All this said, I want to give you some takeaways from this trip: It’s so important to unplug and have down time. In this crazy world and wild ride we call life we can get so caught up in the every day, mundane, rat race. Trying to compete, get ahead, or just be sure everyone has what they need or want. Now my children are all over the age of 21 but they still need me from time to time. And ladies if you have small children, I’ve been there! Believe me I know the struggle. Some things are just out of our control and we have to trust in God’s divine will for our lives.Now look we were camping ( really camping, like no shower for 5 days), i.e. no cell service, no Wi-Fi or Internet. Ha! We had the music of nature, the running streams, waterfalls, birds singing, chipmunks. I’m not gonna lie, this was very much a real struggle for me the first few days. I’m not accustomed to not being able to communicate with my people… I had no contact with my business, family. Tough Stuff! Around Day 3 I began to settle down and deal! “You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with!” What does this mean? I am a full believer that my people that I have around me, surround me are my top people! I left my assistant, Heather, (you’ve met her in episode 3 “Wine Down Wednesday)… She’s my life line, my confidant, my organizer, my best friend! Saying this you NEED a Heather in your life if you don’t have one! I had full faith that she could handle anything that came up in the business. And let me tell you, I would not have survived our week in the woods without my dad, the first boy scout! Having the right tools aren’t any good if you don’t know how to use them. On the second day we were completing a pretty rigorous hike. And when I say rigorous, my dad is almost 70, runs 6 miles a day and was kicking my ass! That day we walked around 20,000 steps and according to his Garmin climbed 161 flights of stairs, altitude of around 3,400… My thighs, calves, hips, ankles were feeling pretty rebellious that evening. But I digress, so about halfway up our hike we I started developing a blister on my hand. I spoke this out loud and my dad said, “It’s because you’re holding your wrist strap incorrectly. Well DUH! This totally eliminated the problem, Praise the Lord! You know blisters are the worst. With that said, it doesn’t matter if you have ALL the right gear/tools for your business, unless you know how to use them, you’ll develop blisters. Be ready for anything!! During our hike the last day, we were chatting, hiking to the Grotto Water falls. This is along the Trillium Trail leading up to Mt. LeConte. At the top of Mt. LeConte is a lodge, you cannot drive there, you have to complete the 8 or so mile hike to be able to stay there. Along the falls trail up to Mt. LeConte is where the camels are used to bring supplies up to the lodge. Really cool huh! I’ll put the link in the show notes if you’re interested in doing this hike or staying at Mt. LeConte. Anyhoo! About mile 2 we rounded a corner and low and behold standing tall was a BLACK BEAR! Yes I said a bear! He was about a year old. Dad stopped dead in his tracks, starting backing away. He stood about 4.5 ft tall, and was waiting on us because he was curious. We weren’t worried about this bear but its Mother had to be somewhere close! In that instant I was thinking “I can’t get to my camera!” but “wait, do I need to run?” Ha! We “got big” and spread out, blew our whistle and talked really loud to them and they meandered on down into the woods. But WOW what an experience! With that said sometimes the unexpected can turn into the best experience! Change is inevitable but hold true to who you are. I have to say that one of our favorite things to do when we go to the mountains is eat at the Pancake Pantry downtown Gatlinburg. This has been a family tradition for over 50 years! Even though Gatlinburg has changed quite a bit and not so muc