a G-R-E-A-T day in great smoky mountain national park

Despite the torrential downpour of rain, 

the fog obscuring our mountain views, 

and even the snow flurries that were 

proof of how cold it was, we had a great day at 

great smoky mountain national park! 

Believe it or not, the great smoky mountains is the most visited US national park. More than the grand canyon or yosemite or yellowstone. And it also happens to be one of the closest parks to me, so it's crazy that we hadn't visited it yet when it's right in my backyard. We definitely needed to remedy that, but were waiting for the timing to be right. 

autumn road trip: the blue ridge parkway

Tom and I have both been on the parkway dozens of times passing though to here or there. But this time was different. We took the long route and really enjoyed our time hiking, camping, and cruising along the blue ridge parkway. After all, it is America's best drive. 

I think driving the parkway during autumn foliage was the best timing. The leaves hadn't changed too much yet so there was still the perfect contrast of green and changing falling leaves. We overdosed on fall thanks to this road trip with the best stops along the parkway in between. 

mountain zip-lining

Every trip needs an incredible adventure to go along with it, one stand out experience that sticks with you forever. While everything we did during our camping trip was amazing, zip-lining through the Blue Ridge Mountains was easily the highlight. 

memorial day in the mountains

This past memorial day weekend was made perfect by the fact that I got to spend it with my little sister; just the two of us. It was a waterfall chasing, s'mores making, bear encountering, mountain zip-lining, hiking, camping kind of weekend.

We headed to Asheville, which is a true gem of a mountain town in North Carolina,  located right along the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. And since it's only a few hours from my parents home, it was the perfect place for us to head for the weekend. We split our time exploring Pisgah National Forest, Chimney Rock State Park, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was actually Jada's first time camping and I blame that on me. We have more than a decade between our ages. When I was little, I complained every single moment of every single camping trip. I hated it! Ironically, it's now one of my favorite things to do and I can't get enough of it. But with Jada being even more girly than me, my parents pretty much assumed Jada would hate camping too and never took her. But she loved it and was a real trooper too because we camped through one of the worst storms I've ever encountered and had some pretty close calls with black bears right outside of our tent every single night.