Smokey Mountians -- Day 8

Today was a sad day indeed.  It was time to head back home.  Mom and Dad slept in longer than they wanted but thought it was more important to get some sleep than to leave early.  Because they had packed a lot last night, finishing up and pulling out was not hard. 

The family has been listening to the Percy Jackson books on audio.  Mom was so engrossed in the book that it was not until she saw signs that said “Virginia” that she realized Dad was not going home the same way they came.  He decided he wanted to drive the more “scenic” path through West Virginia.  It is more scenic but he also wanted to test towing the camper through the mountains.  He knew how the old camper did but he wanted to see how this one did.  As we drove through the mountains, from my perch in the back of the truck, I could see that the foliage was starting to change as we went farther north.  Mom and Dad would have loved to have been in the Smokies during the foliage peak but between traffic and the need to have the camper ready for winter storage, it did not work out this year.  Maybe, Lord willing, another year they will be able to do it.

Smokey Mountains -- Day 7

Another day of a relaxing start to the day.  Once everyone was moving, the family headed out to the parks again.  Mom wanted to take the hike up to Laurel Falls.  She just loves water falls.  This set has a bridge and seating area at the top.  It is so pretty.  The trail up to these falls is paved but again goes up!  On the way up, some hikers coming down said that a bear crossed the path right in front of them.  But, once again, they did not see the bear as they went up the trail. Aidan was sad to not see a bear again.  While they did not see a bear, they saw a small snake and a super cool salamander. Once at the top, they took their time sitting and resting and letting the kids play in a small pool of shallow water near the bridge.  It was such a pretty and peaceful place.

On the way back to the camper, Mom realized that she had not gotten her shirt that she really wanted to get this time.  It says “I don’t have to outrun a bear, I just have to outrun YOU!”.  This was the last day they would be in Gatlinburg.  Mom dropped Dad, Riley, and Jane off on the side of the road so they could go into the shop to get the shirt for her and she drove a big loop to pick them back up when they were done.

Everyone headed back to the camper then.  Mom and Dad did a little packing to make leaving the next day a little smoother.  As Mom was doing the dishes she kept reflecting on the beauty of this place.  You can see God’s handiwork anywhere you look but in the National Parks like this is seems as if He is so much closer.

Smokey Mountains -- Day 6

Today we decided to go back to Pigeon Forge.  This was a mistake.  Mom had seen that there was a hot rod show the weekend we arrived so today should have been easier in Pigeon Forge than last weekend.  What Mom did not know, and what the flyer she read did not say was that this was a two weekend event.  Traveling fractions of miles took 20 to 30 minutes.  They went to the Lodge outlet store.  Dad bought himself a new wok in the second hand section.  He got a great deal on it but boy that thing is heavy!  I tried to use it for a hammock since I fit but it was not terribly comfortable. 

Mom wanted some boots.  She found a store that said buy 1 pair get two free.  As suspected, the prices were at least $200 each.  She wanted to check out another store she had seen but with traffic as heavy as it was, when she realized they had not gone as far as they needed to down one way before they turned back, there was no way to return back without it literally taking an hour.

Jane, Riley and Aidan had hoped to go for a second round of free black light mini-golf.  But, the traffic was so heavy they were not able to get there in time before the coupon expired.  They did get to go pick their yearly Christmas ornaments.  It seems that this family lets the kids pick an ornament to remember the year by.  It could be a favorite character they were into or something they learned to do that year.  Jane got one of a girl on a horse and had it personalized with her name and the year and on the back had “my first show” written on it.  Aidan picked one with a bear and a tree to remember that he had seen a bear in a tree this year.  Riley’s was the best.  He found one of a boy on an inner tube.  He had it personalized to say “Worst rafting trip ever 2015” to commemorate the Mohican trip.  Jane wanted to have it say “We will never forget or forgive”. 

Jane also picked her souvenir for the trip.  She had a hat airbrushed with “Great Smoky Mountains”.  After this, they were done with the congestion in Pigeon Forge and they wanted to head out of that area.  It took nearly FOREVER to get out of the area.  While Mom and Dad loved seeing some of the really cool old cars, the traffic was so heavy they could not take it.  After making it out of the area they were again in Gatlinburg.  They decided that the weather was perfect for walking that area again.

After parking, they started walking.  They went to a couple shops before finding a glass shop.  Now, this lady must be nuts.  Mom took all three of those red-headed children into the glass shop.  Apparently, Mom started a collection of tiny glass animals (each time she goes to Cedar Point, she gets an animal from the glass shop there).  They were looking for one for her collection.  Since they said that souvenirs needed to be something that reminded them of the trip, Mom stuck to her own rules and picked out a little glass bear.  Aidan, who is taking a hermit crab class in his homeschool group, found a shell with a glass hermit crab on it that he really wanted.  Mom bought it without him knowing as a Christmas gift. J  Mom also found a gift for a friend of hers.

Next, they went to “The Village” portion of Gatlinburg.  It is a little more “quaint” and cute.  There is a fudge/chocolate/candy shop there.  Dad wanted to try out some of the chocolates.  He also let the kiddos get some “dare” jellybeans.  After purchasing these jellybeans the kids went outside to taste test them.  The premise of this box is that each color can be one of two choices.  For example, the black is either licorice or skunk (yes, SKUNK).  Some of them smelled so bad I think Mom was going to be sick just from smelling them.  There was stinky sock, skunk, baby wipe, vomit, and many others.  Mom did eat half a baby wipe one but that was all she could do.  I don’t think Dad had any.  But, Dad got some hilarious video of the kids breaking the beans in half, smelling them, sticking them on their tongue and running to spit them out in a garbage can.  The laughter and giggles was well worth the $2 spent on the box of jelly beans.  The kids also gave some to the owners of the campground. It made for great fun.  Now the kids want to get boxes of these for their friends for birthday gifts – look out kids!

After all this excitement it was time to head back to the truck and then go back to the camper.  They wanted to eat and get some sleep and I can’t blame them!  It was a long hot day!