AG Visits Middleton

We had a most delightful time visiting Tennessee. We spent the first few days in Gatlinburg which is a charming if overdeveloped area. It does, however, allow easy access to the Great Smokey Mountains which are truly magnificent. It also has a very large and interesting Arts and Crafts Community where we found some new and interesting treasures and met some of the artists.

One of the best things about this area for us was that there are many driving trails and since our Alice's knee doesn't do hiking, this was important. We saw much wildlife including a teen-age size black bear who was ambling by the side of the road and paid us little attention. Sadly we didn't get a picture of it because Alice refused to leave the car. We were in a protected area and apparently the wildlife who live there are very used to cars but the park distributes pamphlets that include information how not to approach bears.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures. You can see a larger, slower version of a picture by clicking on it.

	Here I am hanging out by a beautiful stream on our way to something called Cades Cove. We took the Little River Road. This was the little river.
	And here I am relaxing in a forest surrounded by nature. I'm a bit difficult to see in the small picture. Can you find me??
	Here I am on the top of a mountain enjoying a shady view. The area is so beautiful it is almost overwhelming.
	This is another picture of me outside the hotel. It was very peaceful and relaxing.
	Here I am with a very big bear who lives across from the place where we were staying in Gatlinburg. We met him while we were on our way to a very fun art gallery.

Another fun trip that produced lots of pictures was our visit to the Middleton Plantation. You can check out those pictures by clicking on Pictures of Middleton.