Day #143 – Laurel Falls

Gatlinburg TN

Today started with one food goof-up after another.  Debbie and Linda are vegan, so cooking for all of us can be a bit of a challenge.  Debbie had requested OJ, but Kelly inadvertently bought some low-calorie stuff that tasted nasty.  It was OJ, but with water added to reduce the calories.  None of us liked it.  I made buckwheat pancakes, using ground flax seed in place of egg.  Those pancakes were mighty thin and yet they just would not cook through.  They’d bubble on top, like pancakes should, but not cook through.  Oh well.  With enough blueberries and maple syrup, we managed to choke them down.

We headed off for the Laurel Falls Trail, a 2.6 mile walk in the Great Smoky Mountains.  It was a busy place.  The trail started paved….and stayed paved the whole way, which meant there were lots of folks pushing strollers.  Kelly carried Debbie’s new day pack on the way up and I carried it on the way down.  Kelly thought it was a bit long for her torso, but I loved it.  I’ve had some hip problems over the last couple years that make it difficult for me to use a fanny pack, so I was surprised this pack was comfortable.   Linda turned Kelly on to Cliff Mojo bars.  I can’t eat them because of my nut allergy, but they instantly became Kelly’s new favorite thing.

On the way up to the falls, we met an older couple.  They’d made this walk many times and seemed to know each rock and leaf.  The woman told us that she and her sister had been little girls when this area became a national park.  The two of them had been in the front row when President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to town to dedicate the park in 1940.  As he drove by, she shouted, “Hello, Mr. President!”  He shouted back, “Hello, girls!”

After our hike, we drove to a picnic area which was much less crowded than the trail.  On our drive, we saw a black bear, off to the right of the road.  Several families had pulled over to watch and there was no place for us to park, so we slowed down, but kept going.  We made sandwiches from the leftover grilled veggies, adding hummus and baba ghanooj from Ali Baba’s in Pittsburgh.  What a wonderful way to have a bit of home.  I about cried when Linda pulled out the stuffed grape leaves.  We ended the meal with a bit of dark chocolate from Trader Joe.  Way too much of my favorite things!

Debbie and Linda headed off for family obligations while Kelly and I settled down for an evening in our trailer.  We listened to Prairie Home Companion on NPR and looked through maps we’d picked up earlier in the day.