A Side Trip

Some of you may have read the blog post regarding my visit back home to the Chicago burbs. This post is about a little side trip we took on the drive.

Morning fog over the mountains. The creature on the field is our dog, Max

We didn’t get a vacation this year and looked forward to a couple of days for ourselves. We’ve always enjoyed Tennessee (have considered moving there) and spent many relaxing moments among the charming Smokey Mountains. In fact, a lot of the nature photos I’ve posted over the past months are from there.

Along the 1,200-mile road to Mom’s house, I tried to find something not too far off the beaten track. Didn’t want to be driving any more extra miles than necessary. Yet, we still hoped for something semi-remote to kick back and forget the world for a short while.

I booked a cottage for a few nights, not too far north of Chattanooga. On the way there, the curvy, vertical climb up the mountain didn’t bother me.

But, when we reached this gravel road I knew I picked a place a little too remote.

First, we had to check in at the owner’s farmhouse. I don’t have any photos of that one, but she was a kind lady. The family owned two cottages on their property and told us we could stay at either one. She took us to the one we originally booked (1/4 mile from the farmhouse). As soon as we saw the large open space, we knew we didn’t need to see the other one. Max was already racing across the expanse.

Please don’t misunderstand, the owner was more than gracious. The cottage was lovely and clean, but this city girl felt a bit freaked. The nearest sign of civilization was seven miles away, and there was very little to be found there either.

Even my Indiana-country-boy-husband tossed and turned at night listening to the eerie voices of the forest.

We found the cottage’s rustic, antique-like décor delightful, yet haunting at the same time. My husband swore there were ghosts. I sensed no such thing. My concern were bears, or something much more possible … werewolves.

Not having Wi-Fi or cell phone service didn’t help matters. I’ve become way too dependent on modern technology.

The owner of the cottage said we might be able to get cell service out near the hammock by the forest. So, off I went to try and call Mom. Someone had to know where we were in case we went missing. I got a connection, gave Mom the info and quickly hung up. The snapping of branches in the woods behind me had me racing back inside.

It was way farther off the beaten track then I had hoped. When we left for Mom’s house at 5am, the narrow, mountain roads greeted us with dense fog … in the dark. Needless to say, it was a perilous drive. It took thirteen hours (in one day) to get to Mom’s house from there. It turned out to be a little more adventurous than we had planned, but we did get in some relaxation time.

If you’d like to read about a side trip we took on the side trip, come on back next Monday. Here are a couple photos of the kitchen inside the cottage.

Screened porch to the right. You can see some more reflecting in the mirror to the right of the porch.

Look closely for the knee peddle sticking out of the curtains to the right. It was the way to turn on running water for the sink.

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