Took a few days to step away from reality and escape to the mountains. Escape can be good for the soul. While I know reality was still on my mind, I felt I wasn’t in the eye of the storm at the time. I kept sending my brother daily texts to make sure he was still alive. I told him if he died while I was gone, I would kill him.

Work goes back in full force tomorrow. I have a lot to catch up on and doing my best to make it.

The beauty of the Smokies just surround you. You can’t help but feel a world away. It would take us nearly 20 minutes just to get to the cabin because it was so high up. You could feel like you were close to Heaven. My motion sickness would almost get the best of me with all the winding roads. I lived to tell about…here I am.

Gracie Mae was excited to go on a road trip. However, I think me being with her every day in quarantine has given her separation anxiety when I’m not with her. She would cry if I ran downstairs without her for just a few seconds. She would cry when we went out to eat. That broke my heart. So we only went out to eat without her twice. The best thing about Gatlinburg was they are so dog friendly. Most restaurants have patios who welcome dogs with open arms and full water bowls.

I saw a baby bear up on a hill as we made our trek to Cade’s Cove. I couldn’t get a picture because there was no pull off near. However, the highlight was the mom and baby deer that held up traffic for about 15 minutes. It was completely worth the wait to watch them move about. I love nature. I just wanted to hug them.

Tennessee folk were awful nice. Even the travelers. In today’s insane society, it felt like all of us there were on the same side…the human side. I met an elderly couple waiting at a restaurant. He asked where I was from. His wife asked if I ever heard of Henderson. Why yes? That’s my hometown. I said I drive over every week to take care of my dad. The man said I was a good daughter to do that. Melted my heart! I love the elderly. I could hang out with them all day and chat.

Tomorrow work will hit me like a freight train, but I’m so glad to be back home. Closer to the ones I love.

Always find time to take a reality break and refresh your soul.

Until next time…Peace out, Trout!