The Cherohala Skyway Drive

Well, we finally got up and motivated, packed a lunch, got the dogs in the car, and started on our drive about 9 a.m. We decided to head about 50 miles up and over the mountains to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, have lunch, and return. Our trip started at about 1,000 ft. above sea level in TN and topped out at 5,377 ft. at Santeetlah Point in NC. The views were fantastic as we wound through the mountains and shared the road with hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts. Apparently this drive and one further up the road called The Tail of the Dragon are a biker's dream! We started talking to a couple of the riders at one of the lookouts and thought our biker friends in AZ would enjoy this picture.

While we learned many things on this day trip, perhaps the most amazing is that with the exception of the Amazon River basin, the Southern Appalachian Mountains represents the richest and most biologically diverse ecosystem on earth. To think that this area was almost laid barren in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by large timber companies magnifies the vision that President Teddy Roosevelt had to create protective lands throughout the country. As you gaze down the vistas, the number of different tree species literally boggles the mind. While having lunch, we truly got to feel what it was like to experience being under a large canopy of trees. Direct sunlight never hits the ground, and the earth is moist with moss growing and bugs crawling.

Our picnic lunch at the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest allowed us time to reflect on the true beauty and diversity that surrounded us.

No plants living or dead may be cut or removed from this area of the forest. Although we chose not to take the 2 mile hike, we were still able to enjoy many of the things this area has to offer from our picnic table, including a small stream a few feet away.

Mikey and Abby thoroughly enjoyed checking out the area as well as only dogs can...by sniffing all the new and fascinating smells!

The nice thing about not being tied to a schedule is that we can avoid the weekend crowds by just hanging out in our new home. So our weekend will be spent getting better organized, doing the laundry, and just plain relaxing. We would like to leave you with a poem written by Joyce Kilmer.

"I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast.

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree."