The Adventure Begins

We're officially on the road! Daylight came early, and because of my excitement, once awake there was no more sleep. About an hour earlier than planned, I got up and went downstairs to the tantalizing odor of fresh coffee.  Yum! It hit the spot and my sleepy eyes began to focus.  Jessie and Adrian had been up a while and had breakfast almost ready.  When I left the bedroom, Janice was awake and moving, so  she'd be doing well shortly.  Skyler and Riley came down the stairs, excited and chattering into the kitchen nook.

Breakfast was delicious; Jessie is a great cook and we enjoyed the delicious meal.

Finishing the feast, we got the rest of our mess together and packed it away in the car.  

A few minutes later, we were speeding down the road headed west.  Traffic was moderate; I drove the speed limit since we were not in a particular hurry.  The day's agenda was to get to Sevierville TN with one significant stop to view the wild Elk in the Cataloochee Valley in far western NC.

The ride to Exit 20, where the road to the Elk reserve was located, was mostly boring Interstate.  The boys chatted a lot and played games quietly as we are up the road miles.  Occasionally there were slightly raised voices, when one got impatient or irritated at something one or other had or had not done.  But considering the amount of riding time they had to endure, they did quite well.

The road to the preserve revived all of us.  Two lane and very curvy, it wound up the mountain, gaining almost 1,200 vertical height.  The boys got increasingly excited as we went higher.  Just before the top, the road turned to dirt and gravel, which continued to the top, and then back down into the Cataloochee Valley.  Interestingly, inside the park, the toad became paved.  About 3 miles further, back to dirt again.  Guess there wasn't enough money to pave all of it....

Riding very slowly along the valley, we first saw 3 turkeys out in the field.  A little further, we spotted a big Brown animal grazing about 200 yards into the field.  Stopping and parking, we looked more closely and saw a female Elk with two calves and a bull Elk just meandering around and grazing.  Possibly a family, but in any case quite a find!  The boys were very excited, as was Gram.  Their first Elk totally in the wild.

A little further down the road, more turkeys.  As we met a car, they told us that a black bear was at the far edge of the field.  We stopped and studied the edge, and sure enough, a small black bear was moseying along, enjoying the day and eating whatever it was along the way.

Wow, lots of turkeys, 4 Elk, and a Black Bear, all in one place.  We did extremely well.  The boys, Gram, and I were satisfied and happy.

The drive back up and down the mountain went without issue, back to the Interstate, and on to Sevierville.  In a very few minutes, the boys drifted off to dreamland and we drove on to our destination in Sevierville.

Once in town, the boys woke from their sleep and we checked into the motel.  Checked in, unloaded the car, disconnected the trailer, and had dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Then back to the motel for a few minutes of swim time.  Then showers, quiet play for the boys, and then bedtime around 10pm,  a long, but memorable day.