Dave and I flew to TN for this year's primary vacation. We spent a week just outside the Great Smokey Mountain National Park (GSMNP) in a BEAUTIFUL vacation rental house near the very top of a mountain outside of Sevierville. The house was extremely private, with only one other house anywhere within view, but quite a distance away. While there that week, we went to the GSMNP several times, other times just went for a drive to see the beauty of the mountains, go on a mountain hike or occasionally out to eat. Although there were theme parks galore in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area, we chose to only go on two excursions: we took a 2-hour white-water rafting trip down the Upper Pigeon River (going over Class III & IV rapids) and took a 1-hour horseback ride (with a guide) that was all inside a forest-like setting in the GSMNP in the Cade's Cove area. Because I took TONS of pictures and used four different sources for them, I have them sorted into sub-galleries. Kudo's to Dave, who was AMAZINGLY PATIENT with me on this vacation, never complaining when I'd ask him to "turn around and go back" so I could get a picture of something we'd just driven past that I wanted to capture in a picture, as well as being kind enough to hold/(carry) one of the two camera devices whenever we'd walk somewhere so I could use two hands in dealing with one. He's one in a million, a definite "Keeper" in my book! One last thing: I won't apologize for how many pictures I take (in any subject), because each one will provide me with a wonderful flashback memory in the future when I next look at it. Many pictures I take are to share with others what I saw, but some are just for myself to give me that "warm, fuzzy feeling" that I had when I personally saw that initial sighting.