Bears, Elk, and Back Home Again

Well, I almost got a picture of a bear this morning!  We were on our way back through the mountains, and we spotted a few off to the side up the hill, but the tree covering was pretty heavy.  We all saw the bears, but didn't get the camera in time.  And that's okay - we're happy we saw some wild bears this morning.  In fact, we saw elk too!

This elk was just right next to the road, all by itself further up the road a bit, just enjoying some of the foliage there.  It was a good and easy ride back home today.  We started out with a nice breakfast at the courtyard again, though not the big breakfast we've been having lately.  Part of that is the ginormous meal we had last night with the dinner show.  But we ate enough, and the weather was just so nice out there at the courtyard again.  We saw Santa again at his sea there on the first floor, and had a short conversation with him.  He was thanking us for staying there, and we told him we had a great time here.  We packed up afterwards, saying goodbye to our rooms and the hotel itself.  We said our prayers, and got ourselves moving back south again, against the flow of traffic.  Lots of Memorial Day folks on their way this direction for vacation.  We timed it perfectly with crowds, prices, and even the weather.

We stopped a few times on the way back, including the view from the top at a few of our usual places like the Tennessee-North Carolina state line, and a bit further in the park along a great viewpoint.  You could see the thick clouds really helping remind us of the title of the park:  Great Smoky Mountains.

We stopped in Cherokee on the way back, a quick stop for fries and the restroom, really.  But we ran into some folks that go to Free Chapel, and that was fun.  We made our way further south without any incident, making it next to the Blueridge Honey Company there.  We got some things for Nana, and some local honey for ourselves.  And we were happy to sample some of the interesting types of honey they had there, plus say hi to the bees.  

We've been listening to some ministry messages on the way home, much from Perry Stone and John Kilpatrick, plus a few archival CDs of Garrison Keillor.  That helped make the trip home go much faster.  It was thicker traffic closer to home, but we got there smoothly and were ready for a quick meal at home... some unpacking... and then back on the road again.  Crazy, but I got Maddie to taekwondo tonight.  True story - she had her two hours or so of classes tonight.  It's been pouring rain outside.  She did well tonight, but it's always a crazy thing coming back from vacation.  This morning we were enjoying breakfast at the Inn at Christmas place, and now we're here practicing for two hours with taekwondo. 

Anyway, we got home and were understandably tired.  We watched a few episodes of "Monk" and were on our way to sleep after prayers, and tucking in the Plush Entourage.  It's been a good day.