Smoky Mountain Adventures

We are on vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains and having an enjoyable time! Amazingly, we are able to get a small signal so that I can get on the internet, but it is extremely slow, slower than dial-up. I tried to post an update on our adventures here so far last night and lost the post due to such a low signal. Unfortunately, I am unable to download pictures to Darrin's laptop, so they will have to wait until we return from our vacation.

Monday evening we arrived in Townsend, TN. We are staying in the Treehouse, a 3-bedroom cabin that is just big enough for our family. Each of the kids have their own bedroom, and the cabin is just like a house with two family rooms, a dining area, and a full-functioning kitchen so that we can prepare meals and eat here. It makes the cost of food much less since I was able to pre-prepare some meals prior to our trip.

Tuesday we had a big breakfast then headed to Cades Cove for a drive through the loop. Joshua fell asleep on the drive, so we only made one stop along the way. There are old cabins at various spots along the loop as well as other scenic spots to park and visit, but since Joshua was asleep we were afraid of stopping and waking him. The stops were also very busy, especially the cabins. Darrin started to stop at one place and Joshua woke crying, so we kept going. By this time Joshua was awake after only a 30-minute nap, so we stopped at one last cabin on the loop where the kids had so much fun running around. Joshua especially enjoyed practicing his walking skills on slopes and unsteady ground.

The trees are just now changing colors, so there is still a lot of green. Usually peak season hits around mid-October, but the colors are changing late this year. It is also unseasonably warm right now. It has been strange wearing shorts in the middle of October. This wasn’t particularly what I had in mind by coming to the Smoky’s this time of year, but we are enjoying the beauty of God’s creation nonetheless.

Yesterday we had plans to go to Wild Bear Falls, an indoor water park just prior to entering Gatlinburg. When we arrived we discovered that they do not open the water park until 1:00 PM, which also happens to fall around Joshua’s nap time. We decided to drive into Pigeon Forge for the morning and let the kids ride rides at Kids Country. I could have kicked myself. We left the camera back at the cabin because we did not want to take it into the water park. Now we had no camera. I did get a few shots on my cell phone. Not great quality, but better than nothing.

Rebekah rode a lot of rides while Joshua could care less. He just wanted to walk around everywhere, and he seriously had just as much fun walking as Rebekah did riding rides. Amazingly, Rebekah even rode a go-kart with me! Prior to this she had been absolutely scared of them, even at Emmy’s birthday party a couple weeks ago. We were so proud of Rebekah for her bravery, and she even enjoyed the ride!

Before Rebekah finished riding rides Joshua wanted to nurse, so I took him out to the car while we waited for Rebekah. Joshua started to drift off to sleep while nursing, but he woke up when I put him in his car seat. We had lunch in Pigeon Forge, and by this time we were all tired, so we decided to forego Wild Bear Falls. I was disappointed, but after looking at the ratings on the falls we think Dollywood’s Splash Country will be cleaner and as much or even more fun for the kids. By late spring/early summer Joshua will be a much better walker as well.

Joshua conked out in the car on the way back toward Townsend, so Darrin took another scenic drive so Joshua could nap. Again, I wish I had had my camera to capture some of the scenery.

Rebekah and Joshua are starting to get on each other’s nerves sometimes, but I think part of it is that Joshua is getting older too. The other day he slipped his hand underneath Rebekah’s blanket that was stretched out over her, and he gradually pulled her Care Bear out from under the blanket. He had this look on his face like he was checking out Rebekah to see if she would notice. What a sly boy he is! Of course, when Rebekah noticed she got upset!

Rebekah is also needing some childhood companionship. This evening a college friend of mine and her family are joining us for dinner. They have two children, so it should be fun for the kids to play together. Tomorrow we will check out of our cabin, do a little shopping in Pigeon Forge, then head to Jefferson City/Morristown for the weekend. We are meeting up with another college friend of mine and her family in the evening then heading to Carson-Newman College on Saturday for homecoming and my 10-year reunion.