Our Family Blog

Our Family Vacation Fall 2010

Day One
It is Wednesday afternoon and the car is packed and ready to leave. The girls are counting down the minutes until Jeff pulls into the driveway and have already claimed their seats in the suburban. We borrowed a friends 2009 Suburban for this trip and an additional luggage rack for the back of the truck. This is probably the best thing we could of done. We have ample amount of room to be comfortable and this truck is loaded with every fancy feature a person could want. We are blessed.
It is 7:10 and we are on the road for the evening. Girls will be asleep before long and Jeff and I will keep each other good company for as long as we can.
It is 11:00 and we have reach St. Louis…we have decided to keep driving until Mt. Vernon Illinois.
We have reached our over night spot. Mt. Vernon Illinois. It is a little before midnight and the first hotel we stopped at was full so we headed over to the Holiday Inn and got a wonderful room for a great price and it even included breakfast. Good Night all!!

Day Two
It is 6:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. We are packing up the small amount of stuff we unloaded last night and heading to breakfast downstairs. The girls are so excited to start this day, knowing we will be seeing the Great Smoky Mountains soon!
It is 8:05 and we have finished breakfast, loaded the truck and are back on the road. How exciting…we cannot wait to see our first mountains.
We arrive in Pigeon Forge Tennessee at 3:15…but then realize there is a time change and it is actually 4:15 here. Oopps. We did not realize that. No biggy though, we still have plenty of time to find the Cabin check in and find our cabin before dark.
4:30(Tennessee Time) – We are officially guests of Brothers Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains!! We are heading to the grocery store to load up on all the cold food that we did not want to travel with. Cheese, chicken, hamburger, milk…etc. What do you know…they have a Super Walmart…lol!! TOTALLY familiar with this store! We loaded up on all our stuff and some extras. Emma got herself her first souvenir, a pillow pet. I got my first one as well..nothing but high class…an orange Tennessee Bottle Koozie!! ;o) Sarah picked herself up a Tennessee T-shirt and Ashley, was her normal self and is saving her money. ;o)
5:30 We have made it to our cabin Perfect Peace #46 and whoa….We could not be any higher up this Mountain. We are at the top and the drive up here is amazing. The cabin is beautiful and yes, I think we are in Heaven. Nothing but God’s amazing blessings surround us for as far as the eyes can see. Our Cabin overlooks the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and it is nothing less than what you would envision it to be. Breathtaking! We are in for the night and are making tacos for dinner! Thank you Jesus for allowing us to renew our souls.

Day 3
It is Thursday. This is the official first day of our vacation at the cabin. We have so many things we would love to do…but starting the day off with a good breakfast is going to be the most important right now. Everyone voted for pancakes…so that is what momma made. It is 9:00 and breakfast is served. After that, we are all showering and getting purdy(cuz that is what you say in the Mountains)…and mom gets her day of pictures. We are going to take some family pictures on the deck and then go for a drive to check out the surroundings and plan the rest of our week.
It is 11:30 and we are heading into the National Park. We are going to drive up one of the Mountains and see some amazing views. We made it to Newfoundland Gap. The border of North Carolina and Tennessee. What an amazing view and even better drive to get there. Once again…Thank you Jesus for this amazing place.
We drove around for hours on Thursday…just checking out the area and everyone noting what they wanted to get done on vacation. Jeff knew I wanted to go to a Waterfall and we knew Laurel Falls was close by…so we found it and started on our journey. Jeff thought it was a .3 hike to the Waterfall, but had it confused with another one and this hike was 1.3 miles up a Mountain. He was a great sport about it, making jokes all the way up about how I tricked him into this…I actually thought he knew the whole time. Truly funny. Either way by the time we finished the 2.6 mile hike, we were done. The girls all fell asleep on the way home. We got home right at dark and hamburgers were on the agenda for dinner…so let the fun begin!

Day 4
It is Friday and it is already hard to keep track of the days. We have to stop and think what day it is and make a conscience decision to remember. It seems time stops out here and I think we want it too. Breakfast was cereal this morning. No one felt like cooking!
Today is our first day with plans. Nothing is ever set in stone…and that is what makes a vacation fun I think. We are heading to Gatlinburg to see the Aquarium and then do some shopping in downtown Gatlinburg. We got up and out the door and to the Aquarium around 11:00. We loved it…it is #1 in the Country for a reason. Amazing! Shopping in downtown Gatlinburg was so beautiful. I would think it would compare to a quaint German town. The buildings all had so much character and the details were amazing.
At 4:00 we decided to finish up our time in Gatlinburg and head to Cades Cove. We are all hoping to see a black bear, from the truck of course! Cades Cove has amazing history behind it. It is an 11 loop through beautiful land. We finished right at dark. This would be our first trip back to the cabin at night. Sounds silly…but until you drive these roads, you would not understand.
We made it back to the cabin around 9:00 safe and sound. Snacks for dinner tonight everyone!

Day 5
SATURDAY!! We must start the day with Jeffs bisquits and gravy. YUMMY!! Amazing as always!
Saturdays always seem to be amazing on vacations. Everyone is in town and all the hussle and bussle is going on. I think that only means one thing. GO CARTS!! We took our time getting out and about today. No hurry. It was another picture perfect Tennessee day. Sunny and beautiful. We headed to the Main Strip in Pigeon Forge and found the Go Carts that Ashley had picked out for her one thing to do on vacation!! These were probably the best we have ever seen. Hills, loops, tunnels…it had it all. Sarah and Jeff and Ashley got their tickets for the many tracks and Emma and I headed to the kid rides. We all had hours of fun and really was probably the best time as a family so far!! Playing, laughing, Jeff getting in trouble for bumping the carts…I mean really..the little boy in him has come out! Well to finish up our day of fun, my two daredevils decided to ride the Sky Scraper. You really do not have respect for the name until you see the ride. It is basically a long metal arm that has two seats on the end of it. They strap you into the seats, like they are trying to squeeze the insides out of you and then start the ride. The giant metal arm spins around vertically…so it spins forward and takes you up into the sky and then continues the spin back down…the whole time the seats are spinning and rotating. Sometimes you drop head first in the spin and sometimes you drop on your back. Then when you think the ride might be ending, you stop at the very top…I guess to enjoy the view for a couple seconds, or pray to God to spare their lives. Then you know the next part…it drops you backwards to start it all over again, but in reverse. The ride finally ended and I think they both had a new respect for being on the ground. We did buy the video and I will be sure to upload it! It is a must see. Ashley and Emma got to jump on the trampoline….they belt you into a harass and let you jump really high and even do flips. Ashley had a blast and Emma blew us all away. She got hooked in…did not even really weigh enough to be on it…and starting jumping and flipping non stop. It was so fun to watch!
Being Saturday…and after hours of play…we were all hungry and ready for lunch. The only reasonable thing to do was EAT OUT!! We picked a Mexican Restaurant and I wish I could go on and on about how amazing it was…but it was just food for the belly. We all left full and that is what we wanted. I just would love to be able to type how we found the restaurant of the year or something! We hit a couple more “junk” shops as I would call them. Mountain Mannys – the name says it all. We went to the Smoky Mountain Knife Company. Jeff had bought a knife in Branson a few weeks back and a part of it had come loose. So we thought, lets swing in here to see if they can fix it. Sure enough, they could. You would not of believed that a place like this could exist just for knives. It was just as big as the average Walmart. Had multiple levels and everything. All for knives. Amazing. THEN we realize…we have left the “white” blankie at the restaurant and needed to go back immediately. For anyone that does not know. Emma has 4 blankies…all are ranked with importance. We have a purple, 2 pink and a white blankie that she carries. She does switch them out and is great about only picking one to take. The pink ones are probably ranked at the bottom of the list…the purple is ranked #2…but the WHITE BLANKIE is THE “blankie” We have had this blankie since birth and this is the blankie to not loose. Thank goodness they saved it for us and it was a quick retrieval and Emma was happy! Back to the cabin for a early return. Chicken Fettuccini is on the menu tonight for dinner!

Day 6
Sunday. It is exactly like the word feels. Peaceful, relaxing and perfect. We woke up to rain hitting the metal roof and that alone was beautiful. Clouds were scattered over the Mountains and rain was coming straight down. It was just as you would imagine. That brings us to this very moment in time…I am sitting out on the deck..total quiet, total peace…chilly, raining. After being out here for an hour, the mountains have disappeared in the clouds and now when I look off the deck you can only see the tops of the trees that meet the deck. Anything beyond that is white fog. The rain is still coming down and hitting the roof and trees and it sounds like music. I have been sitting here drinking my coffee and in my sweat pants and long sleeve shirt, bare feet…in a rocking chair and enjoying the solitude. It is Sunday. Ahhhh. We have booked the cabin for a few extra nights and are just going to stay in the Smoky Mountains instead of loading up and driving to Myrtle Beach. It just seems to make sense to stay here in this peaceful place…away from internet and people and having nothing but our family. God is Great!
Have I even mentioned the hot tub that is to the left of me right now. 102 degrees and I believe it is calling my name. Good bye friends for now. I am not sure what our day holds, but I believe this might be it.
The hot tub was calling my name. ahhhhh. Fresh shower..some makeup and it was time to go for a drive. After everyone was showered and ready it was about noon when we headed out. Everyone agreed for eating lunch out instead of PB&J. Jeff and Sarah are self appointed “Wing Buddies” They are the only two people in the family that like Wings. We had been in downtown Townsend Tennessee and passed a small off the road joint named “Wings R Us” Cute huh! So of course they HAD to eat there…and even with humor of “oh they sell purses too…this has to be gooood” IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! This little lady named Ruth owned the place and did have the best wings they have had. Super spicy and Spicy BBQ hit the spot! I went with a little cleaner choice of a cheeseburger. Ruth was a hoot and had to give the girls hugs before we left, because that would make her day she said. ;o) Great choice! Lunch was done so we headed to Cades Cove…we only had plans to drive the Scenic Route but happened across what they called an undeveloped primitive route that was 5 miles longer and took us back into town. Needless to say we were the only ones on this road to the top of a mountain…it was mud and gravel in lucky spots. 4 wheel drive was a must and it was handy having a big SUV to get us through! Still did not see a flipping bear. I guess I will have to roll myself in honey and lay out in the woods…you know, right by the signs that say “bears are active here” to see a flipping bear. I am not sure what else we could do. Lol..
Now it is 7:00 and home to the cabin. We saw that a Country Store was still open off Wears Valley Road and decided to stop in for some candy and fudge. Because it is vacation and we needed some!! What a sweet store and it was great to find out that you get to taste test all the fudge you want. Lol. 8:00 and we are in the cabin safe and sound. Eating left overs tonight!! Cleaning out the fridge. It is tough to think about being towards the end of our vacation. Good Night.

Day 7
Our last full day at the cabin. Simple morning…bisquits for breakfast, cereal and OJ! Cleaned up a bit and played several games of pool! The girls have learned several different pool games and are loving the new game!! After a while we headed out to Gatlinburg for some more shopping. The girls still had some vacation money to spend and it was burning a hole in their pocket. Ashley found the perfect case for her i-Touch and all the girls got T-shirts made with their names on it…I got my mom and dad a Thank you gift for taking care of our little Murphy…precious to us…but also a large handful of puppy!! 75 Pound Puppy!! Thank you momma and papa!! While shopping it was raining non-stop. We walked around getting soaking wet and having so much fun. Most of us had jeans on and they were literally soaking wet and our shirts were as well. The girls were such good sports and it was so much fun and a terrific family memory!! We made it back to the cabin…soaking wet but very fulfilled! Hot tub was once again calling my name and it is going to be a PIZZA NIGHT!! They actually deliver straight to the cabin!! OH YEH BAAABBBYY!!

Day 8
Our wonderful, blessed 2010 Family Vacation has come to an end. It is time to leave. It is Tuesday morning and we are hoping to be out of here by 8:30 to start our drive to Sweetwater Tennessee to go to The Lost Sea. It will be our last Tennessee activity and then our trek home begins. Our goal…to make it half way home and be at a hotel with a great pool for the kids to play in!

Fun Facts:
•I was on the deck during the day, sitting, and a hummingbird flew right up to me and hovered and then off he went.
•Something gets in our trash and we have yet to see any sort of creature anywhere.
•I got to see a beautiful woodpecker. It was as big as a crow. Very cool!
•I was sitting in the hot tub and two hummingbirds flew up and landed in the tree next to the deck! I love this place!