Gatlinburg

Tennessee!!  Ryan's parents generously let us trade in a week of their timeshare for our week in Tennessee.  Thank you, Cathy and Verlyn!  We stayed in a two bedroom/two bathroom cabin in Gatlinburg.  It was a great cabin with a beautiful view. 

And while everything was beautiful and the place was great, the forecast was not.  It was calling for 80-90% rain for our entire trip.  We decided to trudge ahead with all of our plans despite the weather.  It never stormed, only rained, and we were not really impacted by the weather.  Well, except we mostly used the indoor pool and the state of my hair was a bit crazy.... I do not wear wet hair well :)

Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium

We loved this place.  Everything was so close up and interactive.  We went back twice in the same day on the same tickets to check everything out.  Layla was still asking at the end of the trip to go back again.  I wish it was closer to us!

 

 

 

4th of July!

We traveled through the Smoky Mountain National Park for most of the day on the 4th.  They are beautiful.  I loved all of the water (waterfalls, streams, creeks, rivers) and watching all of the people exploring.  We mostly toured in our car and got out to explore at a few spots.  Our only disappointment was not seeing a bear.  We really wanted to see a bear while we were driving through.  Instead we saw a deer, a raccoon and a squirrel.  We think everything exciting must have been napping!

Cades Cove

 

 

 

Layla and I went horseback riding (Mr. Jack  is actually a mule!) through a trail in the Smokies.  Layla and I had fun and I was proud of Layla for being so brave to do this with me.

Swimming!

Dollywood

We really had a fun time at Dollywood.  We took advantage of the "come after 3 p.m. and get the second day for free" promotion.  Our favorites were the rides, games, the steam engine train and the fireworks. 

 

We had a great first road trip.  We hope to go back to the Smokies when the kids are older so we can explore more of the mountains and ride the roller coasters at Dollywood :)  And if we are there for the 4th of July, we can hit the midnight 4th of July parade next time!