Things are rolling along. Got the ups and got the downs.

Saturday, JR and I got to trek through the woods on the Lakeshore Trail to Forney Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was an absolutely spectacular day. Sunny and 70° temperatures. Maybe Spring really is almost here.

You start at the end of the Road to Nowhere and walk through an abandoned tunnel.

Past the tunnel, the pavement ends and you properly trek through the woods.

It’s three miles to where Forney Creek empties into Lake Fontana. They have the lake drawn down, so we were able to get out from under the treeline and enjoy the sun.

A guy was on the other side of Forney Creek looking kind of lost. He forded the creek and it ended up being a guy we had passed earlier. He was out with five boys and they had taken a wrong turn and ended up on the far side of the creek from where they wanted to be. I tried my best to tell him to go back up the side trail they took and get back on the official route.

He forded the creek again and he and the boys disappeared. They reappeared in about 15 minutes because some nice boaters decided to just shuttle them across to our side. I guess he decided not to backtrack (the smart thing to do) like I suggested.

After lunch, JR took a nap while I watched frogs jumping around in a marshy area caused by the draw down of the lake. It really was an awesome day!

I took a selfie on the trail and suspect that I am too beardy. At the very least it needs shaping … and maybe some Just for Men. Damn, damn. I am getting grey.

Sunday, I met up with Mary (who used to costume for the theater) and we had lunch and beer at Bearwaters. I hadn’t seen Mary in a long time and we spent four hours catching up. I need to be better about keeping up with people. It would have been nice if we could have sat outside at the brewery but a 70° Saturday gave way to a 45° Sunday. Grrrrrrr.

Then yesterday. My Dad’s dog, Mia, very unexpectedly had to be put down. I got asked to come up and bury her and it was a pretty traumatic experience … more traumatic than I though it would be. So, last night I was really down … thinking about poor Mia in the cold, dark ground. 11 years is too short a time for her to have been around. RIP, Mia.

Mia and me back in 2010.

Now the work week is well underway and I am just struggling … just working and waiting for Friday afternoon to get here.

[There’s only one link because I am tried and lazy and too later getting this posted.]