大烟山国家公园

Here it is now: our long-awaited destination, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - affectionately known as the 'Smokies'.

We arrived at our cabin (a wooden cabin on a mountain) in the evening, which was easy to find with the help of GPS and the description provided by the cabin rental company. Now it was time to have the password ready for the door and then for the alarm system. The alarm immediately went off when we entered the cabin... Entered the password and peace returned. Thank goodness, because that thing was super loud.

We quickly brought our luggage inside, then went back to Pigeon Forge to stock up on groceries for the coming days at Walmart. It's always extremely difficult to resist all the cakes and other unhealthy goodies. So, in addition to meat and salad for grilling in the evening and ingredients for breakfast, a bunch of other snacks unfortunately also ended up in the shopping cart. $100 poorer (after all, we're also here for a whole 2 days; we need a lot), and tired, we returned to the cozy cabin. We postponed testing the hot tub until the next day. So, I disappeared into the jacuzzi with a glass of wine, and Stefan played a game of billiards against his imaginary friend. I don't know who won. But after I beat him at billiards, we spent some time cozying up in front of the fireplace.

The next morning, the first thing we did was relax in the hot tub. From here we had a nice view of the next mountain. However, we expected and hoped for a wider view of the mountains. Well, it was still nice anyway.

After a delicious breakfast (something different than pancakes, waffles, and muffins), we explored the area around our cabin. We strolled in the sunshine and 25°C to a small creek nearby, whose sound we could already hear from our balcony. We noticed that some trees were scorched and houses were burned down nearby. These are still signs of a major forest fire in November 2016. Probably caused by carelessness and the extreme dryness, the fire raged for several days in Gatlinburg and the forests. 40 people died and dozens of houses were burned down. Even entire hotels fell victim to the flames. Now many houses are being rebuilt.
Then we explored a larger area by car. There was a road, the Newfound Gap Road, that went through the Smokies to Newfound Gap. There were hiking trails branching off from the road. We parked the car here and there and walked a bit through nature. Many smaller and larger streams invited us to linger and naturally provided beautiful photo opportunities. It was just a fantastic feeling to be out in the Smokies. A huge contrast to Chicago. Stefan had a lot of fun looking for fish and dreamed of standing in the currents with his fishing rod. After a few hours, we reached Newfound Gap. The Newfound Gap Road is a road that connects Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina, and is almost 53km long. There was a lot going on at New Found Gap. A large parking lot provided space for everyone who wanted to enjoy the view of the Smokies from here. Of course, the border between the states of Tennessee and North Carolina is also a small attraction, marked by a wooden sign.

From up here, we had a suuuuper view of the Smokies. Even at this height of 1,539m, it was still summery warm, so wearing short clothes was more than appropriate. But it was funny that there was still a big pile of snow there. After a while, we started the journey back because we needed to get a few things and wanted to spend the evening chilling and grilling.

On day 2, we were awakened in the morning by a beeping sound that seemed to come from the alarm system every 4 seconds. It was a bit annoying, but not so dramatic that we felt the need to find the disarming instructions. So, I disappeared into the hot tub, and Stefan played billiards. I came back in wearing only a towel and closed the balcony door behind me when suddenly the alarm system started beeping at an ear-splitting volume. Stefan raced down the stairs, and we looked at each other panicking. What was going on? It didn't take 2 minutes for the phone to ring, and a quiet voice asked through a crackling receiver if everything was okay. I explained the situation, but I had difficulty understanding the lady. 1. The voice on the phone was too quiet. 2. The crackling in the receiver was too loud. And 3. the wailing and beeping of the alarm system were unbearable. It strained our nerves so much that we couldn't remember where we had put the folder with the passwords. While I painstakingly noted down the phone number given to me on the phone, Stefan finally found the folder in the car. Thank goodness!! The password brought us peace again, and I didn't have to make another call with this crackling phone.

After this scare, we got ready and started with a drive along the food mile in Pigeon Forge. Since it's very spacious, you don't walk along it. It would probably take half an hour to pass 4 locations. So, boring..

Therefore, we drove to a few souvenir shops (I was, of course, successful; Stefan endured it) and stopped at curious buildings like the Titanic and the upside-down house. After a few snapshots, it was time to go back into nature again. We hiked along a creek that was very idyllic despite its relative proximity to the road. The temperatures didn't climb as high today as they did the day before (only about 17°C), but the sun shone tirelessly.

In the late afternoon, we drove back to Gatlinburg to walk up and down the streets that were built solely for tourists. It sometimes felt like being at a fair. Music and voices were coming from speakers everywhere. It may be too much for some people and way too touristy. But I found it quite exciting there and couldn't get enough of all the shops and attractions.

I had planned to go on a white water rafting tour in the Smokies. So, we went to all the offices that offered these tours. I wanted to book a tour for the next morning. However, they were all closed or unattended. We drove past several times to catch an employee. Unfortunately, in vain. The stores didn't open, and I didn't get to go on the rafting trip. Very, very sad. I also bought rafting-compatible shoes in the morning... They now take up space for other things that I... um, of course, absolutely and urgently need... um.

Well... For the evening, we had the full program of cabin amusements: grilling, billiards, beer, and hot tub. Two beautiful days in the Smoky Mountains came to an end. But we will meet again!