We hadn't had a vacation since Lucy was born. A chance to get away was long overdue. We decided on Gatlinburg. Neither of us had been there in the spring in a long time so we were really excited. Plus, it would be a great family vacation that would be kind of laid back....ie. a lot of riding around in the car.
We started thinking about the risks of taking Lucy in and out of the car seat so much and the logistics of all of the stuff we would have to take and it started to sound less and less like a relaxing vacation. Jason actually prefers vacations that have a lot of physical activity, and certainly the Great Smoky Mountains offers plenty of that, but we realized that wouldn't be possible with Lucy being so little. Jason decided he would just sit this one out.
He stayed home with Lucy and got to veg out on the couch for a week and the "big" girls got to go have fun!
The Drive up 5/2/12
Day 1 - We started each day at FLAPJACKS!! And it was soooooo good!
Cades Cove -
Ella's favorite part of Cades cove was the fact that she got to ride in the front seat with me! :)
We saw lots of Bears!!! There were bears everywhere! Lots of mommas with cubs. We saw 6 bears this morning and 3 of them were cubs.
After so many bear sightings, this giant turkey wasn't nearly as exciting. I don't think I even took a picture of a single deer that we saw.
We jumped out of the car to take this picture. This bear was unfazed by the 30 people that had slammed on their brakes and all jumped out of their cars like the paparazzi.
Picnic at Cades Cove Campground
AND THEN......HORSEBACK RIDING!!!! We could only find one one stable that would let Ella ride with me, not sure what that says about me as a parent or them as a stable. It was Ella's 1st time to ride and she was SOOO excited! Her horse's name was Magic...and of course, just like the last time I rode horses in Gatlinburg, Magic fell down with us on him! I don't know what it is about me attracting gimpy horses, but we were OK and Ella had a GREAT time!
After horseback riding, we rode through Roaring Fork trail. (This became a regular occurrence. It was a great time for Ella to get a nap in and mom had a praise and worship CD that was AWESOME. We played that CD over and over all weekend and rode through the trail with the windows down. It became my favorite part of each day). We were always on the lookout for bears, but I have never seen a bear in Roaring Fork.
We went back to the hotel to wash the "horse" off of us and got ready for dinner at the Peddler.
Jason sent me pictures of Lucy each day so I wouldn't miss her so much.
Day 2 -
We started the day at Flapjacks of course, then off to Clingman's Dome Overlook
This isn't the overlook, it was too cloudy to see anything when we got that high, but we stopped to take this picture. Ella was so nervous standing there. It looks like she could fall off into oblivion, but actually she would fall about two feet to the grass.
We drove to Cherokee, NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the elk, which like to group in a certain field. But there were no elk, so we went to the local old grist mill.
The were still selling corn meal made at the mill.
After that, we took our afternoon drive/nap through Roaring Fork and then we headed to Ober Gatlinburg to ride the ski lifts.
Clearly, she wasn't nearly as nervous as I was.
I love this picture!!
And the Alpine Slide!!
After that we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. Which is actually one of my favorite Aquariums!!!
There is a tunnel that you walk through that has a moving sidewalk and you can view all of the big fish! This is the way Ella insisted we enjoy this experience.
Finally, we had dinner at the Applebarn and then a round of fantasy golf!!
Day 3 -
Flapjacks of course, then we drove to Pigeon Forge to Wonderworks (mainly because it was supposed to rain, but it really is a great place! You could spend all day there if you had the time to kill.
Oh yeah, that's me.
Me again, and terrified! I thought it looked easy from the ground. I went across one obstacle and immediately turned around went back across (seriously considering calling for help) and got off. Never again!
We were getting hungry, so we left Wonderworks and went back to Roaring Fork for a picnic. The fall after Jason and I were married, we had a picnic here and he lost his wedding ring. He didn't even realize it was gone until a day later. We went back to every spot we had visited the entire trip and when we searched this picnic grounds....we actually found it!
As we drove through Roaring Fork, we decided to take a short hike to Grotto Falls (1.4 miles)
We quickly discovered that this was no leisurely stroll, and while Ella and I were doing fine, I literally thought my mother was going do keel over right in the middle of the woods. I kept telling her to go back to the car and wait on us but she refused on the grounds that "a bear might meet her on the way back and she wouldn't have me and Ella to protect her".
I saw my first bear in Roaring fork!!! In a tree!
We made it to the falls! And guess who made it with us and took this picture?
After the hike, we went to the CANDY STORE in Pigeon Forge. Ella practiced her newly aquired horse riding skills outside the store. "I wish I had a giddy up horsey, mommy."
Then we went to the Outlets and got Ella some NEW SHOES!! I love the outlets! To end or busy day, we went to Red Lobster, not exactly what any of us wanted, but we were exhausted, and no one cared. Time to hit the sack and get ready for our final day in the mountains!
Day 3 -
It was time to say goodbye to our friends at Flapjacks.
One last group pic.
One last round of golf
One last run through the outlets....and we were Birmingham bound!
Jason actually said when we got home...."Well, If I had known you were actually going to have fun, I would have gone." It probably would have been a totally different trip if Lucy had been with us, so I really appreciate Jason giving me the time to spend with Ella and to have a little down time.
