Sunday, September 4, 2016

DAY #2 - Mt. Airy, North Carolina to Cherokee, North Carolina

We woke up this morning to a pretty fog outside our hotel window.  We were in the mountains and this is typical for early morning hours.  It was so pretty.

We were off to attend the Mt. Airy (N.C.) Ward.  We love coming here.  We feel more at home attending church here than we do in our home ward in Maryland.  This ward is full of cousins!!!

After church we drove a few miles to the Piney Grove Baptist Church where we would attend the 75th Johnson Family Reunion!  We were quite surprised at how few there were in attendance.  It has been probably several decades since we have gone...there used to be SO many people.  I think 'that' generation that used to come have all died off and now it is 'our' generation holding it together!!  It was fun to attend.

We surely have more people come to the Goins Reunion than this Johnson Reunion.  We counted about 30 people!

After the reunion we started driving to CHEROKEE, N.C.  Our destination for the night.  We LOVE driving through the Great Smokey Mountains.  We always stop at this great lookout tower for a great view of the mountains.  Today was no different.

You can see why we stop here!!

Every single time......

Our wonderful Cherokee Indian Reservation is at the base of these mountains....nestled in the valleys.  We LOVE coming here....this has been a part of our Medical Mission for the past 2 years.  Feels so good to be back.

Staying at the same hotel we have stayed in several times before.  The luggage carts are probably some of the worst we have found at our Hampton Inns!!!!  They really need to get some new ones.

 The sunset did NOT disappoint tonight as we drove in.  Love this bear in the hotel front yard....perfect for the sunset tonight with the mountain in the background.

 The perfect ending to a perfect Sabbath day....

And, the ROAD TRIP continues tomorrow......