Day 3 - July 6 - Cades Cove, Laurel Falls and Roaring Fork

We planned to leave today to see some wild life at Cades Cove, the hottest place for wildlife. But, the alarm did not go off and we were late as usual! :( But, we were out by 7:00am. We started the trip into the mountains with a wild turkey crossing the road. A scenic drive, Cades Cove is a valley among the Smokies and awesome. It is a single path one way road weaving through the mountains, so, Dad let me have the car. We had to drive dead slow - at 10mph if we wanted to spot wildlife. Also, the roads were in pretty bad shape and were really winding. I had lots of fun driving here. The little one was upset because now there was no one to play with her. :( But, I had a great time! Dad was able to spot a little baby bear here. Later, I would see a big bear at the information office. We weren't able to get pictures of them, atleast not clearly. It was too crowded and noisy for that.

We stopped by a little stream for a snack and were soon on our way to Laurel Falls. To reach Laurel Falls, we had to hike more than a mile, but it was worth the effort. The little one was thrilled with the icy waters falling on her. She looked so cute in her little blue swimsuit, playing in the water. Even onlookers remarked that it was the most adorable sight!

We decided to finish the day with a drive to Roaring Fork. We were too tired to hike anymore, unfit as we were! Dad let me drive again here. This was even more fun as the road was narrower and more winding than earlier in the day. At one point, dad ordered me to pull over and snatched the car keys from me saying that I was endangering his life and the little one's by driving too fast. He sounded like a police officer to me!! But, it was thrilling and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It felt like going on a roller-coaster especially, when I let car go down the slope on idle and just control the steering wheel. It frightened the wits out of dad! He he he...

That completed our time in the Smokies. We were heading back tomorrow, for a short stop at Virginia to see the Luray Caverns and then straight home. Felt sad that the vacation was coming to an end! Sniff! Sniff!