day but the second day made up for it. The park straddles the North Carolina and Tennessee border and has very nice visitors centers at each entrance. We stopped at both for directions and a break. ON one end we did a little walking tour of an old homestead.
As the park is at a higher altitude there was still snow on the ground in places. It didn't stop the blooms from poking through along the road and in the hills. This was just outside the visitor's center.
Our second stop in the park was a mill just inside the park boundary. Mingus Mill has a short canal from a nearby stream which guides the water down a millrace to the mill. From there it flows down the penstock into a working cast iron turbine. Inside the miller describes and demonstrates the process of grinding corn into cornmeal. Cornmeal is also available in the mill for sale. Below is the canal and the millrace. The mill is in the background.
We arrived just as the miller was shutting down for the day. There is a video below of him shutting down the water by diverting it back into the stream.
Once he was done we had one of those magical moments when the girl stopped moving for just a few minutes and I managed to get a few good pictures of her. Here she is sitting near the millrace after the water was diverted.
At the other end of the park is a sight that would make an environmentalists (and maybe a planner's) toes curl. The town of Gatlinburg Tennessee is a sight to behold. The place is not unlike Banff or other small towns on the outskirts of major parks but it has a certain flair all its own. Some people call it Myrtle Beach-without the beach!
This is just a small taste of it. Jane has more
pictures on her blog. There were lots of restaurants and small stores and attractions. It seems to be a small the landing site of
Ripley's Believe it of Not. They have a few galleries and an aquarium. There are also lots of strange miniature golf courses. Some are indoors, some on hillsides, one is called
Hillbilly Golf and from the sidewalk it looked pretty interesting.
The hotel in Gatlinburg was fine and thankfully it wasn't too difficult finding a place that took dogs. In hindsight I think we would have left Maggie at the kennel since she wasn't allowed on the trails in the park and didn't get much out of Gatlinburg. We'll know better if there's a next time.
The second day in the park was beautiful. The Tennessee mountains are amazing and the temperature is lovely this time of year. We took in a motor trail (you drive the scenic and beautiful trail rather than walk it) and Jane read the guide as we drove through. We saw lovely waterfalls, old homes and buildings, overgrown fields and some wildlife. A group of deer slowly sauntered across the road as we were coming around a bend.
We stopped to get a few pictures while they grazed on the fresh grass in the woods.
The motor trail took us through a community frozen in time. There were old homesteads from the days before power which showed how life was in the early years before the National Park Service took over the land. Some were larger than others and showed the diversity, wealth, and difficulties of raising a family in those far off times.
As we drove through the park the second day we saw many more vistas than we had on our first trip through. We ended up retracing our steps but since we hadn't seen too much the first day anyway it was new to us.
The highest peak in the park and on the Appalachian Trail is
Clingmans Dome. It is a busy spot but we managed to find parking at the base of the trail and had a bite to eat. After lunch we headed up the very steep trail to the top. This is what we saw when we got there.
Below is a shot from the tower with the tourists on the left and the serious hikers on the right. The hikers were happy to have a dry to day dry out. It rained for four or five days before and a few after. Some had been at it for three weeks.
The ride back was uneventful and, all things considered, Isabelle did very well for being stuck in the car with her parents and the dog for about 6 hours both days. Maybe someday we'll all get to hike some of the
Appalachian Trail...
The food there was good but not as spicy as I was let to believe. There was lots to chose from including the typical tacos and burritos of all flavors. There were also some more exotic things like nopal and escamoles. I didn't have any escamoles or the stuffed grasshoppers but I was assured they were both a local delicacy and very much in season. Maybe next time. The nopal on the other hand was sweet and tender. Apparently it's all in how its prepared. It was served both in the salads I had a work and on the enchiladas I had at the restaurant. (The picture was taken at the restaurant and shows the view from the deck. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to really tour the city as we had a late day in the plant.) In the picture are my friend Ricardo's daughter, his wife, and his in-laws. Ricardo was visiting home after being in Greenville for a few weeks and showed me around a little.
The restautraunt was called El Mesón de Chucho El Roto or the house of Chucho el Roto. Apparently he was the Mexican Robin Hood. In the end was I surprised at how inexpensive the food was. The meal was less than 400 pesos. At a rate of 13 to 1 that was only about 30 dollars for three of us.
The city has a rich history and was the place where the Mexican independence movement started. It also served as the capital of Mexico on several occasions and was also where the Mexican constitution was signed. The city also has some amazing sights (although I only saw a few of them, in the dark.) There is a huge 74 arched aqueduct that runs through the middle of town. It was built by Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana for a convent to bring water from a local spring. At the site of the convent there is a huge cistern with a wall of spilling water.
Below a quick shot taken from our shuttle to the airport. As you can see it is much like other North American cities form the highway. Another thing that was interesting was how quickly we went from town to absolute barren countryside. The outskirts of town were desolate and very poor.
The climate was interesting there as well. The altitude is about 6000 ft above sea level. That means cold winters but also warm summers. When we were there we had beautiful days with almost no humidity. The maximum temperature was around 90F and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Below is a picture of the countryside flying northeast towards the Gulf of Mexico on the way home.
Apparently Queretaro has the largest single rock in Latin America. Really! Here is a shot of it from the air.
Finally, on the way home we flew right over my work. It's not much but I did get a good picture of it. It's the set of buildings at the top and to the right. As you can see it's on the edge of an industrial park. The airport below is in the middle of the park but is mainly used for military aircraft that come in for service.
Isabelle and I went to the park here in Orchard Farms the other night. It's finally getting to be warm in the evenings (I'm not boasting, really!) I was so proud of her as she finally figured out how to swing from bar to bar. She's been at it for a while and always wants me to help her. It really is amazing what she can do when she puts her mind to it. She'll be doing all sorts of great stuff at gymnastics in no time.
Coach Aaron even had them doing throw ins.
I also managed to catch some video. They are below. I think the one thing we really need to work on is not using our hands. I guess I'll have to practice with her in the back yard.
