The Hawkins Family: September 2016

I ended up running the Smoky Mountain Half this weekend. I had a friend who had told me about it months ago, but since Hooper is so little and I've never left him before overnight I wasn't sure if I was going to do it. I finally got up the nerve to sign up last week and I made plans for all the kids. I left after work Friday and drove 5 hours up to Townsend, TN. I haven't been alone in the car that long... EVER! It was really refreshing to have some alone time! I met up with my friend and some new friends and we headed to dinner. We had a nice relaxing time at a very delicious upscale restaurant called Dancing Bear. We headed to our cabin afterwards and tried to get some sleep. We had to be up at 5 am. The morning of the race we parked at the finish line and we were shuttled 13 miles away to the start line. The race began at 7 am. It was a beautiful sunrise over the mountains! I was definitely taken back by the views and God's beautiful scenery! We stopped several times along the way and took some photos. I thoroughly enjoyed my company, the weather, the atmosphere and the views! The race ended on the main road in the hot sun, but overall I was very impressed with this race. We received some awesome bling and really nice post race snacks at the finish line. After the race we headed to a big yummy breakfast at the Apple Barn. We then made our way to the cabin for showers and to pack. We decided to hike the
Tuckaleechee Caverns before we headed home. I have always been very anxious about tight spaces and feeling trapped so I was very nervous about this adventure. Luckily, we had a very entertaining drunk tour guide and I made it through the 3 hour adventure with a smile on my face. I was so fascinated by the caves and incredibly amazed. I just stumbled around in awe under the ground. I am hooked on caving now, and I definitely want to do this type of thing again. I love hiking and had no idea there was a whole other works below the ground to explore! God's world is truly amazing and I am so thankful and blessed every time I get to explore another part of it. I really enjoyed my weekend away and the time spent with friends! We finished out trip off with a late lunch /dinner at the Hot Rod Cafe in Maryville, TN. The food was amazing. Hamburgers every way you can imagine!! We finally made it home around 9 and I was very glad to see my family and my little Hooper. Can't wait to do another National Park Half!

Our early morning bus ride

Start line photo!

The first of many selfie stops on our run!

Sunrise over the beautiful Smoky Mountains

FINISH!

Sporting our bling

Stairs down into the cave

Pictures do not do this place justice.

So many wonderful rock formations, of course I can't remember their names.

From where we stood, theses formations looked fairly small. Then, our drunk tour guide scaled over there like spider-man and showed us that they were not small at all! In fact they were massive!