Last weekend, I visited Mama and Daddy in Knoxville and had a wonderful time. On Saturday, we went hiking in the Smokies - on a trail near everyone's favorite picnic spot, the Chimney Tops. After stopping at KFC right at Pigeon Forge for lunch (We were too hungry to wait for the picnic! And everyone loved the wedge fries!), we parked our cars and headed off on the trail. Daddy handed out hiking sticks for Mama and Mrs. Kim and then found a nice, dead branch for a new one for himself. Dr. Kim, recovering well from his back surgery a couple of months ago, was quickly ascending the almost all-uphill trail, and we soon lost sight of him. It was a 4-mile roundtrip hike, and the weather was nice - not too hot and humid. Little did we know that this hike falls under the category of "strenuous", haha! It was about 99.9% uphill, including long stretches of pure incline w/ loose rocks and gnarly tree roots to maneuver around. The top of the trail looked just like the one in the warning sign that was posted at the beginning of the trail. We were all exhausted, sore and thirsty after this hike, but we had a lot of fun. On the way home, we stopped and had a tasty dinner at P.F. Chang's (Daddy's new favorite dish is their famous chicken lettuce wraps - yum!).

The Smokies were so beautiful, lush and green. The view from those scenic viewpoints was breathtaking! We're so lucky to have those mountains so close to us!!