Smokey Mountains and Basic Training, NC, SC

My first real trip to the mountains was combined with my trip to visit Nate for his graduation ceremony from basic training.


Nate's family came down to Champaign to pick me up, and we left early in the morning on Labor Day, 2003. We had planned a stop to enjoy the Appalachians in North Carolina on our way.


We spent a while hiking trails, and went to Cooper's Dome on the Appalachian trail before going down the lengthy hike to Andrew's Bald.

We stayed in a quaint little cabin our first night, right next to a little stream that trickled down from the mountains. It was beautiful and cosy, and of course I couldn't wait for the following day when I finally got to see Nate again.

We took off the next morning around 4am and drove the fort.  We had a great reunion - and Nate even proposed on this trip (9/4/03)!  We had a sad goodbye, as Nate had to head out for California the next day.  We took off the next morning, and had a nice trip back to IL.