every travel story has a climax, this was ours

Joe and I were enjoying the afternoon view of the Great Smoky Mountains from our balcony.  We had driven 441 that morning (post), so we were both ready to sit and relax a bit while having a glass of wine and our noses buried in a book (Kindle, iPad all the same right?).  Joe noticed a lot of rustling in the woods below our balcony and looked over to me and asked, "what is all that ruckus?".  Instinctively I said it's probably some squirrels playing in the trees.  I got up to take a look.  NOPE, not a squirrel.  A BEAR!!!  I yelped as I ran for the back door to go get my camera. We both ran down to the end of the balcony and looked to the side of the cabin and there she was sniffing around near the air conditioner. We watched as she slowly made her way to the front of the cabin.  Joe and I quickly ran through the cabin and opened the front door to continue watching the bear from the front porch.  The bear kept turning around and looking at us, well we thought she was looking at us.  Then we noticed more rustling coming from the side of the cabin...  another bear?  Nope, even better... not one but two little cubs emerged and were catching up to mama bear.  I couldn't have asked for a better bear story!  Joe and I kept watching, and photographing, as the bears made their way further up the hill and then disappeared into the woods.  thankfully this didn't happen during a hike!

Part 1: a trip to the great smokey mountains.  well sort of.
Part 2: a taste of moonshine
Part 3: the land of blue smoke