We had read that this weekend was a good opportunity to see peak fall color at the high elevations in the national park. We had also read that this is when everyone else knows this and to expect big traffic, so we had planned to delay our park tour until Monday. We loaded up and went to visit the Gallmans at their campsite and the kids enjoyed playing in the camper. The plan was to take the kids to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, close to town, easy to get to, not as many people, and several old homesteads and farm buildings where they could play. We headed that way and stopped at Ogle Place, an old farm cabin and barn located just before the start of the motor trail. While there, a family pulled up in their car with steam billowing from under the hood, and of course the guys wanted to talk about radiators and other man-such things, so we hung around until they got out of their car. The gentleman was unconcerned with the steam, said he was aware of a pinhole in the radiator and everything was fine, but had we seen the snow on Newfound Gap Road this morning? SNOW? After walking around the Ogle Place in the mud and rain, we decided snow sounded like a much better option. We headed into the park and stopped at my favorite visitors center for a pit stop and some shopping, and then we ate our lunches in the car while driving to Newfound Gap. We enjoyed the spots of fall color we were seeing and then suddenly it was snowing. And then we crossed some elevation line and there was snow EVERYWHERE, a few inches on the ground and on the trees. We stopped to walk around in it and take pictures, but Dennis was asleep. He woke up after we'd been there a few minutes and was crying pitifully. We asked him if he wanted to get out, and he said he did, but still he whined. He saw the snow and was still crying until David asked him if he wanted to go throw a snowball at Ellen. The tears disappeared and were replaced by big giggles. He did indeed throw a snowball at Ellen through her open car window and when she screamed, he giggled and then said "sorry, Ellen", and then he happily tasted the snow and played with his Daddy with the snow-laden tree branches. It was magical, really, because I had been wishing to see snow this winter, and I knew that after getting snowed in twice on vacations last winter that David would not be participating in any winter vacations that held the remotest possibility of snow. This was enough to make everything beautiful, bright fall colors on the lower mountains against sugary white evergreen trees on the higher peaks. But it didn't snow down lower where our cabin is, and it didn't mess up any roads, and we have plenty of food, so snow today was just a wonderful surprise instead of an inconvenience.
Though it doesn't compare to our morning, we also had a nice evening shopping in Pigeon Forge, and the kids both ended up in the Gallmans' van. They chatted and sang and we had a wonderful time, Ellen and I, driving them around the outlet places and back up to the cabin. They will go home tomorrow, and we have sure enjoyed vacationing with them. The kids' enjoyment of this wonderful place was certainly heightened by the opportunities they had to play together.
Click on the movie below (play button below picture) to watch Dennis' commentary.
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