May 14, 2014

Frogs are funny. I would love to play hide and seek with them. I’d win every time because once they get going, they can rarely keep quiet. I asked this guy, but it was late and time for bed.  He’s a Wood Frog and loves the water like me!

I’ve never been to Tennessee and it is a surprise. We have had all kinds of weather. In the south it was super hot and humid. Now that we are in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, it was warm and beautiful one day, and rainy and cold the next.  The air here smells sweet.

Green, green and green…as far as the eye can see in different shades.  We are in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park! It is the most popular national parks in the country. So far (and it is not the busy season) I have seen license plates from NY, PA, KY, ID, MS, MI, CA, GA and IN!  I was wondering if there were lots of fires here to keep them smokey.  I didn’t see any smoke when we got here.  Then, I saw it…

Its a natural fog that comes out of the mountains and they look like they are smoking!  It is caused by something called vegetation vapor.  The plants are steaming.  Isn’t it cool?

There is tons of terrific animals to see here.  Mostly we saw deer.  The black bear lives here too so you have to be cautious to stay out of his sniff path.  We drove and walked all different parts!  Since the toads weren’t interested in my game, Humom got me my own.

While there are only a couple trails for me, there are plenty in the park to trek and also lots of places to stop and play.  The rivers and streams come flowing from several different sources such as the Little Pigeon River and the Oconaluftee River.  The sound as it pours downstream is strong and fierce!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our campground was at Elkmont and it was really nice! I love sleeping in the tent. We stayed here for the sun and pouring rain but enjoyed all of it!
When it was time to leave we stopped and talked to Johnny Wild. He was really chill and had some great colors on his feathers. He has tons of family living here in the Smokies. When we took this picture he suddenly got hostile, stretched out his feathers and gobble, gobble gobbled…no paparazzi! no paparazzi!

We shoved off to let Johnny enjoy his morning stroll in peace.  See you later!