My sister (Deb) and her husband (Dave) go to the Smokey Mountains 3 or 4 times a year and have been going for over 50 years.  It is one of their happy places!  They own a time share there, as well as their 40’ RV.  Just about every year they go for all of April for her wildflowers.  This year I decided to drag our travel trailer out to meet them for a week (4/22 – 4/29).  I was more about photographing the Black Bears and the spring cubs.  Once the moms bring the cubs out of their winter dens, it is easier to find them due to the fact that the little cubs can only travel so far.   I am good friends with several of the local photographers that knew where the winter dens were and was lucky enough to find 4 or 5 sets of cubs. 

Deb and Dave have been staying at the same campground since they bought their RV in 2007. Riverbend Campground is a Christian ran business that most sites back up to the Little Pigeon River in Pigeon Forge TN.  All sites have full hook-ups and concrete pads.  From behind our campsites, I photographed Great Blue Heron, Mallards, and Wood Ducks.  The truck and camper did great! 

I went to Cades Cove 4 of my 6 days there and have over 600 full frame bear photos left to process.  I will continue to add them to this newly created Black Bear Gallery.  We also did a couple of hikes I had not been on before.  One morning we hiked to Grotto Falls, and a couple days later we hiked to the Walker Sisters cabin and school.

I love the Black Raspberry Jam from the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge,  On our way to go get my yearly supply, my sister spotted a Texas Longhorn running loose.  So of course we had to stop and watch.  I called the local police and reported the quickly growing steer jam.  It was pretty exciting to watch the hands from the Skyland ranch try and convince him to go back up the hill.  He charged them and almost got one of the hands.  He ran right behind my truck.  I was happy he didn’t decide to ram it.

On Sunday, Jarrett, Deb & Dave’s grandson, and their son-in-law, Jeff, met us at the campground with Jarrett’s girlfriend, Sara.  Sara’s family owns and operates the NASCAR Speed Park in Pigeon Forge.  They have 8 or 9 tracks.  We got the full VIP experience and all of us boys drove all the different tracks with the faster cars.  It was a blast and we even went behind the walls to see them working on the cars and carts.

A few other captures:

Super happy with the Canon R5, R52, and the RF600mm f4.

Sorry for the mix of professional photos with a few iPhone ones mixed in.  I noticed the last update to Word Press broke all my “Galleries”.  Guess I know what I’ll be working on soon.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent