Back to the Mountains!

Kayla Richerson
May 9, 2022
2 min read

Our journey through the Rockies last year was grand and unforgettable.

After a winter in Florida though (aka the flattest/hottest place in the US), we were ready for some mountain air.

This time, a more familiar range, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Ah, many a vacation we’d had here. Now after seeing the Rockies, we knew it was going to be interesting.

Helen, GA

Our first stop after Charleston, we came to Helen to visit with family (hi Aunt Lisa & Uncle Scott!)

Mostly we (they) fished. Didn’t catch anything but it was still nice to relax.

Also some hiking was done. I missed it.

And mushroooooms!

I should also mention that Helen is a Barvarian style town. It basically looked like a gingerbread village.

Chattanooga, TN

This was a more historical trip. Chattanooga itself was okay, but the Chickamauga/Chattanooga National Military Site was fascinating.

The sites commemorated two pivotal battles in the Civil War. I’d say that they told the story well, and I finally found a park ranger who knew what she was talking about.

^This is the view from Lookout Mountain 👌🏼

Great Smoky Mountain NP

This park was one that I have been looking forward to.

It was interesting to go to the old mill and the historical farm to see what Appalachian life was like.

And man did they shame the vandals;

Our favorite part of this park was the driving nature tour, it was so pretty and we saw a lot of wildlife.

Wildlife? you may ask.

Yes, we saw six bears in total (a new record!) And some elk too.

They were so cuuuute 😍

Asheville

My favorite town of all time! I remember going here when I was younger, and I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else (except Whitefish MT, but that’s for snowboarding).

Unfortunately due to rain we couldn’t do much, but we still toured our favorite places:

The Biltmore McDonalds,