After a night of camping at Cades Cove in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we all drove (the twisty, windy, turn-your-stomach mountain roads of the Great Smoky Mountains) over to Bryson City, North Carolina for a day of whitewater rafting with the fine folks at Nantahala Outdoor Center.

This was mom's first-ever whitewater rafting adventure, my second (though both were on the same river), and Jim's fourth (all on different rivers).

We planned a spur-of-the-moment trip to Gatlinburg this past weekend. Mom joined us for her first camping trip in years. Last time she went camping was with dad when we were kids. (She reminded me that we used to camp in these "dad-made tents" - without floors in them!)