Horse Back Riding in the Smoky Mountains

 

We love horseback riding. If I could do it every weekend I totally would. I love it. There are lots of places to go riding in Tennessee in the park, or near the park, but there are options everywhere. There are some stable and a riding options right next to Cades Cove that we decided to try out. It was a leisurely 1 hour ride through the park. 

You cannot make reservations which was the downside. You have to get there when they open and wait in line to see what time you'd be slotted in. If you didn't want to do the horse riding, they do have a carriage ride you can take instead. Good to have options.

If you love riding, I recommend doing this. It's for beginners, it's slow, you have a guide with you making cheesy jokes and telling you some history of the park, and you are riding a horse in the beautiful mountains. I would do this all the time if I could.

So fun.

Cades Cove

 

Cades Cove is a driving loop at the end of one of the main highways that takes you up towards the top of one of the mountains. There's a gift shop there with your typical tourist items (and some pretty amazing soft serve ice cream), there's a picnic area, and you can even reserve a camping spot here as well. 

The loop is a 13 mile, one way driving loop that spits you out a few hundred yards from where you enter. There are old cabins along the way and churches that you can pull over and park next to and get out and wonder around. There are some lookout points you can stop at, and even some trails you can spend the day walking. There is also a little old timey section where you can wonder around the old style buildings and just enjoy the surroundings. It is a beautiful section to drive.

But because it is a small one way road, if the person in front of you decides to stop and take pictures (which they ask you not to do- use a turn out so you don't stop traffic), everyone behind you has to wait. The point to my ramblings - this is a slow drive through some beautiful scenery. 

You don't want to rush through it. Stop often to take pictures and just breath in the fresh air. We drove this loop many times because it was just lovely. It is closed to traffic one day a week so just walkers and bicycles can enjoy the road without worrying about traffic. I think it's a great idea. I also think this would be perfect for a half marathon race. The most beautiful setting to run ever. 

By the afternoon this is a very busy place with people and lines of cars. The earlier you get there, the less traffic and people you have to deal with. I thoroughly enjoy being in nature with no one around. 

The other reason why this is such a beautiful drive is that if you are someone who cannot get around on foot very well, or have a disability and can't manage the hiking aspect of uneven trails, it's something that can be driven without feeling like you are missing out. I love Cades Coves. Apparently black bears like to hang out here so there is a good chance of sighting them in this area. Though we never were able to see any here.

Hiking in The Smoky Mountains

Hiking in the Smoky Mountains is beautiful. All the great parts of nature that you crave and want to get lost in are here. As I mentioned previously, August here is hot and muggy. For us, we were finished with all the hiking aspects by about 1pm. It was just too hot for us to be hiking after that. Maybe we just don't have a tolerance for the heat, which is true. But calling it a day by 1pm was fine with us. We'd spend the rest of the afternoon driving through the wonderful scenery, and stopping at whatever shops or neat things we saw along the drive.

A few tips - this place is BUSY in August. As in, if you don't get to the trail you want to hike by about 8am, you're not going to find a place to park. Because my partner and I are ridiculous early morning people, we tended to get to whatever trail we planned to hike by about 6am. At 6am there were plenty of parking spots available, but we were not the first car there. It also means hiking in the early morning is a bit cooler weather than later in the day. And the higher up you get on the mountains the cooler the weather is going to be. It's wonderful.

We made sure to carry some rain ponchos with us just in case the rain hit while hiking. We actually used them more than once. Part of the reason the mountains are called the smoky mountains is that every morning they are covered in mist. It's so stunning. That also means it rains every day - which is why it's so green and beautiful. Umbrellas, ponchos, mosquito repellant, sun block, and LOTS OF WATER are all good things to make sure you have on hand. In addition, I did have to use a jacket a few times. It was fabulous to need a jacket in August.

Another tip is that the trail head signs saying how far the hike is to the waterfall - it lies. We went to do the rainbow waterfall hike (I'm obsessed with waterfalls and streams and rivers so be prepared to see a lot of these). The trail head said the waterfall was 2.5 miles to it. According to my fitbit, it was 4 miles there. 4 miles of climbing up a mountain. When you live in a city that has no elevation or hills, you get a bit over zealous on your first hike in years into actual nature. So a 4 mile hike up a mountain, and then the 4 mile hike back down the mountain, reminded us that we aren't 21 anymore. We may have overdone it. Don't do that. Moving was really hard the next morning.

Totally worth it, but we could have planned a bit better. Also, by the time we starting hiking back to the car (around 9am) the crowds of people beginning the hike was rather crazy. So glad we got to enjoy the trail in the early morning without hoards of people around. 

Sigh. How I miss this place. It's so pretty. I could live here.

The Smoky Mountains In Tennessee

 It's been a long time since I've had much to post. With Covid and the entire world getting put on hold, there didn't seem much to say, as there wasn't much to do. Luckily, I have been able to have a few state side adventures in the meantime. While I still am itching to get back to traveling overseas, I know it's time to be patient. It will happen, but going right now is not something I'm comfortable with yet. While waiting for those opportunities, I have done some sightseeing in the states, and found a new favorite vacation spot.

In August of 2020, I was of course disappointed my initial planned trip to Iceland was not going to happen. But I needed to get away from work, from my town, and just find somewhere new to see. My partner in crime and I  decided to go to Tennessee and experience the Smoky Mountains. It seemed like the perfect place - it's out in nature so we could avoid people, see some amazing scenery, and not have to be around loads of people. 

Turns out, August in the Smoky Mountains is FULL of people. With the pandemic, it actually made the area busier than ever. Everyone it seems wanted to escape to the beauty of nature. I can't say I blame them. It was stunning.

This is the scenery you get in August when you drive through the mountains. We NEVER got sick of driving through the mountains, surrounded be glorious green trees. Don't get me wrong, it was hot and muggy, and always lots of traffic around. 

But when you put your head out the window, it smelled like trees, and fresh water, and flowers, and just like nature. It's been so long since I've been in an environment where I smelled actual nature. Not smog, or cars, or garbage. It was exactly what we needed.

I'll do subsequent posts about what all we did and saw while here. Let's be honest, I took about a thousand pictures of everything, so I have a lot to show. I didn't realize how much I was craving nature until we got here. I'm just easing you in for now on the initial parts we saw just driving through.

If you plan to visit, the earlier you can get up and moving to wherever you want to go the better. Traffic gets packed and frustrating later in the day with all the other thousands of people doing what you want to do. Most of the roads we were on were only two lane roads as they curve around the mountains. And the main road in and out of town got very packed beginning about 2 pm. This is definitely a busy part of the country. But also, the earlier you get up and moving the more you can beat the heat. Did I mention it's very hot and muggy?

From the research I did, the closest spot to stay was going to be Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. They are about 5 minutes from the official part entrance. Gatlinburg was just a bit more pricey than I wanted to spend, so we opted to stay in Pigeon Forge. This is a very small town (I'll do a separate post just on this little town), about 3 miles long. And it is ALL for the tourists. Packed with kid things to do, hotels, and restaurants (though I'll be honest, the restaurant selection was very disappointing). Luckily we got a hotel room with a fridge, microwave, and my partner in crime travels with a portable single electric burner. We did a lot of our own cooking in the hotel room. 

But enough of that tangent. First impressions of this place - Amazing. 

I attempted a new Italian Restaurant in Austin . . .

I tried a new Italian Restaurant on the recommendation of a coworker who is also a foodie. I am very picky about my Italian food, and I'm wary of new Italian places because of that. But he promised it was fresh pasta, and that's something I won't turn down.

So I went and tried Cedro's Italian scratch kitchen in Cedar Park. Turns out I forgot to take a few food pictures too. Oh well.

  

They did offer bread. They said it was a focaccia bread, but it wasn't focaccia bread. It had no olive oil, was soft and fluffy, and was served with a bean spread similar to hummus. It wasn't bad tasting, but it was weird to have that at an Italian restaurant.

We ordered meatballs as an appetizer. They came in a marinara sauce. They were fine. There wasn't really any flavor or seasoning to it, so they were a bit bland and flavorless. But they were cooked.

Then came my pasta carbonara. This was very good. It was definitely homemade pasta, however you don't normally see pasta carbonara with fettuccini sized noodles. I didn't mind that so much as the flavor was good. They asked if I wanted some parmesan cheese on top, and I said yes. I expected them to bring out a fresh brick of cheese and then grate some over my pasta. Nope. She came back with a shaker full of fake cheese - the kind you shake on your fast food pizza. And then I found a curly little black hair in my pasta.

Yeah. It was a bit gross. I sent it back, and they gave me a new dish. Still, gross. My partner in crime at this tasting got a seafood risotto. It was good at first, but by the last few bites it was tasting really fishy and not so great as the first few bites.

Then came dessert. I an not a huge tiramisu person, but my partner is. So we ordered it. It was drowning in alcohol. All you could taste was the alcohol. Not the best tasting thing for either of us.

I took a good chunk of my pasta home as I couldn't eat it all. It didn't keep well. When I ate the leftovers I got really sick to my stomach immediately afterwards. I didn't feel sick the first time I ate it.

So in a nut shell, it wasn't the best first impression of a restaurant. The homemade pasta was fantastic (minus the hair in it), but everything else on the menu was a bit underwhelming. I'd go again for the pasta, but I couldn't take home any leftovers as they apparently don't keep very well.

Sigh. Being a food snob is a pain. But I can't undo what I know things should taste like.

Parc National de la Jaques Cartier

 

This park is absolutely stunning. I desperately want to go back here. And see such a beautiful place made me want to move here. It is just so pretty I can't say it enough. It's about a 30 minute drive outside the city of Quebec, and once again we hit it on a really great weather day. It was cool, overcast, and so pleasant to be outside. A few weeks later and I can only imagine how stunning this area would be with incredible fall colors.

We spent a few hours here hiking around. We stayed on the main trail, which was very well maintained and easy to navigate. I did hike a little bit along stream, which was much more rocky, uneven, and a bit more treacherous for someone who doesn't have the best balance. As always I wish we could have stayed longer. Some day I want to come back and camp here. Or I could stay in a hotel and drive here ever day to hike. Either option would be good for me. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

 

Montmorency Falls

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 This is a beautiful little restaurant and tourist shop that sits just at the top of the falls. It's surrounded by a beautiful park as well which we wandered through a bit. It was a gorgeous September day to come see the falls. Not too many people, the sun was warm but not hot, and we spent a pleasant few hours just wandering through the area.

The Montmorency falls are a large waterfall on the Montmorency River in Quebec, Canada. The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the western end of the Île d'Orleans. The waterfalls are 272' tall, a full 99' higher than Niagara Falls.
There are staircases that allow visitors to view the falls from several different perspectives. A suspension bridge over the crest of the falls provides access to both sides of the park. We were not daring enough to cross the suspension bridge to the other side.



 There was also an option to zipline from one side of the bridge to the other. Honestly, had I not been in marathon recovery mode and struggling to walk up steps, I totally would have done the zipline.

 
 There is also an aerial tram (Funitel) that carries passengers between the base and the top of the falls. Because both my dad and I did not have the energy to take the massive staircase to the bottom of the falls, and then have to walk back up that long staircase, we used the tram. I don't regret it either. It is certainly a beautiful place and definitely worth seeing.