Tennessee - A 3 Part Miniseries (3)

A photographic recap of our family trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Part 1 - Cabin Life

Part 2 - Gatlinburg

Part 3 - The Smoky Mountains

Gatlinburg is nice, but where we spent most of our time was hiking in Smoky Mountain National Park. What a great park. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's well designed and managed. The natural features are diverse and awe-inspiring. There are trails for everyone from toddlers to hardcore hikers. It's no wonder it's the most visited national park in America.

The first day we hiked along a gorgeous mountain stream to a neat little waterfall.



It was a very kid friendly trail and tossing stones in the water was quite popular. Each morning after this, Truman woke up chanting, "I got togo throw the rocks!"



A rare mountain wood faerie. Or imp. I get confused.



Jameson insisted on being photographed as if he was an explorer who discovered this waterfall.



Are you still considered a hiker if your feet never touch the ground?



Our second, more ambitious, day of hiking took us much higher into the mountains. Um, breathtaking?



This was the easy part of the trail.



Luckily we had an experienced guide with us.



The kids were excellent. Especially the one that got to ride the whole way strapped to my chest.



Gotta stop for sammiches along the way.



Like Nike always says, "If you're going to get eaten by a bear, look good doing it." Kip and Corey, the world's best dressed hikers, are now affectionately known as Todd and Margo.



Doug and Caroline - We were going to hike up to New Hampshire to see you, but we weren't sure if we had packed enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Tennessee - A 3 Part Miniseries (2)

A photographic recap of our family trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Part 1 - Cabin Life


Part 2 - Gatlinburg

There are countless touristy things to do in Gatlinburg and nearby Pigeon Forge, but the main thing we got around to was a visit to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. The aquarium was excellent (voted number one aquarium in the U.S. according to TripAdvisor.com.) We also got the obligatory "Old Time" photo. And Kip threw away a few dollars on "Earthquake! The Ride." Seriously, Kip, I expect better from you. Why don't you come to the pool with me this weekend and I'll charge you twelve bucks to go on "Flood! The Ride." And then you can stick your head out the window while I drive you down the highway for "Tornado! The Ride."

When I roll with my kids I roll deep.



"And if you don't do what mommy says, the sharks will come get you."



"OMG!"



Always the pensive one.



Kid friendly exhibits! Righteous!



The puffer fish. Always my favorite.



To this day, old school diving equipment always reminds me of the opening credits of Scooby Doo, Where Are You!



Creepy. Cool.



Wow. Amelia looks like she's actually busted a few caps in her day.

Tennessee - A 3 Part Miniseries (1)

We loaded up the minivan and took the kids down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a five day vacation with my family. Gatlinburg is an interesting place. It's like one part Dolly Parton, one part state fair, one part "as seen on TV" and seven parts gorgeous -- all wrapped inside a pancake. Gatlinburg itself is like the Daytona Beach of the Appalachian Mountains and probably isn't for everyone, but the Great Smoky Mountains are something everyone should see at least once. (As a matter of fact, Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in America.)

I took some 400+ pictures. Threw out half of those. And then whittled it down to some post worthy shots. I'm breaking them up into three posts. As always, you can click on the image to view the larger Flickr image (and to see more images that didn't make the cut).



Part 1 - Cabin Life

We rented a cabin from Jackson Mountain Homes. It was located just outside of Gatlinburg, high up in the mountains, with a gorgeous view. The cabin was clean, comfortable and well laid out for our large group. There were five kids aged 4 and under with us and they all loved the accommodations. There was a huge dining table for our breakfasts of bacon, sausage and whatever else you can fry in bacon grease. I still miss your cooking, Kip.

Corey earned her keep with plenty of time spent distracting the kids.



Of course, the kids think Corey is way cooler than their own parents.



Though I'm thinking she doesn't really know the rules of Sorry!



This is right after the part where you have to take a shot of Jägermeister.



Four of the five kiddos on the trip.



View from the main room.



View from our bedroom.



"If I had some teeth I could chew my way outta here."



A Lego addict.



"Lay off me, I'm starving!"



Truman's refrain the whole trip: "I got togo to Tennesseeee."



Relaxin' at the crib.



"Don't think for a minute that I'm not the toughest one of all."



Say cheese!

Opening Weekend

My BFF and his family own a really big, really old cabin up in the mountains of Vermont. Every year around this time the menfolk of his family head up there for the ritual "opening" of the cabin. After being shuttered for several months of predictably balmy Vermont mountain weather, there is a host of de-winterizing tasks that need to be completed before the property is fit for habitation. And, as expected with a house that is several thousand years old, there is always a litany of repair projects to tackle. (OK, I have no idea how old the cabin really is, but it's old enough. Old enough to make the annual repair list unending.) So each year a group of guys, some more talented than others, gathers on the mountain, all with the same goal in mind: to fix more problems than he creates.

This year I got my first tap on the shoulder to join this beer swilling, tool wielding expedition into the harsh wilderness of The Green Mountain State. I have no earthly skills to speak of, so it can only be assumed that I was brought along due to a shortage of available qualified help and because they needed someone to drive the rental car from the airport to the cabin. Actually, I wasn't sure why I was volunteered to drive the rental car until, five minutes from the airport, we stopped to pick up, um, drywall lubricant.

The other important reason for bringing along a rookie like myself is because of the water supply at the cabin. All of the water comes from a natural spring further up the mountain. Getting that water to the house requires jumping in a well and opening a valve that lets gravity bring the water back down the mountain into the cabin's plumbing system. This isn't a "hot" spring and there was still snow on the ground, so you can imagine the temperature of the water in the well. The low man on the totem pole, me, is of course responsible for jumping in the well and opening the valve. This year, though, I actually had the fortunate misfortune of there being several failures in the plumbing system. I say fortunate because the plumbing challenges automatically rendered me under-qualified for jumping in the well. I say misfortune because the lack of running water for several days meant for some serious stank coming from the dirt covered, deuce dropping, beer marinated sweat machines with whom I was sharing a roof. If the paint on the walls wasn't already peeling, it would have been.

Though far from being literally cleansing, this short weekend in the mountains was certainly figuratively cleansing. Four days of wood chopping, drywall hanging, limited showering, late night bluffing, all while sustaining on Bud Heavy and encased meat products alone does something good for the soul. This is especially true when you've spent the last month living under your in-laws roof with your four small children. When it comes to problems, hopefully I fixed just enough more than I created and will garner myself a future invitation to opening weekend. Especially if it's someone else's turn to jump in the well.

I brought my camera with the intention of snapping hundreds of picturesque shots of the cabin and the surrounding natural environment. Instead, I remembered to break out the camera only a handful of times and didn't even grab a photo of the cabin or the mountain. My bad.

Oh, and by the way, jumping through a piece of drywall ain't all that difficult. It's the landing that's the hard part.



Here are some of the pictures I did remember to take. Click on them to check out larger Flickr versions.

First things first -- stock the fridge.



Just in time to enjoy the sunset.



A registry of past visitors.


No shortage of jobs.


View from the front room.



It gets damned cold at night. Best warm up from the outside and inside.



One of the elder more experienced members of the tribe.



Another veteran.



The sun goes down, the poker chips come out.



Hold it right there.



C'mon, Bug, you can do this. Two cards per player. Two cards per player...



Yes, we had chainsaws at our disposal...



...but where's the fun in that?



Die you dead piece of wood! Die!



Will wake for log chopping.



How not to hang drywall.



But seriously, who can hang drywall with Blitzen staring over your shoulder?



Meat. It's what's for dinner. It's the only thing for dinner. And lunch. And probably breakfast, too.



So what's your favorite PP&K Championship memory?



Did I ever tell you about the time I bought the wrong outlet box?



Old creepy trees are creepier at night.



Fire worshippers.



Wood chopping put to good use.



The ultimate space heater.



Front so warm. Back so cold.



Two generations of fire worshippers.


But after the fun, there's always more shitty drywall hanging to do.