A Penny for Your Thoughts: Returning to Reality

Well, my vacation in the mountains is officially over.

I’m sure you think I’m going to brag about how much writing I have gotten accomplished. Well, I’m not. Other than the Thanksgiving post below this one and a few paragraphs here and there, nothing-nada-zilch.

I’ll be completely refreshed and full of ideas. I honestly hope the ideas start flowing. I slept like a rock more often than not – literally – not a care in the world and no pesky dreams either. Which worries me. Why am I not remembering my dreams at all? My fitbit says I’m dreaming, but anyway.

I wanted to attach a snap video of the fog outside the balcony, but it won’t support the media file. Let’s just say I can barely see the mountains behind the fog. And the people driving up and down the mountain should consider slowing down.

Things you need to do if you vacation in Sevierville:

1. Rent a cabin (preferably with a pool and further off the road).
2. Eat at Paula Deen’s. It doesn’t matter what you think of her, the food is incredible.
3. Drive around and see the sights. There’s so much to do, you won’t get it all done. Not even when you’re here for a week.
4. Take the trolley. It only costs 50 cents per person and saves you money on parking.
5. Talk to people. Talk to the locals. Talk to others vacationing. You learn some great things.
6. Don’t try to cram everything into one day.
7. Walk up Clingman’s Dome, but take water and take your breaks. It’s a hell of a climb, even for people who are in shape.
8. Make sure you make a list of things to pack prior to going to the mountains and renting a cabin – they only provide so much. (Our cabin was said to sleep 8 – which it could, but it didn’t have enough cutlery and so forth.)
9. Don’t leave your party members when on trails – they might be eaten by a bear. (I’m only somewhat joking here.)

I’m sure there are more tips that I can give you.

I plan on working things that happened into stories over time. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Like leaving ya’ll Easter eggs or something. (See, I got a lil southern on you there.)

The photo above is from Clingman’s Dome. It’s worth walking up the path (paved, by the way) to get to the viewing point. I would love to do this again earlier in the fall when the leaves are bright and colorful and sometime in early spring when they are fresh and the brightest of green.

Yes, I’ll definitely go back at some point in the future. It’ll be worth it, because I still haven’t seen everything. There are also trails here that I want to follow and see where they take me. What thoughts they might generate while wandering them.

Most people want to go to the beach and sit in the sun and sand on vacation, and while I do have plans for that in the future, this was definitely an amazing vacation. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

And now to return to reality. Back to the day job. Back to running errands. And, the best of all, back to writing. I hope you’ll continue to stop by and read all the delicious treats I have in mind. But first, laundry. There’s always laundry, even if you’ve brought home clean clothing.

More Photos from the Smoky Mountains