Austin to Smoky Mountains National Park

Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Fred,
Poor Austiner barely kept a-stand his shed,
Then one day he was nappin' and a-dreaming,
Said come on hon' let's do a little streamin'

Airstreamin' that is,
Bambi style, Eastcoast bound

So we loaded up the Ford F-150 pretty much exactly like the Clampetts except with the Bambi in tow instead of Granny and headed out east not so much to check out hillbillies per se just some actual hills, like the Smokies and the Adirondacks.  The truly sad part about comparing myself to the Clampetts is that I now realize I am probably closer in age to Granny than Ellie Mae.

But first, we made an overnight stop right outside Little Rock, Ark. at an RV spot right next to the Arkansas River.  Nothing special about the place except that it was within walking distance of the Clinton Presidential Library and downtown Little Rock.

Just gettin' started, look how sparkly, shiny the Bambi is

A quick jog over the Arkansas River to the Presidential Library

The library was definitely worth a visit but Fred and I were scratching our heads over the dinosaur exhibit.  I mean nothing defines the Clinton administration quite like the Mesozoic Era???

Any Monica exhibits inside?  Hey, settle down now

Touring libraries without books can really work up an appetite so we went in search of dinner.  A quick tour of a two block area yielded fried pickles, fried catfish, fried grits, fried hushpuppies, fried pies and......wait for it.

Fried Salad

Don't ever change Arkansas

Arkansas to Huntsville, Alabama

We spent three lovely days with my sister and her family touring around Huntsville visiting the botanical gardens and space museum and provisioning for the upcoming Smoky Mountain National Park portion of the trip.

Botanical Garden was bursting with field of wildflowers

They were having a lego exhibit with some pretty over the top projects like life sized buffalo and giant hummingbirds and butterflies but these were my favorite.

 Huge lilly pads with koi and frog

Fred visited the Space Museum while I shopped for antiques with my sister.  This was his favorite of all the rockets, space shuttles, jet engines, etc.

Airstream mobile quarantine facility

Enjoyed the hell out of our visit with the fam, well until I found this on my sister's bookshelf.

Very funny, sister dear

Huntsville to Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Day 1

Vacation 2015 is on in earnest and with that comes the most awesome responsibility of the trip.

The photographing of Fred in front of signs

Our first order of business was to buy a tee shirt, pick a campsite, make dinner and pick a hike for early the next morning.  Not too early though, because despite what you might have learned in Biology class it isn't language that separates us from the lower vertebrates, it's a tidy camper and a well-made bed.

Campsite Picked

 Cowboy casserole for dinner

Easy hike to Laurel Falls

Laurel Falls

I have a theory about waterfalls.  Recent finds in the fossil record indicate that human beings are patently incapable of not photographing water tumbling down rock slopes.  Even if you have photos of hundreds of waterfalls and don't plan on taking another one you will do it anyway.  You'll look at it and think nah it's not that impressive but then the waterfall will whisper to you and you will slowly raise your camera, every. single. time.

Here is further proof, these girls were photographing a small rivulet of water pouring out of what was basically a large culvert.  Resistance is futile.

Fred, thinking to himself do I really need another waterfall photo.  Yup you do.

Day 2

The most important thing about hiking in any National Park is get up and go as early as you can stumble out of bed and stagger to the trail head otherwise you will be cursing the lack of a parking space and dealing with crying kiddos and exasperated parents trying to force them to enjoy the great outdoors dammit.

So Fred dragged me up the Chimney Tops trail which pretty much looked like this for a thousand steps straight up.

Fred scrambled like a goat up to the tippy top but I chickened out on the last part and sat on a log instead eating cheez-its and taking pictures of birds and flowers.

Uh, no not happening

That's the north end of a south bound goat

This is what I'm told the view looks like on top

Some random, unsuspecting birds and flowers I was able to sneak up on while Fred was crawling over rocks.

Bluets

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Canada Warbler

Day 3

Our last day in the park we took a walk along a nature trail that winds through some of the old farms that the government bought up in the 1930s to make the park.  

Jed says come and sit a spell

I can picture myself by this fireplace, in a rocking chair with a cozy fire, dinner cooked from crops that I planted out back.  Of course, I can also picture myself freezing to death in winter because I probably couldn't start that fire without a butane lighter and if that rocking chair didn't come from Pottery Barn and the dinner didn't arrive by delivery, starvation and sitting on the floor might also be in that picture.

These are tiger and pipevine swallowtail butterflies sucking up salt on a river bank

No way Fred, I insist that we start at the beginning of the trail

I guess Atmospheric Haze National Park was already taken or didn't have the same ring to it.

We loved the Smokies and I wish we had more time here, but we have countless waterfalls to photograph and miles to go before we head back home.

Next up, Asheville, North Carolina.

Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park

For those of you who are heavy drinkers, let's recap a bit.  When I last posted we were way over in Nevada at Great Basin National Park.  Now we are in Moab, Utah.  Well, technically I'm home in Austin at this point in my pajamas watching Housewives of Atlanta but not so very long ago I was in the wilds of the desert outside Moab.

Moab, it's so nice to see you again it's been forever, like 10 years.  Um, you've changed.  I mean, don't get me wrong you still look great and all but gee, you have gotten kinda big.  Last time we met, you were small and kinda quaint.  Now it's like you've entered your teenage years, you're noisy and not very fun to be around.

So we only went in to town for dinner and supplies and mostly hung out at the two national parks we came to see.

First up, Canyonlands National Park.

It might appear to be a quiet place to contemplate the universe. breathe in the solitude, and it is, until you turn around.

Tourists arrive by the bus load and line the rim all along the canyon wall.  Some places had people lined up to take the exact same photo.

How big was that rattlesnake, Fred?

After the four boxes of Chez-Its I had this trip I think I'll have to choose a different route

Yes, Fred we've all heard the story of the rattlesnake that bit you

Not to worry, you won't be alone if you get lost out here.  This guy and his scorpion friends will keep you company till the mountain cats come to drag away your parched bones

Doesn't this make you want to order up an Acme rocket and some roller skates

A nice rock for the front flower bed

From the distant mesa the looming shadow grows

I guess I shouldn't have eaten that peanut butter sandwich and large bag of potato chips before my hike

Ah, water in the desert.  Well, if you want a mouth full of temporary pond organisms.

Back in the day, Fred would have made me hike this

Now I just sit and look over the edge

Hurry up and take the picture, I'm thirsty

We tried to get a camping spot in the National Park but it was a no go for both Canyonlands and Arches.  Just too crowded.  So, we stayed at an RV place that was right next to a great running/hiking trail and just a couple of miles from Arches.

Not bad for a little morning hike right outside our camp spot

Fred ran, I watched him run

Here's the money shot from Arches

Unfortunately, we had to hit Arches late in the afternoon so we had to hustle to get any shots at all before the sun went down.  We have been here before so we did not hike out to the Arch this time.  Plus, it's so crowded these days it's hard to get a shot without people crowding the frame.

There are plenty of other grand views in the park though.  Like this one.

It's fun to watch the shadows creep up this massive wall, just ask the two little kids that were behind us crying with excitement the whole time

Bristlecone pine?  Please, you people are not paying attention at all

Illegal aliens

Because we are experienced backpackers, we began to notice the subtle signs that the day was ending.

Since we got cheated out of our night skies at Great Basin, we decided to have a night time picnic at Arches.  Actually, that's not totally true.  We misjudged the time and lack of picnic tables in the park and did not end up cooking our dinner till well after the sun went down.  We were the only ones in the picnic area which was fine except the ranger told us that a bear and mountain lion had both been seen there that afternoon.  It's hard to enjoy your glass of wine and the night sky when there is sizzling meat in a frying pan, total darkness and a mountain lion in the vicinity.

I'm including this last shot of us at a roadside stop because of what happened right after we pulled back on to the road.  We stopped to take a picture of this:

Not sure if you can see, but behind me is a guy on a motorcycle.  He pulled out onto the road and we watched as he nearly got creamed by a car.  It was really close.  It was one of those "oh, my God he almost ate it" kind of moments.  He pulled over just as we pulled on to the road.......and nearly got creamed by a speeding semi that was laying on his horn.  But then it got weird because the guy in the semi kept slowing down in front of us and if Fred tried to pass he would cross the yellow line so we could not see around him.  Eventually he lost interest in us and sped up but not before I shot him the finger.....under the dashboard.

We spent our two last nights in Taos, NM and Lubbock, TX respectively.  We timed the Lubbock stop perfectly as a big storm moved in just as we pulled off the road into our camping spot for the night.  Fred was pretty pooped after driving all day and we needed to get our head wrapped around the fact that another long trip out west was at an end.

To sum up:

Miles Traveled - Over 5,500

Most Expensive Gas - $4.30/gallon

Best Part - Toss up between bristlecone pines and Oregon's beaches

Biggest Bummer - Missing the night sky at Great Basin NP because of rain

Next up?  I think we may head east but first we have to get the Bambi out of the hospital she needs a new circuit board and some much deserved down time.