Hello Friends,
On Tuesday, April 26th we left Beaver, West Virginia where we stayed for three days while we explored New River Gorge national park We went back to Litle Beaver State Park and took a nice walk, a little over two miles, around the man-made lake that started near the entrance.
On the backside of the lake, we happened across a Robin that had managed to get itself tangled in a piece of monofilament fishing line. It was struggling mightily to get loose but appeared to be weakening, so Mom tried to free it from certain death. She couldn't untangle the fishing line, so Dad tried, but finally had the break the line with his teeth to release the poor bird.
We really enjoyed the walk and liked the spillway at the end of the lake near the parking lot.
We drove over 285 miles South to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we spent the night in a hotel right in the city, just outside of the entrance to the national park.
On Wednesday, April 27th, we drove down the road to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
After stopping at the Visitor's Center we decided to take a nice hike on Gatlinburg Trail. A nice creek runs right alongside the 2-mile trail that winds its way back to the city.
This is one of the only trails that cute puppies like me are allowed on in the park. The ranger's told us that dogs are not allowed on most of the trail because there have been problems with wildlife, sometimes the dogs bother the wildlife, and sometimes the wildlife has caused a problem for the dogs (Bears, Elk, and Coyotes attack dogs).
Then we drove around Roaring Fork Nature Loop Road hoping to spot some so Mom could take some pictures of wildlife. The mountain road was very narrow, windy, and steep in many places, making both Dad and Mom nervous and uncomfortable. There was another tunnel through the mountain near the beginning of the road.
After lunch at a picnic area, we drove several miles away to try another Nature Byway trail, called Cade's Cove Loop Road. Mom said she hoped we would see a bear there, but Dad was skeptical and said he doubted that we would see any bears. Well of course, just after he said that aloud, we spotted a black bear at the edge of the woods, about 500 yards from the road.
Mom quickly got out her camera and long-range lens to snap some photographs of the bear. To her surprise, the viewfinder brought into focus a mother bear and her three cubs playing in the field at the edge of the woods.
The rhododendrons were beautiful everywhere we went in the park.
Unfortunately, there we very few places that cute puppies like me were allowed to go, the crowds were getting larger, and we were told that starting May 1st park visitors would need an appointment, so we decided to move on to the next place we plan to visit.
Tomorrow we will drive across the state of Tennessee to Memphis, over 400 miles, a long day in the car for all of us😃.
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