Blog | Mountain Trip
Poppa surprised Nana with a trip to the Smokey Mountains, and all of the kids, grandkids, and most of her siblings came along for the ride. We were only able to go for a couple of days, but we had a great time! Here are some pictures from our trip!
The drive there was fairly uneventful…until our directions took us onto a road Jason called “Deliverance” Road. 
It was a windy road through the hills that theoretically could handle two cars, but really only looked like it was wide enough for one. We can confirm, however, that it is actually wide enough for two cars, as long as one of the cars is driven by a crazy local.
Don rented a beautiful (and huge) house that required some pretty tall poles to build. Whether I was standing on the top floor balcony or the basement balcony, I could not see the ground – too far down and all covered in foliage. It felt like we were in a tree house! I tried to capture the effect with a photo, but it really doesn’t translate. So you’ll have to settle for a photo of the view outside our bedroom.
On Sunday, we mostly hung out with everyone and just relaxed. Delightful! As a bonus, we had lots of help with the girls!
Monday we headed into Ober Gatlinburg to check out the amusements/rides, ride the gondola, and generally enjoy the beautiful weather. Before they fully opened, the girls decided this bear looked friendly enough to hang out with.
B pretty much rode every ride available, and M rode every ride she was big enough for…they had a great time!
We also headed into downtown Gatlinburg for lunch. While there, we stumbled upon “the Gibbs mobile” – Jason and I are huge fans of the show, so we had to take a picture…
After we dropped M off at the house for a nap, Jason and I went back to do more stuff with B. The slide was finally open, so we quickly headed that way before the weather stopped us, and before B changed her mind. She wasn’t too sure about the lift ride up to the top, but she did it!
She rode down with Tia, so I wasn’t really able to get pics, but they had a sample slide to check out at the bottom.
B and Tia also successfully made it through the maze!
That night we had fun playing various games with the family. B had fun with the Wii.
M seemed particularly enamored with the arcade machine.
Poppa tried to show her foosball…
but she quickly got down and pushed her stool back to the arcade to make it clear which game she preferred!
Jason also enjoyed the arcade b/c it had his favorite game – Galaga! He was determined to beat the high score…and he succeeded!
On the day we left, we headed back into Gatlinburg. Both girls loved the gondola, and M was particularly fond of being able to reach the straps.
While in Gatlinburg, we did an Old Timey photo (per Tia’s request). They turned out great! And B loved dressing up!
We had a great time, and the drive home was thankfully uneventful. There was even a rainbow to greet us as we arrived home. 
