We began the day planning on going to Cades Cove but after getting gas and coffee, we decided to drive to Oconaluftee Mountain farm. We began the long journey and along the way saw a turkey on the side of the road. I actually first thought that it was log or stone. As we approached, I realized it was a turkey. Paul decided to turn around so I could get a picture pretty close. I got real close as you can see by the picture.
We continued and visited the Visitor center and the farm. Today they had several fourth grade classes learning how things were done in the "old" days. It was neat to see a blacksmith, the children washing dishes the "old" fasion way and the cookfires they made. After the farm we decided that we would drive up to Balsam Mountain.
We took the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove farther up the mountains. As we got higher the woods looked more like early Spring instead of mid-Spring. We stopped along the way quite a bit to take pictures of a variety of wild flowers. I was seeing a white flowering tree and kept asking what kind of tree it was. Paul as a forestry major decided to stop and take his tree book out to see what the tree was. We found out that it was a Downy Serviceberry tree. A picture of it is posted here.
This evening we saw another big bear. We think it was a male because there were no cubs with it. Paul saw it up in the woods because another truck had stopped. The bear got to within 12-15 feet on both side of the car. I actually thought for a minute that the bear might come in to my side window. It was a nice ending of a great day with my husband, the talented one.
UPDATE: The tree with the little bell flowers is a Carolina Silverbell. Paul wanted to make sure that no one would think that HE misidentified a tree.
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