The Great Smoky Mountains

 So, we went to The Great Smoky Mountains last weekend. It took us FOREVER to get there. We ended up staying in a hotel in Knoxville because we couldn't handle being in the car any longer! Everyone enjoyed a hot shower or long bath and we went to sleep.

Turns out, the mountains here in Tennessee are not like the mountains are back home. They weren't snow capped and it is much more of a tourist place than our old mountain. Our old mountain is touristy, which is something that drove me crazy about our old home. People, please do not pull over on the side of the HIGHWAY to play in a little black patch of snow!! It's gross, it's annoying and frustrating for the people that are trying to just go buy their groceries and it's gross! Sorry about that, but seriously, if all these people would either wait for the roads to be plowed or buy snow chains they could drive higher up and play in real snow, and off the stinking side of the road!!!

As we drove through Sevierville (hometown of Dolly Parton, so awesome!) and Pigeon Forge we were amazed! There are so many miniature golf parks, Ripley's places and just so many activities on the main strip of town. Rob called it "kid Vegas" because that's exactly what it looked like, a little town full of places that all kids will say, "WOW, can we go there, and there, and there, and there?!?" It was pretty cool and plan to return just to explore that strip of the road, but we'll need to save a lot of money since that place has so much to do.

We headed up to Gatlinburg, which is where Rob's work friends told him to go. Also, not what we were expecting. We assumed it would be an old mountain town with a few quaint shops and restaurants surrounded by forest. Nope, it's a huge tourist attraction full of businesses, restaurants and more kid friendly activities. We really thought we were going to the mountains to play in maybe some snow, walk around a forest and see creeks and rivers. There was no snow, but I did read somewhere there is a man-made ski park somewhere up in the Smokies, we didn't see it. We passed through Gatlinburg and found a river to explore. We also stopped at the information center and walked on a trail where we ended up at a small waterfall. We also had to pass on a bridge where a bunch of rudey-tudey (I know this isn't a word but these people were more rude than rude can convey) kids were playing and blocking the path. Their rudey-tudey parents were basically doing the same thing, it was quiet annoying. After almost stepping on a few kids and basically having to drag C around all the kids we made it across the bridge. By the time we had to cross that bridge again the rudeys were gone and now some teenagers were playing over there. This time one of the kids sat his cell phone right on a rock that you have to step on to get on the bridge. Not very smart, buddy. You are very lucky my kids aren't jerks!!

Even with all of this, our trip to the Smoky Mountains was a success because we had fun and learned to plan for spending tons of money on activities next time.

 

I have never seen a building intentionally upside down (in Kid Vegas)

Titanic (still in Kid Vegas)

Hot air balloon ride in...you guessed it...Kid Vegas

Driving through Gatlinburg

More Gatlinburg

The Waterfall. It looked larger in person but we have definitely seen bigger!

We also went to Asheville, North Carolina on this trip... that post is coming soon...