Vacation 2012 - Day 6

Today we had a 9 am start time to go to breakfast together as a family. I was ready to go 10 minutes early and instead of being rewarded with 10 minutes of computer time, we left 10 minutes early. That'll teach me to be early. I think that just proved I'm right when I show up late.



We went to some pancake house place that my parents swear we went to when we were little, but I didn't remember it and neither did my brother or sister. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their breakfast of pecan waffles, and pecan pancakes and french toast. I had Eggs Benedict. It wasn't that great. The hollandaise sauce was really good which is usually the key to the dish, but instead the poached eggs were weird and they put it on crunchy toast and gristly ham.

My mom, my brother, my sister-in-law and nephews went to Pigeon Forge to get my oldest nephew cowboy boots. He did really well and got a new pair of brown ones, even though he wanted red ones at first.

My dad, my sister and I headed to downtown Gatlinburg for some walking around and shopping. We parked our car at the Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers and then took the trolley downtown.

This is my sister and dad taking a break while shopping. That's one nice thing about Gatlinburg, they put benches and rocking chairs everywhere so that you can get a little rest before continuing on.

We shopped for about an hour before my brother and his crew called to try to meet up so that we could all go to the Art and Craft Fair at the Convention Center together. Before we left, we agreed we would meet at the Convention Center. When my brother called he decided we should meet at some random place on the street. He was on the other side of the street and passed us up while walking to the Convention Center. By the time we met up, they had all checked out the Arts and Craft Fair and my dad, sister and I had lost 45 minutes of our day waiting around for them. So this led to a big fight when we met up. My brother and his crew headed back to the cabin, and my sister's crew continued shopping. After the anger from the fight dissipated we had a good time checking things out.

The day was bright and beautiful, and then suddenly it started raining with bee bee size hail. So we hid out in a shop for a few minutes before continuing on our way. After another 15 minutes the day cleared up completely.

We got back to the cabin around 2 pm and then it was time for egg dying. We did the eggs old school using vinegar, water, food color and crayons instead of buying a kit.

Then my nephew hid the eggs around the cabin. We came up with 11 eggs after the Easter Egg Hunt was over and if you ever ask me, I'm going to swear that was the amount we started with.

The rest of the night we spent packing to leave tomorrow. We are supposed to be out the door by 8 am and then we are going to the Flea Market before heading to Lexington, KY and going to the UK bookstore. After that, we head home.

Big Bogey still isn't doing well, so hopefully he can hold out until Saturday morning.

I got farther into Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. So far, his mom has died, his dad told him vampires are real and he's killed a vampire and looking to kill more.

Vacation 2012-Day 5

Today was shopping day, so we headed out early for the Tanger outlets. My oldest nephew didn't want to go, so he stayed home with Grandma, and the rest of us headed out. We spent about two and a half hours total shopping instead of a marathon session, but that's okay, we still had fun. I got a new coach purse, some new clothes, shoes, and bras. It was a successful day.

It seemed like a long day, but that was about it. I did a two loads of laundry, took a nap, and made the hard boiled eggs for egg coloring tomorrow.

We are supposed to go to some Pancake House for breakfast tomorrow because my oldest nephew likes pancakes, and then my brother and his family are heading to Pigeon Forge to buy my nephew new cowboy boots. My sister and I are headed to downtown Gatlinburg to look in shops and my brother and his family will meet up with us later. Then when we get home, we are coloring the eggs. At least that's the plan right now. Who knows how it will play out tomorrow.

This is our cabin we are staying in.

This is the view looking down our road. I think it looks pretty.

This is the Hillbilly Golf place that I remember going to when I was little with my brother and sister. I can't believe it's still there.

I've only gotten about a hundred pages into Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, it seems good, but I haven't gotten to any good parts yet.

We are heading home earlier than planned. My mom is worried about her dog, so we are driving all the way back in one day, so that they can get Bogey from the kennel first thing Saturday morning.

Vacation 2012 - Day 4

I got breakfast this morning. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. It was nice of them to actually care about me.
When it came time to make plans for the day, we split up. My parents, sister and I headed to Pigeon Forge to pick up a prescription for my sister that she didn't get refilled before she left. Great planning there, sis. Then we went to The Christmas Store. I spent way too much money on ornaments. Especially since normally, I only buy Christmas ornaments in the two weeks after Christmas, so that I can get the best deals. These seemed really expensive when you normally get ornaments for 75% off.

My brother and his family made their way to Pigeon Forge as well, a little bit later. We met up at this place that had two go-karts tracks, mini-golf, water bumper cars, bungee jumping, an arcade for big kids and an area for smaller kids that had another arcade, mini-train, merry-go-round, etc. It was a really neat place, but one of the rides was called "The Wild Willy" and the announcer would say at the end of every turn "I hope you enjoyed your ride on the Wild Willy". It seemed a little pervy at a kid's place, but okay, whatever.

That was our big activity for the day. After that, we headed back to the cabin and had fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and rolls. Then I took a nap. My youngest nephew has been having a problem sleeping because he doesn't like the pack and play, but I think he finally got exhausted enough from the last few days and will hopefully get a good night's sleep. He's been a little crabby, but he's such a happy baby that even his crabby isn't that bad.

Tomorrow we are outlet shopping at Tanger outlets. I thought it was going to be a girl's only trip, but apparently everyone is going. The only person with a shorter patience level for shopping than my nephews is my brother. He's been warned he can't hover or get a crappy attitude, but no one believes he'll be good.

Big Bogey seems to be doing better, as well. The kennel says he's eating some canned food and he's beginning to wag his tail when one of the kennel worker's goes into his cage to talk to him. He's still not moving off his safety spot on the quilt, but as least he's eating and beginning to come around. It's sad he's so miserable, though. He'll probably finally be adjusted on the day my parent's go to pick him up.

I haven't gotten any farther into Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I left the book at home again today.

Vacation 2012 - Day 3

Day 3 started with me sleeping in and no breakfast. I ate a Belvita which is a 230 calorie nutritional cookie while the rest of my family had eggs, toast and cereal.

Then we packed up and headed to Clingman's Dome. It was a half mile hike up the mountain at a 45 degree angle the entire way and it was packed with people. My brother had my almost 30 pound nephew on his back the entire way and my sister-in-law had a backpack that was probably about 30 pounds and they both smoked me up the mountain with my 7 year old nephew. My dad and I lagged behind and rested at each bench along the way and I made a few additional stops resting against a rock or tree along the way. So basically, I'm about as healthy as a 74 year old, non-athletic, senior citizen. As least I made it to the top. My sister quit right before it finally leveled out right before you get to the observation tower. I used to love Clingman's Dome when I was little but I don't remember it being so steep, although it did seem like a shorter trek for some reason.

My parents at the bottom of Clingman's Dome.

My dad at the top of Clingman's Dome.

My brother and nephew in the observation tower at Clingman's Dome.

View from Clingman's Dome.

View from Clingman's Dome.

View from Clingman's Dome.

They had a little souvenir shop at the bottom, but I only found one magnet with Clingman's Dome printed on it. Everything else had Smokey Mountain National Park. Anyway, I bought my first souvenir for my vacation.

When we were done, my brother and his family headed to the indoor miniature golf place and then the candy shop in downtown Gatlinburg. My parents, sister and I headed to the grocery store and then took naps until my brother and family got back. I made hard-boiled eggs in my new toy, The Egg Genie, which turned out great and we then turned the eggs into deviled eggs. I free handed the recipe and I'm not sure they came out right even though everyone said they did.  Later, my mom made tacos for dinner but I didn't get any because I slept through dinner.

We spent the rest of the night watching Kentucky beat Kansas for the NCAA championship. Anthony Davis is my mom's favorite player. She loves his uni brow and that he loves his mama.

The stressful part of today was that we got news that one of my parent's dogs is having a tough time at the kennel. He ate and drank the first night, but when my parents didn't show up to pick him up the next day he stopped eating and hadn't eaten, pooped or peed since Saturday. He's in a special cage to begin with because he's a little scary when he feels threatened and he's feeling threatened right now. My mom and the kennel staff decided to put my parent's other dog in the same kennel as Bogey. Dora has helped Bogey get more comfortable. They are sleeping on a quilt from home together and Bogey finally peed. Hopefully he'll continue to relax with Dora's help and all will be well.

I haven't gotten very far into Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so maybe I'll have more on that tomorrow.

Vacation 2012 - Day 2

We left Lexington, KY this morning and it was raining. Which I guess is good because it probably helped put out the couch that the UK students set on fire after the school's basketball team beat the University of Louisville last night.

We continued on our way to Gatlinburg and it kept raining until we got to Knoxville, TN. Then the sky cleared up and we had a beautiful day. The traffic was pretty bad once we got near Gatlinburg. I guess it is a popular destination for vacation goers.

This is the view from our cabin.

We arrived and my brother and his family had already checked in and settled into the cabin. My nephews were already exploring the place and enjoying themselves. It's amazing the amount of chaos that surrounds two small humans. They are so cute, though, which I guess they have to be, otherwise they'd never survive childhood.

I finished the third book of The Hunger Games and it was awesome. That is a great set of books. Tomorrow I start Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Slayer. I hope it's as fun as it sounds.

Tomorrow we head to Clingman's Dome. It's a half mile hike up a mountain, the highest point in Tennesee and the third highest point in the United States according to Wikipedia. I'm not sure I believe the last claim.