Mostly Smoky

You may know the annoying song about a bear who climbed over a mountain only to find the other side of the mountain. I've never understood that song. If it's supposed to be ironic, I don't get it.

But during our trip to the Smoky Mountains we climbed a mountain. I think it is the third tallest in the national park, only 50 feet short of first place. For perspective, that's approximately nine Kellys. Of course, I'm not sure our legs could have made that last 50 feet.

When we got to the top, we realized that we were in a cloud. We couldn't even really see the other side of the mountain. Every once in a while we'd get an impressive glance of some of the mountains below, but then more cloud would roll in. It was cold, too. And windy.


Besides all the hiking, we participated in some other activities like standing out in a river all day with a long pole for no particular reason. Some people call this fly-fishing, but since I didn't catch anything all week, I'm not sure I feel qualified to call it fishing. Actually, I did catch one small fish. Unfortunately, it was the exact same size as my bait. I think it was trying to make a friend and got too close. Poor fish.

We also played some golf, pool, games, and "Eat the Food." Eat the food is a great game to play. Basically, you try to eat all the food you brought with you before you go home. We lost, but if I had it to do all over I wouldn't change a thing.

We also played the "see how far you can coast down a mountain without touching the gas pedal" game. It should not be confused with the slightly less-popular "see how far you can coast down a mountain without touching your brake" game. My brother-in-law Ed unofficially won with 6.5 miles, but there were no other witnesses. At least not credible ones.


We also got to hang out with our friend Gail, whom we hadn't seen since our Michigan years. Gail drove 4 hours from the other side of North Carolina to stay with us for a few days. It was great to see her again and catch up. Yay for college roommates!

Now we're back in St. Louis and back to work. And in other news, I joined facebook, so please be my friend. I promise to "like" everything you say.