New Year Part 2:

We drove through Cades Cove with the intent on heading back to possibly hike Laural Falls trail. Upon getting to the trail head though, the parking area and over flow parking area was packed. There was absolutely no way to park anywhere near the trail so we took it as a sign and decided just to head to Sugarland Visitor Center to get Elijah, my nephew, a stuffed owl. We thought we would just decide what to do from there.
When we first got to the visitor center, the road to head over the mountain, which is just outside the center, was still closed. We were thinking that we would just head back to Pigeon Forge and head home after getting the owl. Our plans changed again once we walked out the doors and on our way to the car, looked over and saw people speeding through the gates, up and over the mountain.
Me and Donald both looked over at each other and said at the exact same time, "Let's GO!"
We trotted to the car, maneuvered through the parking lot, and headed out hoping the road that was just opened wasn't an icy dangerous mess like the time we almost slid off the mountain near Newfound Gap.
Once we got through the open gates, it wasn't too long before we started seeing the snow. Usually, in past experiences, we never really see the snow until we get past the loop-d-loop close to the Chimney Tops picnic area. But this time, the snow was fresh and was lower in elevation. Our mouths dropped open as we drove with the forest canopy freshly painted in a frosty white over top of us. It was like we were inside a beautiful snow globe. When the views finally opened up, the mountains were just breathtaking. Everyone on the road slowed and you could see flashes of cameras from almost every car as they tried to capture the views.
We had never been in the mountains with this much snow. We just kept ooooo-ing and ahhhhh-ing the whole way up to Newfound Gap. The road was packed with visitors and was actually not bad to drive on. People were stopping to take pictures of icicles hanging on the sides of the mountains, frozen waterfalls and all the pull off views where packed. Families were sledding on any little hill side they could get to.
We only rode up to Newfound Gap. The traffic, as time went on, got bad. I guess the rumor that the mountain had open up spread fast. So we got all the pictures we wanted and headed back down to Pigeon Forge and then to home.
Our first 2010 adventure wrapped up when we pulled into our own drive. Visions of all the beauty we had seen danced in our heads as we went to bed that night. We both couldn't think of any better way to start off the New Year.