Gatlinburg Family Vacation: Part 2

Wednesday: We switched plans around at the last minute for the day because we thought it was going to rain.  So instead of tubing and horseback riding, three families headed for the Cades Cove driving tour.  It is similar to Roaring Fork with the historic buildings, but more open in its topography.  We traveled with Ben and Steph most of the time.  Things we saw: a few historic cabins of settlers, a few churches with graveyards, a working mill run powered by water, some wildlife (two bears, a coyote, turkeys, and deer), and lots of people.  It was a good day, but it got a little long in the car by the end for the kids. 

                                 

         

Thursday: Horseback Riding and Tubing the River (and Dollywood for one family).  This was a kids’ choice activity day.  Ellie chose horseback riding at Big Rock Dude Ranch in Pigeon Forge.  Megan chose this, too.  So, Megan, Jen, Ellie and I went horseback riding on Alaska, Maryland, Alabama, and Gee respectively.  It was a slow controlled ride up the mountain and back down.  The girls loved it. 

                  

Madison chose tubing the river with River Rat in Townsend.  Jeremy took her to do this along with everyone else (but Ben and Steph’s family who went to Dollywood).  Apparently, Madison was really brave – jumping off a rock, not getting freaked out when separated on the river rapids at one point.  She loved it all. (Because it was wet and watery, we really didn’t get pictures…)

We finished this night off by playing “The Sibling Game” (think The Newlywed Game).  This was a fun one to listen to as the siblings tried to guess what the other had said.  Madison and Ellie took home the trophy for the most correct answers!  We also played Beanboozled.  In this game, you are told to eat a jelly bean of a certain color; this color could taste like juicy pears OR it could taste like boogers.  In other words, one good choice and one disgusting choice.  While funny to watch, it smelled (and tasty if you were an unlucky one) awful.  I don’t know if I would actually recommend this one.

Friday: In the morning, two families headed ziplining at Foxfire Mountain Adventure Park.  They said it was a great time; I think all of them learned how to hang upside down and some of them did a flip off the platform to start the zipline.  Our family went to Pancake Pantry for a late breakfast before heading on our adventures.

 

We met them just to do the other things at the park – swinging bridge, tree canopy, and obstacle course.  It was fun to walk among the trees and above the gorge.  The obstacle course was a challenge!  It left us all breathless, sweating, and tired!  But we did it. 

                      

We met Ben and Steph’s family and Grandpa and Grandma back at Little Pigeon River to have one last day of mountain streams.  I got in this time and it was fun.

We had family picture night as well.

         

Saturday morning, we picked up, cleaned up, and took off by about 8am.  Nate and Jen took a different route home – and beat us by quite a lot due to an hour long construction delay.  It was a good carpooling trip regardless.  And a GREAT vacation with the family.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Gatlinburg Family Vacation: Part 1

In 2015, my parents took the family to Myrtle Beach for a big family getaway.  (I mentioned it here.)  For Christmas last year, they gifted us with a trip to Gatlinburg as a big family getaway.  We had gone last year for a long weekend with Gloria, and the girls really enjoyed it.

We left on Saturday morning around 6:30am.  I had not planned for this 8 hour drive as much as I usually did.  I didn’t have little surprises for the girls to open, no scheduled stops to activities, no bags of toys.  This time, they had books, a book on CD, paper, one type of coloring device (colored pencils, markers, or crayons) each, and an electronic device.  They watched more movies than normal, but I was okay with it … most of the time.  While it is a nice way to pass the trip more quietly, we miss out on times to talk, look outside, and get creative in tight spaces.  All things I would like to be able to do with them as teenagers when we are “stuck” in the car together.  Next trip will probably be a hybrid of my over planning our trip with this more laid back approach. 

We made it to the cabin waaaay up on the mountain around 3:15.  Mom and Dad had arrived first with all the cold foods from the stores.  We came next, followed shortly by Nate and Jen’s family.  The other two families were delayed slightly by their hiking trip they took on the way down to Gatlinburg, but managed to get their stinky selves there for supper!  The cabin was beautiful.  It had a great entry way for piling the plethora of shoes that accumulated there during the week.  There was a bedroom with a queen-sized bunk bed with a bathroom across the hall; the boys slept there.  There was a large living room, kitchen, and dining room also on the first floor.  My parents took the king-size suite on this level.  In the basement, there was a popular game room – pool table, arcade games, air hockey, and foosball.  A bedroom with two queen-size bunk beds and an attached bathroom; the six girls shared this room.  Nate and Jen took the king suite nestled in a hidden corner of the basement, and Jeremy I took the king suite next to the games.  There was also a laundry room that worked overtime during the week.  Upstairs, there were two king suites and a small sitting area.  Luke and Steph took one; Ben and Steph took the other.  Both the main floor and the basement had walkout wraparound decks to hang out and enjoy the views.  It was amazing!

   

          

  

Our week was filled with many activities, a lot of hanging around in the living room and balconies, eating great homemade food, and indulging in desserts.  While there were tense moments (trying to plan what to do), it was a really a good time to be together as a family and create positive memories.  Here is the overview:

Sunday: Low key, get settled, come up with a game plan, play in the Little Pigeon River kind of day

             

Monday: Do the Roaring Fork Nature Drive with a stop to hike to Grotto Falls.  It was a great hike to do with the kids – not too hard or too long.  They explored the rivers for salamanders, ran ahead, came back, smiled for pictures (sometimes!), and had fun.  We made it down and to our cars right as the sky was letting lose in a torrential downfall. 

                             

From there, we went to Pigeon Forge to try out Goats on the Roof Mountain Coaster.  It was a fun one; we did it three times!  Here is a video of what it was like (I would start watching about 3:38 to see it go down the mountain).  Some of the group had never done a roller coaster before, so it was perfect for first timers since you could control your speed by braking.

Tuesday: Luke, Steph, Ben, Steph, Jeremy, and I woke up at 6am to go on an 8 mile (roundtrip) hike to Ramsey’s Cascade.  Jeremy and I had done this hike 10 or so years ago.  He remembered it being a good hike, not too hard.  I remembered nothing.  It was a HIKE.  The last mile or so was pretty steep.  The cascade though was amazing.  I think there was more water this time than the last time.  I remembered the end when we got up there.  We picked up a hiking member – Dan – on our way.  He started out as our group’s photographer and then just hiked along.  Really nice guy.  On the way down, Steph (R.) and I zoomed down at a pretty good clip.  The others took their time – and were rewarded for it by seeing a mama black bear and her cub!  So cool! 

    

While we were gone, the kids hung out playing games and hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, Nate, and Jen.  After supper, we headed to Gatlinburg for a bit of shopping.  Madison returned with a Gatlinburg t-shirt; Ellie with a soccer ball squishie. 

(posts continues…. read part 2)