Going to the big smoke

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Geo: 35.6473, -83.5115

Today we awoke after a quite eventful night sleep as there was a thunderstorm and the crash of the thunder woke us both up. After we checked out of the motel we headed to Mel's diner for some breakfast. Nicky had a stack of pancakes, whilst Simon had french toast - both were thoroughly tasty and prepared us for the day ahead.

Today we visited the Great Smokey Mountains National Park which was by far the largest park we had visited and had the largest crowds. After calling into the visitor centre to gain perspective and get a map of where to visit we set off on the first adventure.

The first stop was the Laurel Falls - as the car park was full we parked up at side of the road and started going. We climbed the 1.3 miles to the top of the waterfall - progressing through a scenic walk. As we got closer we could hear the roar of the waterfall. There was a bridge at the top of the fall which had the water crashing over it, but gave beautiful views even if you did get wet feet. There was a climb down to the bottom of the falls for the most adventurous explorers and as always this was Simon. The views however, made the climb and the element of danger worth it. We then descended back down the trial and back to the car.

We had read about a lovely drive up to an area called Clingmans Dome which gave you 360 degree views over the park, so we couldn't pass on that chance so drove up the 20 mile road. However once at the top, the Great Smokey Mountains lived up to their name with the fog making visibility difficult so all you could see was white! We admitted defeat and started the descent back down stopping occasionally for a magnificent view (under the fog) or for a trickling waterfall.

At the bottom, and back at the visitors centre we embarked on a short trail to see a waterfall called the Cataract Falls. This was more of a peaceful stroll on flat land but the waterfall was beautiful as always.

As we had a very long 400 mile drive to the next stop we set off on the road, stopping for dinner at Denny's before reaching our destination and checking into a motel for some sleep.

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