Clingman’s Dome

Sunday, after Madison’s fun but exhausting Halloween Sleepover party on Friday/Saturday, we needed some peace and quiet. (Come to find out, when you send six 12 year old girls to bed at an already questionably unhealty hour, they don’t actually put their heads down on their pillows and lay still and quiet, until they fall asleep!  Who knew?)

So we took a drive up to Clingman’s Dome.

It took a little over an hour to get there but the drive was breathtaking!  The colors were so vibrant.  I think the Smokey Mountains have provided some of the most beautiful scenic spots I’ve ever seen.   Madison and I took over 300 pictures of the landscape!  (I think 20 were mine…)

Wes took pictures of me looking at the landscape.  Hehee

 

Once we got to the top of the mountain, the trees were not as colorful.  In fact, lots of them are dead. (Insect imported from Europe and these trees have no natural defense…  So sad.)

It’s a half mile hike to get to the “dome” after you park.  It was steep! But the path was paved and we got there in no time.  It was a beautiful 360 degree view for as far as you could see.  Depending on the air quality, that can range from 20 to 100 miles.

Luckily for us, it was a clear day!  When we hiked back to the parking lot, the sidewalk was lined with people jumping on the opportunity to catch the sunset on this beautifully clear evening!  My camera felt rinky dink compared to these things so I took a picture of THEM and then we left for home.  🙂

Actually, before we left we got a couple family pictures.

We brought our tripod and remote so we could take our own family pics for our Christmas cards this year but I forgot that the attachment to connect the camera to the tripod had been put on another camera.  Luckily an  older couple had to sit on the bench nearby to rest so I asked if she would do the honors.

She was so cute.  She kept saying, “This is so fun, I’ve got to get myself a nifty camera like this!”  I might have been nervous she might bolt with mine but for the walker she had to release to hold the camera!  (JK,  She totally didn’t have a walker!)

Unfortunately, there was no mirror in the vicinity…  It’s a cute pic but not really Christmas card worthy.

 Although, it was a complete miracle that we remembered to bring the camera with us on this little adventure as we so often forget – so it probably will be our Christmas card picture!

I like this one too.

And my absolute favorite picture of the day!

Thanks for indulging me in a post that has absolutely nothing to do with Sawdust or Paper Scraps today!  All work and no play… makes me very cranky so we TRY to have project free weekends as often as possible!   🙂  I hope you had a great weekend too!

Tomorrow I’m sharing tips on drywall patching.  Don’t forget it’s Trick Or Tip Week and today’s Tip is presented by Jenna of SAS Interiors.  Go check it out and I’ll see you here, tomorrow!