Winter Vacation - GSMNP & Cade's Cove

 For our second adventure on this trip, we headed north. Our destination was Great Smoky Mountains National Park & Cade's Cove. It's definitely a full days trip, so that's all we planned. Mike's parents had not been there before, but we've been on both previous trips. It started out a little hairy, as our new GPS took us the wrong way! Thankfully we figured it out before it was too late. Our first stop in the park was at Newfound Gap, which is also the border between North Carolina & Tennessee.

And I'm sorry for the amount of photos, it's just so hard to narrow it down!

 

 We were excited to see more snow! However, it wasn't as thick as it had been last December. But still enough to make a snowball.

 They were climbing in search of fresh, fluffy snow.

 One thing different about this year was the trees. There was a lot more snow last year, but there hadn't been any in the trees. This time they were white! So pretty.

 I took so many pictures like this!

Once we got in to Cade's Cove, our first stop was a church. I believe this was the Methodist Church (1902).

 This is definitely the Methodist Church. I read that the reason there were two doorways was that one was for men, one for women. But that this church just borrowed the plans for their building, they didn't adhere to this.

 Then we were on to the Cable Mill (1870).

 (It's so hard to get photos of these places without tons of other people in the shot. Cade's Cove is a very busy place for being in the middle of nowhere).

 This was Dan Lawson Place I believe.

 This guy was eating out in front of the area where the mill & gift shop are. He wasn't bothered by all the traffic at all.

 This house started out as a log cabin, and later a framed addition was added on. You can see that here.

 I just love this. It would be lovely to have this in my back yard!

Once we finished exploring Cade's Cove, we headed back across the mountains. We did stop again at Newfound Gap to play in the snow a little more. 

 Time for another snowball fight!

 Layla in search of fluffy snow.

 Daddy going in for the kill - Blake has no clue!

Nonnie thought she'd be safe in the car, but that didn't stop Morgan.

If you look in the center of this photo, you can see the road we had just been on.

I absolutely love it up there in the mountains. And I cannot wait to go back! I'd love to do some more exploring, see some places we haven't seen yet. As much as I enjoy Cade's Cove, we've been three times now. There are so many other places to see in the Smokies. Hopefully next time we'll find more. Do you have any recommendations?