We tried the mountains this year for our family vacation from November 15th-21st. It was a 10 hour drive that took 12 hours with stops. We rode in Nana & Papa's vehicle and Josh drove the whole time.
The kids switched up some
They slept a little, but not much. They did really well for their first long road trip.
Made it to the cabin! It was up a mountain in a gated community.
It was a nice cabin and they had it decorated for Christmas
The weather was nice and a bit cold some days. Everyone enjoyed sitting on the porch.
Josh cooked breakfast a few mornings
Views from the balcony
The kids tried out the hut tub on the first morning. They said it had a musty smell.
Getting ready to head out for our first day
On Monday we went Pigeon Snow. It's an indoor snow tubing place.
They took a tube up to the top and slide down
The escalator made it easy to get to the top
The tubes went so fast down the hill!
Watching the kids from the balcony
Then they let Josh and I take a turn using the kids' bracelets
It was fun, but one turn was enough for us!
They got 30 minutes of snow play after the hour of tubing
It was like little pellets of ice more than snow
Shopping in a general store in town
We walked to The Old Mill
It's one of the oldest operating mills in the country
It was along Little Pigeon River
We found this cool retro diner for lunch, The Sunliner
The kids thought the counter was neat
It was so cute and authentic looking
The food was good and the desserts were huge!
The next stop was this huge knife store, Smoky Mountain Knifeworks. The guys found several things to buy.
Drinking hot cocoa on the porch that night
Tuesday's activity was Anakeesta in Gatlingburg.
We took ski lifts to the top of the mountain
It was a little scary on the way up. It would stop for the gondolas to load and unload.
About half way up, Hudson got scared and started crying. He was glad to get to the top.
It was decorated so cute for Christmas
A firepit to warm up by
A tree house area for the kids
We walked through the gardens
We walked through the tree top bridges
Hudson and Gianna did the mountain coaster
They really liked it
Gianna liked it so much that she went again
Such a cute little village!
The kids went back in the hot tub when we got back to the cabin. They got Cadie to get in with them, but it wasn't heating up.
The doors were open that night after dinner and some racoons were about to come inside!
Wednesday we ventured to the Smoky Mountain National Park. We drove through Cade's Cove in hopes of seeing some wildlife
We saw some deer
Hudson climbing the tree
saw some turkeys by the ranger station
There is a black bear cub in there. Everyone pulled off the side of the road to get a look.
We had lunch in a picnic area near a creek
Papa and the children decided to walk in the creek bare foot
So cold!!
Hudson was the one to fall in the water! Josh came up with a creative way to dry his shoe.
It's hard to see, but it was a mother bear with two cubs
driving through national forest
The Sinks
About to hike to Laurel Falls It was 2.4 miles to the water fall. It seemed like an easy trail to do, but it was harder than we thought.
Gianna fell along the path, but was okay.
Hudson went ahead with Cadie and Grace. They weren't waiting around for us slower people.
Finally made it to the falls!
It was worth the climb and even colder at the top
Hudson kept hiding in little crevices
We ate dinner at Old Mill restaurant that night. It was good country home cooking.
Some lights in the town area
The guys went into a leather shop
Gianna took an old time photo and loved it
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