We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with many blessings. Did everyone get what they wanted? We sure hope so. If you are in the Southern Appalachians then you got an extra special treat on Christmas morning much like we did here. We awoke on Christmas morning with about one and a half inches of snow on the ground. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first White Christmas for this area in several years. For me, it was the first that I can distinctly remember. Considering that I was originally a city boy from New Orleans, snow was not a regular occurrence.
We got another one to two inches Christmas night and it continued snowing off and on throughout the next day. Matter of fact, we tried our luck in the early afternoon hours of the 26th and decided we would head towards Townsend, TN. It would have been nice to have made it into Cades Cove in the Smokies to capture a bit of this winter wonderland through Wifey's camera.Unfortunately, by the time we hit the first part of the foothills the snow was coming down really heavy and we decided driving conditions were unlikely to improve. Good thing we did. Some areas in the Smokies received over a foot of snow! Tourists have been "trapped" for days - but conditions are improving now. Temps have warmed and there is rain in the forecast.
In any case, we stopped at I.C. King park on the way back through. Robin was able to get out and snap a couple shots at the pier before she determined that any significant time outside on the river would likely cause important appendages to freeze and fall off. So we called in food and headed home.
Our uneventful trip became very eventful though once we got our food. We'd received a call from home. Weather conditions were worsening. The roads were "turning white." Kiddo asked if her cuz (Kiddo 2) could spend the night, and since it was on the way home (typically), we agreed to pick her up. By the time we started towards her house, the snow was coming down around us and every mile closer the roads were getting whiter and whiter. I'm not sure how we got up the hill to her house and back down but Wifey did it. She is used to this stuff, or at least, she's got more experience in it than I do.
The drive home was a very slow one. The roads were getting pretty slick with snow and ice, and we ended up having to take the long way around just to avoid the backroads. Luckily though we made it home, safe and sound, and indulged in some "After Christmas Laziness." No shopping for us! Santa brought us more than we could have ever needed.
Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin
