A Birthday in the Mountains

I made Joshua caramel rolls and eggs for his birthday breakfast Thursday. 

We returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway and continued to enjoy beautiful scenery.  

We made it to the Smoky Mountains in the late afternoon. 

We drove through the park and were planning to go on a hike on the north side. 

By the time we got to the north side of the park, it was starting to get dark and we decided we probably didn't have time to go on the hike after all, but we did go on the short loop drive where the trailhead is and that was great. 

We saw a bear hanging out in the trees. He is in the middle of the picture above, laying on a branch of the central white tree. 

And we saw another bear! This one was much larger and ran across the road. He is somewhere in the picture above, but well hidden by all the bushes. Then we left the park and had ravioli, mushrooms, and apple dessert for Joshua's birthday dinner.