Indulge me a few pre-gathering vacation pix? Cades Cove & the Space Center

This year, before we attended the gathering, we stopped over in Cades Cove and visited quite a few Huntsville attractions. For those who are coming next year, I highly recommend....well, all of the things we did....we had a blast!

Our first day in Cades Cove we biked the 11-mile path through the park. It was quite strenuous and I didn't take my camera with me. The next day we drove the path, and I stopped for a few photos. I'm still trying to get the hang of the Sigma 10-20mm lens....there's so much foreground with it!








While making the drive around the park, we stopped off for a hike to Abram's Falls....a mere 5 miles up and down the mountains, over rocks and through mud and all of those good things. Between the previous day's bike ride and this hike, I was thrilled to spend the next day sitting in the car riding to Huntsville! Next time I'm taking Pete's advice and driving to Laurel Falls instead :wink:.

We crossed a number of these bridges to get to and from the falls





The falls were small but pretty







The Huntsville Space & Rocket Center was a ton of fun, and I'd love to go back and see it again. My husband and daughter are space nuts, so they were right at home there.

Sleeping, astronaut-style





All strapped in to the Space Shot and ready to experience 4G's





Around the corner from Paul and Melissa was a group of teenage boys. As they were getting ready to lift off, one of them said he was going to scream like a little girl. Hah! In his dreams! Melissa screamed so loud I'm pretty sure they heard her clear across I-565!




My crew landing the space shuttle




After visiting the Space Center, we stopped downtown at Harrison Brothers Hardware. I didn't take any photos there (still smacking myself over that....the historic items in there were amazing!) I could take a photo of my receipt from there, but the amount I spent might crack my camera lens :wink:!

Thanks for looking!

 

Frits, we enjoyed meeting you, as well. I hope we'll see you again!

Mason, I didn't get a photo of the shuttle stack or Saturn V, but it's on my list for next time!

John, I'm glad you enjoyed the Cove, too. I'd like to go back again in the winter when we could (I hope) bike the path without as much car traffic (and exhaust to inhale!) Pete gave me some pointers for finding more animals there, so I'm really anxious to get back there again. We really enjoyed meeting you...I hope we'll see you again!

Rex, I did hate to see it end. As much as I hated missing out on income during tax season, it was totally worth it for me. I hope next year's gathering is in late April though, so I don't have to choose!

Thanks, Gale! You're a sweetheart for viewing and posting on all these threads. I hope I'll get to meet you some day! We may be heading down to Orlando and the space coast next year, and if we're in your area, I definitely want to hook up!

Leigh, I think you could easily stay for a couple of weeks and not run out of things to do! The first year we were in-and-out, this year we stayed longer, and there are still a bunch of things I want to see that we didn't have time for. What's neat about it is the diversity--the vibrant city downtown, the wildlife and mountainous areas, the space center and then all of the museums and such that we didn't even get to yet. Heck, if things go bad for us here in Michigan job-wise, I'll be looking that way for sure! I hope next year the gathering happens after tax season is over (hint-hint) so I can stay for the final dinner and all:wink:!