The Adventure Series: Part 1 - January

     Starting at the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to have an adventure, big or small, every month. Luckily, I have been able to stick with this and it has definitely been one of the best goals I have had. Over the next couple of weeks and for the following months I am going to share my adventures with you all. That being said, here is my January adventure:

 

This is miss Neva Finke. We met at Army military training and we have been best friends ever since. We do not get to see each other as much as we would like, but we definitely have a great time with each other when we do. To start off the new year, we went on a spur-of-the-moment adventure to Tennessee. We did not have a destination or a plan or a sense of organization at all. The only thing we knew what that we were headed south to see what the road had to offer us. The first day of travel we just drove around finding the little nooks-and-crannies of Kentucky and Tennessee. We found some great reads in a Goodwill Store, an amazing little park, and finally ended up near the Great Smoky Mountains. We decided we did not want to try to conquer the mountain after a long day of travel so we stopped for some Chinese at a buffet, then "rough it" and stay in the car on the first, cuddled up with our mountain of blankets.
     Keep in mind, this was January and it was cold outside. Regardless, we made it through the night. My toes were numb, but I started moving around again and they came right back to life. We wanted to try to see the sun rise on the mountain, but that clearly did not happen. Once we woke up and got some food, we put on our hiking boots and headed up the mountain. There is something about Mother Nature that makes you realize so much about yourself. We stopped to have our fun and take a plethora of pictures, of course. We hiked all day, from the time we got around until the sun was setting. The day could not have gone better. We had beautiful weather, we did not start slipping on rocks until we started coming down, and it was a great time shared between friends and nature.

     The only downfall of that day was that I got some pretty nasty blisters. OUCH. We decided that we did not want to sleep in a cold car another night, so we found a cheap motel for 30 something dollars. DEAL. It was a warm place to sleep, and it had a bed. We tried yet again to wake up for the sunrise, and almost missed it again. Luckily we woke up with just enough time to drive partially up the mountain and get some great pictures and memories.

     The trek back was not nearly as exhilarating, but it was equally enjoyable. We were both exhausted and ready to be back home. I think this was a great and promising way to start off my 2016. It's proved to be great so far and I hope that the rest of my year is as memorable as the beginning.