Interestingly, one year ago today, while in Sevierville, TN, we began a trip to Bryson City, NC to take a train sightseeing excursion. Leaving Sevierville took us, unplanned, through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, to its top. Totally unprepared for that adventure, we discovered that I have an incredible fear of heights—one that caused a full-blown panic attack. As irrational as it was, there was no convincing me that I was not going to fall off the mountain into the abyss below. Frank worked hard for the twenty minutes that it took to convince me to get out of the driver’s seat of our truck so that he could drive us back down to the bottom of the mountain. Little did we know that I would be adversely affected for the duration of the months on the road from Tennessee to Vermont and back to Florida. Any mountain, or hill for that matter, that we encountered was the cause of tremendous anxiety. We thought that it would be the end of our life on the road. It certainly caused us to rethink and subsequently cancel our plans to caravan to Alaska, at least for now. Further, it stopped me from writing and keeping up-to-date with our blog, because I just couldn’t write about the experience and anytime I wanted to write, the memory of the fear would come rushing back.

Well, we’re back in Sevierville, TN, and I am determined to overcome this issue. So far, things have gone pretty well. I drove through some of the area that caused an issue last year, and with the help of our friends Chris and Cherie, we drove over one of the many mountains here. Although a bit nervous, the anxiety has not yet returned. We’re actually going to do another test by returning to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in the next couple of days.

So…., stay tuned, my friends.