After a short gap of 1 month and 20 days, both of us were all set to begin our next journey-by road- to the Great smoky mountains in the south eastern state of Tennessee, which was 5 hours south of Ohio. The Great Smoky mountains are believed to be the most natural picturesque place in the Eastern side of US, God's own place :). Kichu was planning to catch up with his long time friend Prasanna. Hence we were planning to share the log cabin that we had booked, with Prasanna and his wife Maithri ( My3 is how she writes her name ). We had reached there earlier on the day on April 3. It was so beautiful to see Mother Nature at her best in Spring, at the most natural place one can ever imagine. Beyond words. All the trees were blooming with flowers, no leaves absolutely, in various colours one can ever describe or think of-or probably in colours one would not have even thought of. Apart from learning in science class in school and watching in movies, I had never seen Spring season. Coming from a part of the world that does not have anything apart from summer, winter and rain, Spring was indeed something special.
The drive was just beyond words-just too good. Reached Gatlinburg, the bottom part of the mountains, quite earlier than anticipated. We spent the whole day roaming about in Gatlinburg, waiting for them to turn up. And roaming included my first sky ride , my first motion theatre (in US), my first game stop and what not. Now I started realising one thing- the next time we go to a place, we should go to one where both of us have not been. It is so bad when you go to a place with someone, but the other person has already been there 4-5 times. The person knows in and out of the place, that he never lets you go where you want- Nah this is not good, we will go there, last time we all went there and had a great time, This place is just too good!!!!! D'uh- It was not a nice feeling. I knew this time the same thing was going to happen as I was in a gang of 4, where 3 had already been to the Smoky, 4 times, once in every season, and the 4th person was me!!
Despite these 'not so big' complaints, time flew really quick. We were really enjoying playing games, which is when we got a call from the rest of the gang, saying that they were on the way to the cabins and they have an emergency. They wanted us to join them immediately. Now this was the N th time they had been calling us. They wanted to know the route, which we had already told N times, ( N being greater than 10). Luckily the N+1 th call was not for that. Wondering what had happened, both of us rushed to get started to the cabins or atleast to where they were to help them out. We were trying to figure out what had happened through the 15 miles drive, of which 10 were up the hill. And I was driving for the first time, through the roads which had hundreds of people on it crossing every 2 seconds, and uphill. We somehow managed to reach there quickly. DO you want to know what we saw? Firstly a tensed My3. I was seeing her for the first time, we had been in touch through chats and emails plenty of times but meeting in person, for the first time. Before we could start the girls' talks, I had to get back to know what was going on. Their car was on the road and the back half beyond the curb, floating on air. The other side of the curb were the mountains. So one more inch down, all gone. Now I knew why they wanted help so urgently. Trust me it was bad. Real bad and scary. None of us had a clue of what to do. Though I did not have an idea on what needs to be done next, I knew one person who definitely would have an idea-none other than Kichu. I have heard his friends say that his mind travels at 300mph while the normal human brain travels at less than half the speed of his. So, I knew we, for sure, had the Einstein with us! He got into the game, gave his ideas to Pras, Pras just played and started the car accordingly, and here you go, the car was back on the roads. Sigh of relief on everybody's faces and hearts. We started back to our cabin. We spent the night playing UNO cards, Pool table, Air hockey and I guess that's it- well no - there was one important thing-talking.
I was most excited about the 2nd day plans- White water rafting. None of us knew swimming. Luckily Kichu was going on it for the first time. I had a company. But they were in it for the 2nd time and they said we need not know swimming, which was the only hope we had. We were introduced to our guide-Kenny. Kenny introduced himself to us- he was from florida and learnt to swim at the Atlantic. What else does a swimmer needs if he knows to manage the waves at the ocean!!! I felt I was talking to a great swimmer.:) We were asked to wear the life jackets, helmets and pick up our rows, all according to our size. As expected one of us had to get it wrong, because nothing goes perfect always, and as obvious, it was me again. I did get a life jacket that was of Kichu's size. I did not know what to do. Is it not embarrassing for a 26 year old to wear kid's life jacket? Of course it is!! I did not even dare to go that side, and I had already started mumbling- I never get it right, all of you have it right and blah blah. Suddenly for a minute, I was in the air, lifted from the ground by some unknown unseen power( only to me ). Rest of the gang had started laughing, which is when I knew that it was not any unseen power, it was just a guide making sure that my jackets were right. He took me in and got me a Kid's jacket!! I felt all the more ashamed when I even realised that, he just lifted me so easily. How the hell did he do that? Did not I even grow fat or gain weight? What more do I need to lament? I kept quiet till we reached the banks of the Tennessee river which flows from Tennessee state to North Carolina State and we were on the border, the most calm portion of the river. The guys were made to sit in the front of the raft and we girls sat behind them. Rafting was fun and equally tedious. I developed my biceps for the first time :). Kichu and I sat on the same side of the raft. Rest of us were on average and equivalent heights, while Kichu was exceptionally taller. Hence there should be differences in the direction and speed we row also. While all of us were in terms with that, Kichu was always a lap ahead. We always had time to collide against each other! :) Rapids were the best part of the rafting. Rapids are classified from 1-5, 5 being the best one. We were all waiting for 5s and 4s, and Kenny had such an expertise that, at each rapid he made sure all 4 of us got wet. It was so much of fun to get soaked!!! wow!! We rowed, got wet, rowed and then started talking! At one point when the river was calm, Kenny just pushed Pras into the water. I am pretty sure My3 would have had the worst shock of her life. He did not know swimming either. That is when I knew why are life jackets called 'LIFE Jackets'. They really did work. He just floated in the water. All of us pulled him back on to the raft and he was so happy. :) He had infact asked for it to Kenny right when we started off. After a wet morning and a heavy dinner at Pizza Hut, we were all ready for Day 3.
Day 3 had trekking in plans. We did trekking for about 2 miles, and finally arrived at Grotto falls, which was our end point! I was so happy to see it, not because it had anything great but just because it was a small one. I can definitely go stand behind it and take a picture of both of us standing there. One of a kind that I had seen in movies only. I also saw a stand alone piece of rock there, which reminded me of Aiswarya Rai dancing on a rock at the Athirapalli falls, for the song Barso Re, in Guru. Did I really feel want to get over the rock that I saw and dance? Well I really did want to. I somehow managed to get on top of the rock, and she climbed too. May be even she wanted to do the same :). The men quickly clicked few beautiful pictures for us! I felt I was on top of the world to have been stood on that rock in front of the falls. Sometimes, it is the smallest and hidden feelings in life, that gives one the most happiness, when expressed. Loved it a lot.
Day did not just have trekking in it. We did Go-Karting ( I got the worst car that did not even move and I came last ), played at the theme-park, sky ride, helicopter ride, 1 hour ride on horse back( I got the baby horse that was 6 years old and Kichu got a girl horse that was 11 years old) (check out the pic-now you know why I got the baby horse) and what not. Fun packed busy day! I had lots of first timers in this trip, despite being with veterans in Smoky! Here comes the final day- day to drive back 5 hours, enjoy spring, good food at home and start planning for the next trip to LAS VEGAS!
The drive was just beyond words-just too good. Reached Gatlinburg, the bottom part of the mountains, quite earlier than anticipated. We spent the whole day roaming about in Gatlinburg, waiting for them to turn up. And roaming included my first sky ride , my first motion theatre (in US), my first game stop and what not. Now I started realising one thing- the next time we go to a place, we should go to one where both of us have not been. It is so bad when you go to a place with someone, but the other person has already been there 4-5 times. The person knows in and out of the place, that he never lets you go where you want- Nah this is not good, we will go there, last time we all went there and had a great time, This place is just too good!!!!! D'uh- It was not a nice feeling. I knew this time the same thing was going to happen as I was in a gang of 4, where 3 had already been to the Smoky, 4 times, once in every season, and the 4th person was me!!
Despite these 'not so big' complaints, time flew really quick. We were really enjoying playing games, which is when we got a call from the rest of the gang, saying that they were on the way to the cabins and they have an emergency. They wanted us to join them immediately. Now this was the N th time they had been calling us. They wanted to know the route, which we had already told N times, ( N being greater than 10). Luckily the N+1 th call was not for that. Wondering what had happened, both of us rushed to get started to the cabins or atleast to where they were to help them out. We were trying to figure out what had happened through the 15 miles drive, of which 10 were up the hill. And I was driving for the first time, through the roads which had hundreds of people on it crossing every 2 seconds, and uphill. We somehow managed to reach there quickly. DO you want to know what we saw? Firstly a tensed My3. I was seeing her for the first time, we had been in touch through chats and emails plenty of times but meeting in person, for the first time. Before we could start the girls' talks, I had to get back to know what was going on. Their car was on the road and the back half beyond the curb, floating on air. The other side of the curb were the mountains. So one more inch down, all gone. Now I knew why they wanted help so urgently. Trust me it was bad. Real bad and scary. None of us had a clue of what to do. Though I did not have an idea on what needs to be done next, I knew one person who definitely would have an idea-none other than Kichu. I have heard his friends say that his mind travels at 300mph while the normal human brain travels at less than half the speed of his. So, I knew we, for sure, had the Einstein with us! He got into the game, gave his ideas to Pras, Pras just played and started the car accordingly, and here you go, the car was back on the roads. Sigh of relief on everybody's faces and hearts. We started back to our cabin. We spent the night playing UNO cards, Pool table, Air hockey and I guess that's it- well no - there was one important thing-talking.
I was most excited about the 2nd day plans- White water rafting. None of us knew swimming. Luckily Kichu was going on it for the first time. I had a company. But they were in it for the 2nd time and they said we need not know swimming, which was the only hope we had. We were introduced to our guide-Kenny. Kenny introduced himself to us- he was from florida and learnt to swim at the Atlantic. What else does a swimmer needs if he knows to manage the waves at the ocean!!! I felt I was talking to a great swimmer.:) We were asked to wear the life jackets, helmets and pick up our rows, all according to our size. As expected one of us had to get it wrong, because nothing goes perfect always, and as obvious, it was me again. I did get a life jacket that was of Kichu's size. I did not know what to do. Is it not embarrassing for a 26 year old to wear kid's life jacket? Of course it is!! I did not even dare to go that side, and I had already started mumbling- I never get it right, all of you have it right and blah blah. Suddenly for a minute, I was in the air, lifted from the ground by some unknown unseen power( only to me ). Rest of the gang had started laughing, which is when I knew that it was not any unseen power, it was just a guide making sure that my jackets were right. He took me in and got me a Kid's jacket!! I felt all the more ashamed when I even realised that, he just lifted me so easily. How the hell did he do that? Did not I even grow fat or gain weight? What more do I need to lament? I kept quiet till we reached the banks of the Tennessee river which flows from Tennessee state to North Carolina State and we were on the border, the most calm portion of the river. The guys were made to sit in the front of the raft and we girls sat behind them. Rafting was fun and equally tedious. I developed my biceps for the first time :). Kichu and I sat on the same side of the raft. Rest of us were on average and equivalent heights, while Kichu was exceptionally taller. Hence there should be differences in the direction and speed we row also. While all of us were in terms with that, Kichu was always a lap ahead. We always had time to collide against each other! :) Rapids were the best part of the rafting. Rapids are classified from 1-5, 5 being the best one. We were all waiting for 5s and 4s, and Kenny had such an expertise that, at each rapid he made sure all 4 of us got wet. It was so much of fun to get soaked!!! wow!! We rowed, got wet, rowed and then started talking! At one point when the river was calm, Kenny just pushed Pras into the water. I am pretty sure My3 would have had the worst shock of her life. He did not know swimming either. That is when I knew why are life jackets called 'LIFE Jackets'. They really did work. He just floated in the water. All of us pulled him back on to the raft and he was so happy. :) He had infact asked for it to Kenny right when we started off. After a wet morning and a heavy dinner at Pizza Hut, we were all ready for Day 3.
Day 3 had trekking in plans. We did trekking for about 2 miles, and finally arrived at Grotto falls, which was our end point! I was so happy to see it, not because it had anything great but just because it was a small one. I can definitely go stand behind it and take a picture of both of us standing there. One of a kind that I had seen in movies only. I also saw a stand alone piece of rock there, which reminded me of Aiswarya Rai dancing on a rock at the Athirapalli falls, for the song Barso Re, in Guru. Did I really feel want to get over the rock that I saw and dance? Well I really did want to. I somehow managed to get on top of the rock, and she climbed too. May be even she wanted to do the same :). The men quickly clicked few beautiful pictures for us! I felt I was on top of the world to have been stood on that rock in front of the falls. Sometimes, it is the smallest and hidden feelings in life, that gives one the most happiness, when expressed. Loved it a lot.
Day did not just have trekking in it. We did Go-Karting ( I got the worst car that did not even move and I came last ), played at the theme-park, sky ride, helicopter ride, 1 hour ride on horse back( I got the baby horse that was 6 years old and Kichu got a girl horse that was 11 years old) (check out the pic-now you know why I got the baby horse) and what not. Fun packed busy day! I had lots of first timers in this trip, despite being with veterans in Smoky! Here comes the final day- day to drive back 5 hours, enjoy spring, good food at home and start planning for the next trip to LAS VEGAS!
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