A fall weekend in the Smoky Mountains

Chris and I spent a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains over Halloween with our friends, Jessica and Eddie Cardoza.  They had never been to TN and wanted to see the fall colors so what better excuse to convert some new people into TN Vols fans?

Eddie has an excellent camera that I'm so jealous of, so we got some great pictures!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Chris and I on the balcony of our cabin.  We only stayed here one night because it was infested with bugs!  Very nice cabin, but a big bug problem

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

This is the view from Look Rock.  I would recommend going to the Look Rock observational tower over Clingman's Dome.  It's just as beautiful and no crowds!  Look Rock is on the Foothills Parkway near Townsend.

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

With our travel buddies on Look Rock

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

We drove the Cherohala Skyway that runs from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC. Cherohala gets its name from the combination of the words "Cherokee" and "Nantahala", the two national forests that it connects.  I highly recommend this, especially later in the year when the trees have lost their color on Newfound Gap in the Smokies. The Tennessee side of the Cherohala Skyway is at a lower elevation than Newfound Gap and therefore the leaves change later in the year. Also, we didn't have to deal with any traffic here.

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Driving along the Newfound Gap in the Smoky Mountains National Park

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

On Saturday we went to the UT vs South Carolina game. Here is Chris playing some cornhole at a tailgate

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Someone made a pumpkin out of the rock since it was Halloween

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

UT has a letterpress studio! I wasn't into letterpress when I went here, but I'm so glad to know they have a studio!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Smokey!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Lane!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

The team wore black jerseys since it was Halloween. They looked great!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

It was raining and freezing, but we were happy!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

We successfully converted Jessica and Eddie into Vols fans....who is next??? To see all of our pictures from this weekend, click here.