Hello friends and happy Monday!!! How was your weekend. Mine was really good because it was extra long. I took Thursday and Friday off to get some extra things done around the house. I made sure to add some fun things in as well.
Thursday Mark and I had some cleaning up to do around the house. We planned to move some things to the basement that we weren’t using and work on tax prep to have our taxes ready to drop off next week. We didn’t get as much done as I had hoped but we had some good walks in the sunshine with the babies.
On Friday I went to Knoxville with my sister Sandy to do a little shopping. It has been almost a year since we have had a real shopping trip. We were so excited. We had a great time. We went to our usual favorites, TJ Maxx, Target, Marshalls, and Ulta.
Saturday morning I got up kind of late for me. I was contemplating the day. I planned on doing nothing but lounging around with the fur babies on my lap. Maybe working on a couple of projects and that was about it. The sun was shining so bright like it was saying are you crazy you know you have to get out in this beautiful sunshine today. Come on Girl!!! Think about the steps you can get in today.
It was almost as if all the planets aligned when my nephew Tyler messaged me and said ” wonder what I can do today on this beautiful day?” I said ” well I have been thinking about taking a drive across the Cherohala Skyway do you want to come?” He said yes. We made plans for him to meet me at the house. I grabbed a quick breakfast and off we went.
First let me tell you about the Cherohala Skyway. The Cherohala Skyway is a 43-mile National Scenic Byway that connects Tellico Plains, Tennessee to Robbinsville, North Carolina. So half of the drive is in Tennessee and half of the drive is in North Carolina. I hate to tell you but the North Carolina roads are much nicer than the Tennessee side. There are some great spots where you can pull off the road and get some amazing photos. Of course the trees were really bare and not as beautiful as it is in the spring and fall but still a beauty all it’s own.
The National Forest Scenic Byways are roads that have been designated by the U.S. Forest Service as Scenic byways. The program was initiated in 1987.
First stop was Hooper Bald trail. It was at the very height of the Skyway, elevation 5,290 FT. There are several hikes you can do on Hooper Bald. We chose the one mile easy walk. I am at the early stages of working out so my stamina and leg muscles are not yet what they need to be for a longer hike. We made plans to come back and bring Mark and more supplies and do a longer hike. Plus Tyler was excited about bringing his friends back to the area for a longer hike.
Hooper Bald trail is a very easy trail even though the first half mile is all uphill. You come out at a beautiful meadow with no trees and wind blowing gently. It’s just so peaceful. But there are several trails in this area you can do.
We traveled on. I wanted to stop at the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. I knew there were a few hiking trails there that we could do. Joyce Kilmer is almost at the end of the Skyway coming from Tennessee. There are a couple of different hikes you can do at Joyce Kilmer although the easier trail was closed for trail repair. We did the longer one that was over two miles.
We then drove the 43 miles back over the skyway and stopped in Tellico Plains to get a late lunch.
A great day, I got to spend time with Tyler, it’s always interesting to hear the thoughts of an eighteen year old. I got lots of sunshine and steps in for the day. I had over 12,000 steps recorded for the day.
On Sunday I did the usual laundry, catching up on email, knitting, watching some TV and doing some baking for the upcoming week. And I was soooooo tired from the hike on Saturday.
But alas, 5:00 AM came quickly this morning and I had to return to work. Remember when I said a four day work week would be great? Well I change that to a three day work week. That would be really awesome!! It would give you lots of time to catch up around your house and have some fun too.
So how was your weekend? I hope you got to get out and enjoy the sunshine.
I almost forgot. Starting Wednesday I am adding a post called Wordless Wednesdays. You know how I love to take pictures and share them and this will be a way to just share photos and nothing else. Let me know what you think when you see the first post on Wednesday.
Have a wonderful week.
Always remember
Love your day your way!!
Southern Patches 