As a kid, my family of 5 would often have Thanksgiving and Christmas in the truck camper tucked away some place in the Appalachian Mtns of NC..
One Christmas eve we were caught by an early snow in the Smokys so most campgrounds were closed. We wandered down this backroad looking for a place to pull off to the side when were blocked by a gate. Just as we were about to turn around, the ranger came out of his house and asked if he could help. My father explained the situation and the ranger just smiled and said follow me. He opened up the gate, drove about another mile where he pulled into an old church parking lot. He walked over to the church to make sure the door was unlocked. He smiled at us and simply said "The church is unlocked, plenty of firewood by fireplace, just make sure to close the door when you leave. The gate will be closed but I'll leave it unlocked so you can leave at your leisure in a couple of days." Then he climbed in the truck and shouted "Merry Christmas" as he drove away. We didn't use the church as we were kept warm in the camper. Next day turned out to be sunny and mild so the snow was gone almost by the time we woke up. Us 3 kids had fun chasing the "cat" with a white and black stripe down it's back across the field. Some of you on here probably have gone by the church as it is the one in Cataloochee of the Great Smoky Nation Park.
