Getting back to blogging after not posting for almost 2 weeks is one of my least favorite tasks to tackle...but I'll do it anyway. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of our week o' vacation:
Saturday, 6/13 - Sean and Tonia (and Asher and Cooper!) dropped us at Fontana Dam and left us to be eaten alive by bugs, ahem, I mean...enjoy our time in the Great Outdoors. By the end of our first (half)day of hiking, we went 6 miles and I had the beginning of what would turn out to be massive blisters on my heels.
Sunday, 6/14 - Aaron and I hiked from campsite 113 to Spence Field Shelter. The (not-so-accurate) trail map said our hike that day was 11 miles. The Ranger said it was 12(ish). The trail signs said it was 13. We think it was actually closer to 14. When I finally got to take my boots off that evening, this is what my feet looked like:
Oh...and somehow during the day I managed to get a bunch of chigger bites on my lower back and legs. Ugh.
Monday, 6/15 - Aaron and I survived our first night in a shelter...but not without being woken up at 2am by turkeys "gobbling" and mice chasing each other. We started the day's hike at 9:30am feeling refreshed and optimistic...but that only lasted for the first 8 miles or so. When we arrived at a sign at 3pm that told us we had another 5.2 miles to hike (instead of 2.5 miles like we thought) before we reached our shelter, I melted down. Tears flowed and frustration took over. My feet hurt. I had new, painful blisters forming on my shoulders and hips. I twisted my knee earlier in the day and I was trying to pretend like it didn't hurt. My back felt like it might crack in half from the 33 pounds of stuff I was carrying in my pack. But, somehow, Aaron talked me through the entire 5.2 miles and we made it to Siler's Bald Shelter. After inspecting my blisters, chigger bites, swollen right knee, and other hiking wounds, Aaron suggested that we bail out at Clingman's Dome the next day. I, of course, didn't even want to entertain that idea. I didn't want to quit...and I wanted to hike the entire 70 miles...even if I had no feet to walk on by the time I got there. My stubbornness was overruled by my husband's better judgement and he decided that we would, in fact, end our trip at Clingman's Dome the next afternoon for the benefit of my health (and his sanity, I'm sure).
Tuesday, 6/16 - Aaron and I made the leisurely hike (only 5 miles!) from Siler's Bald to Clingman's Dome. It was (by far) the most beautiful day of hiking during our trip and it was nice to see something other than, well, trees while we walked. We made it to Clingman's Dome (a total of approximately 35 miles of hiking in 3 days!) by 3pm and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching tourists pass by as we played Phase 10 and watched the sun fall on the horizon. Aaron's Dad arrived at 8pm to pick us up and he shuttled us to our 4Runner that we had dropped off at a ranger station near Davenport Gap the previous Saturday. Aaron and I went back to his parents' house in Simpsonville, SC for the best shower I've had in my entire life and an evening of uninterrupted sleep in a bed.
Wednesday, 6/17 - We slept. All day. Seriously. We woke up to eat at 10am, went back to sleep at 11am, and woke up to eat again at 2pm. Now that's what I call vacation!
Thursday, 6/18 - Aaron and I left Simpsonville and were home by noon. We relaxed at our house for most of the day and decided that we would take a spontaneous trip to Asheville, NC the next day.
Friday, 6/19 - Aaron purchased (online) 1 night in a super-cheap hotel in Asheville, I threw some clothes in a bag, and we left our house at noon. We got to Asheville by 1:30 and ate lunch at Doc Chey's Noodle House. We walked around the city, visited some really weird stores, listened to the community band play for a bit, and then went to eat hummus and have a drink at the Jerusalem Garden Cafe. Before we headed back to our hotel for the evening, we visited the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for some South American dark chocolate truffles, a homemade citrus agave and ginger soda, and a beer float (Pisgah a-la-mode)!
Saturday, 6/20 - We checked out of our hotel at 11am and went downtown to eat at the Mellow Mushroom (one of our favorite restaurants EVER!). Aaron likes the Mellow Mushroom for its snobbish beer menu. I like it for its hummus and salads. We left for home at 2:30pm and spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry and preparing to go back to work on Monday.
SO. There you have it. Our vacation didn't go exactly as planned, but we had a blast and enjoyed each other's company for a solid 9 days straight. It's just what I needed before kicking off a busy summer with the boys!
Stay tuned for some photos of a few cuties I photographed before leaving for vacation last week! You'll want to kiss their faces and pinch their cheeks...I promise!
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