Last fall we ventured southeast to Gatlinburg, TN.  We drove and enjoyed absolutely beautiful, colorful scenery the entire trip.  Gatlinburg is such a quaint little town nestled in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains and the Smokey Mountain National Forest.  If you do not like crowds, then you must pick a less popular season to visit, because the downtown strip was nothing but shoulder-to-shoulder tourists.

We found that getting out and enjoying what nature had to offer was much more our style of relaxation and enjoyment.  This picture was taken on our way out of the park, but the entire drive through was just as beautiful.

We find ourselves always looking up (because we're bird watchers), and we saw an amazing number of beautiful birds that we do not see as often in the Midwest.  The beautiful Indigo Bunting seemed to be everywhere.  There is not a word to describe that color, it is so spectacular!

We also were fortunate to see a young black bear very high up in a tree.  It had attracted quite an audience of tourists pulled of on the side of a narrow road.  A visit to Gatlinburg comes highly recommended for anyone who enjoys natural beauty and being surrounded by nature.