This past weekend, I escaped the house without husband or kids and left for the mountains of Tenessee! My mom and sister, along with family friends of ours, Nancy and her daughter Heidi were invited to a wedding down in Pigeon Forge and had rented a cabin for the weekend, complete with it's own hot tub so I took advantage of the opportunity and went with them.
We left early on Friday with plans to arrive there before dark which went off without a hitch. We had dinner before getting to our cabin and then had time to sit in the hot tub and get some more chatting in (after 11 hours in a car together) before we turned in for the night. When we woke up the next morning, we got ready and ventured out for breakfast and then took a drive through Gatlinburg! I must say, I was not impressed. Not too much to see there! What I forgot to mention was that when we arrived in town, we were informed that we had come into what was a called a "Cruise In" weekend. A time when people from all over fill up the town and bring old cars or just their own cars and cruise the main drag! What a headache! Bumper to bumper traffic and took us two hours to travel 2 miles! It was awful but the good thing was that our cabin was tucked away where it was quiet and lucky for the other girls, the wedding was there at the resort where we stayed so they didn't need to fight traffic to get there, just the hills...IN HEALS!
Since I knew I was going to be near the area that Brad's stepmoms parents lived, I had called them before we left to make plans to get together. So....they picked me up at 3:45 on Saturday and we fought traffic for 2 hours to get to a huge park called Cade's Cove. It was worth the trip as we saw a lot of deer, 94 to be exact, along with wild turkeys and some amazing scenery (pictures to come when Brad gets them downloaded for me) and cabins that were hundreds of years old. It was a peaceful ride and I did enjoy the sights of the mountains and valleys. It was so nice to see that there are still places God created that we haven't destroyed yet with buildings. What a quiet place of serenity and peacefulness. The only bad part about this trip was that due to traffic and the fact that we drove through this park, that meant I got 6 hours in the car and I felt bad for grandma and grandpa, along with her sister and brother in law as they still had to get me back to my cabin and drive 2 hours to get home, and it took them 3! I arrived back at the cabin at 10:15 and was happy to stretch my legs and chat with the girls awhile before we all turned in for bed.
The next morning, we left at 8:45 in order to get ahead of the cruisers and get headed back north! I looked at the clock at 8:30 and thought, I CANNOT get back in a car for another 9 hours in the car, I just can't! Well, I did and I survived! We actually chatted most of the way home again and only stopped 3 times for food and bathroom. We arrived back in Ft. Wayne at 6:30 and while I found myself longing for the peace, quiet and scenery of the mountains, it all melted away when Carson and I crawled up in my bed to catch a few minutes of t.v. before his bed time and he fell asleep in my arms! Ahhh...peace, quiet and serenity! All the comforts of home!
Thank you mom for taking me and covering most of my expenses! I appreciate it so much and thank you to Jen, Heidi and Nancy for letting me tag along! I loved spending time with you girls again and getting away for awhile!
Grandma and grandpa, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and get me to show me around and for dinner! It was so nice to see you again!
And before I close, thank you, Brad! He took on the weekend with both kids and no help and it went great which was a huge relief for me. It was nice to get away and know the kids are getting to that age where it is possible for one adult to take care of them for an extended amount of time and not miss the extra help too much! It really helped to take away the guilt I felt for leaving him alone for that long! Thank you, Brad for being the husband you are to me and the daddy you are to our kids! I could never have married any better as I got the best there is in you! I love you!
Monday, April 20, 2009
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2 comments:
You are too cute, Stac! I love reading your blog! You and Brad give me hope that maybe there is still a good guy out there for me. :)
that's great that you were able to get out!!! did you go to dollywood?! ;) i went there as a young kid, and have gone there several times for my job. it's actually kind of fun and everyone is full of southern hospitality! but yes -- gatlinburg is not that impressive. even as a child i remember it being very touristy - to the point of near trashiness. sigh.
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