Great Smoky Mountains Day 2

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It rained all night. In the morning we drove to Visitor Center and asked for Junior Ranger books which once again weren't sent with the materials I requested. Due to being over 13, we got a “not so junior ranger” flyer which requires attending three ranger events. It turns out we couldn't make three events, so this is another park that we didn’t get badges for. Junior Ranger requires participants (usually kids, but sometimes adults) to do activities to get familiar with a park. They usually require attending one ranger activity. When you are done you get sworn in as a Junior Ranger by a park ranger and get a plastic or wooden ranger pin. I have all of the pins from the other parks we've visited through the years in frames for the kids. We did boring stuff like laundry during the day.

Drove back to Adventure Bound for showers. Unfortunately, when we got there a tree had fallen and power was out so we couldn’t shower (pumps weren’t working). So we decided to wait because we had driven half an hour to get there. After our showers we ate at Trish’s Country Diner (on my sister Trish’s birthday) and passed Cobbly Knob resort which we thought was a funny name. Did laundry then drove to Clingman’s Dome along the Newfound gap. It was very foggy (pea soup was mentioned a few times) so our visibility was poor. We hiked part of the Appalachian Trail! At night we finally taught Maggie Euchre! It is awesome that the four of us can now play!! Rick and Maggie won.

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Photos

Trish's Diner
We ate at Trish's Diner on my sister Trish's birthday