The mountains are calling..

And I must go. Everyone knows that famous quote from John Muir. It's used on so many prints - how could you not? But the complete quote goes further than just that quirky saying. Muir wants to understand, and keep on exploring nature. I think this is somehow also what describes our trip a little; we want to do the obvious thing called travelling, but we also want to keep on exploring to find out what else is out there. Well, our trip has started!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

On Wednesday June 27th, we drove our car away from our home for the past (almost) 3 years on route to Assateague Island. We drove via Cape May, New Jersey where we took the ferry to Lewes, Delaware. As I was leaning on the balustrade, full wind in my face, I realized that this is it. No worries on my mind for the coming time other than where will I sleep, what will I eat, who will I meet etc. What a great feeling - I can recommend this to everyone!

From Lewes, we drove to our first stop; the Assateague National Seashore campground. With the promise of experiencing a lot of diverse wildlife in this park, we immediately saw wild horses driving onto the island. After setting up our tent, we even noticed that we had some wild horses as neighbors. One of them managed to activate the water pomp himself because he was thirsty. With the campground as starting point we made two short hikes; one through the Sinepuxent bay wetlands and one to the beautiful beach.

Our second stop was Pettigrew State Park campground, by Lake Phelps in North Carolina. On our way there, we drove the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Norfolk. The name says it all; it was both bridge and tunnel to cross a 23 mile (36 km) bay from Kiptopeke to Norfolk, Virginia. The tunnels provide a waterway for freight boats and for Norfolk's Naval Station. One of the most important reasons why it's not completely a bridge, is because the Navy didn't agree on that. If for any reason the bridge would collapse (possibly by sabotage), they would be cut off from the open sea.

The Norfolk Navy Station is actually the world's largest naval site and we obviously wanted to see this from a closer distance. A quick call learned us that there were still enough free spaces, so we decided to join a tour around the station. Very impressive to see the endless amounts of docks with Destroyer ships, hangars full of Hawkeye Planes and unlimited Barracks for all the personnel. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed.

Arriving at the Pettigrew campground, we noticed that we were the only ones staying there. We had the complete campground for ourselves. This meant a lot of convenience when it came to using the facilities (no waiting for showers) and walking around in your underwear (man it was hot there), but it was also kind of scary during the night realizing you're the only ones there at an unfamiliar place. We made a quick visit to the old plantation next door, Somerset Place. It was closed, but we were still able to walk around and see the differences between the slave houses and the big, luxury mansion. During the short walk over there, we were passed by a few vehicles and we were amazed by the fact that everyone waved at us! Everyone seems to be really friendly here.

Leaving the North Carolina swamps behind us, we started making our way to the Great Smoky Mountains. We decided to make a stop before going to our campground there, to be able to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit as well. We found a gorgeous house at AirBnB, located at Boone, North Carolina. It included a hot tub, so we were able to chill for a night before heading to our basic campground. The next morning we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway through Pisgah National Forest to the Great Smokey Mountains. A beautiful scenic drive with spectacular views.

Arriving on Elkmont Campground in the national park, we immediately set up our tent. We noticed that a lot of people were prepared for heavy rain fall by using large covers and plastic sheets over their tents and picnic tables. So, we decided to use our tarp as well. After some mathematical discussions on how to install our tarp, we managed to create a perfect rain cover, just in time before a big shower started. Good call.

Oops, then we realized there were no showers at the campground - or anywhere in the national park! That promised some dirty four days in the mountains. But luckily, there was a river close by, which was perfect to wash ourselves in. Especially since the temperatures hit the high eighties (appr. 30 Celsius), and we did a 14 mile (22 km) long hike. The hike led us from Newfound Gap to Charlies Bunion, an amazing viewpoint over the mountains and valleys.

The Great Smoky Mountains have a large population of Black Bears. And I was lucky enough to spot two of them during our stay! One during a short hike to Laurel Falls, and one at Cades Cove. The second one was so close to the road that it created a big fuzz among all the park visitors, and therefore a huge traffic jam unfortunately. But hey, I spotted a big black bear, so I'm happy!

Staying in the Great Smoky Mountains was Great! Now we are in Nashville, on to new adventures! We will write about that later..