I'm so excited to share about our recent vacation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had an extraordinary time exploring, hiking, and relaxing in God's beautiful creation!
After a wonderful weekend celebrating Kaylee and her college graduation, we got up Monday morning (May 15th) ready to hit the road for the Great Smoky Mountains! Jeremy and Shawna had both left early for work, so it didn't take us long to get everyone and everything loaded in our van for the trip. Shawna had just had surgery and been in the hospital for kidney stones the week prior to this, so before we left we cleaned the kitchen and house so she wouldn't have to come home to chores. Then, we headed east across Tennessee!
From Jeremy and Shawna's house in Henderson to where we were staying in Gatlinburg should have only taken us about 5 1/2 hours to drive. Unfortunately, we ran into some crazy rain that last several hours of our trip and slowed us down considerably. It was unfortunate and stressful!
We spent several hours driving between 35-45 miles per hour on I-40.
We finally drove out of the rain about 45 minutes west of Knoxville . . . just in time to stop at Buc-ee's! This was Chris and Brenson's inaugural Buc-ee's visit.
Souvenirs and snacks for everyone!
As we were passing through Knoxville, we stopped at Wal-mart to buy groceries for the week. Our lodging in Gatlinburg had a kitchen and dining area, so we had decided to buy food to eat breakfast and a few other meals in, instead of eating out for every meal.
Finally, at about 5:00pm, we arrived at our condo just outside of Gatlinburg. The trip that we thought would be 5 1/2 hours turned into almost NINE hours!
To get to our condo, we actually passed through Gatlinburg and drove up a winding road (for what seemed like a long time) to some condos that sit atop a mountain. Our condo was on the third floor of the building, so hauling all our stuff and luggage to our lodging was a bit of an ordeal. However, all regret about the location of the condo was washed away when we got inside and saw the view. Absolutely breathtaking!!!
The condo had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small living room, a tiny kitchen, a dining area, a small loft area, and a balcony that we didn't allow the kids to go on. It was a little too rickety for our liking! Chris and I had used one bedroom, Bri and Bren used the other bedroom (it had two twin beds in it), and Brooke and Brecklyn slept in the loft (in a double bed). The living room had a window seat with the view above, and it was my very favorite thing about the condo! It certainly wasn't a large place, but we really enjoyed it.
Just about as soon as we got our luggage and food moved into the condo, we left to head back to Gatlinburg in search of some food and entertainment. It is such a cute town, and we really enjoyed our time there!
I love tourist towns where you can park and pretty much walk where you need to go, and that's exactly what we did in Gatlinburg. Our first stop (upon the recommendation of Kaylee and Shawna) was The Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. Yum!
Of course, all the mountain and bear decor was just perfect!
Brenson, Brianna, and Mom enjoying our pizza
Brooke, Dad, and Brecklyn
Brooke isn't a fan of pizza, so we ordered her some wings. She thoroughly enjoyed them and looked adorable eating them with Chris's hat on backwards!
Also upon Kaylee's recommendation, I had purchased tickets for us to visit Skylift Park, ride the Skylift, and walk across the Skybridge. Skylift Park was just down the street from The Mellow Mushroom, so after dinner we walked there. The kids were so excited, and we really enjoyed our walk down the street in Gatlinburg!
Brecklyn, Brooke, and Daddy
Brecklyn and I were both pretty unsure about riding the Skylift, but it was the only way to the top with the others, so we decided to go for it. Well, I should say I decided to go for it and made her come along against her will 😜.
Brenson, Brooke, and Daddy on the Skylift
Brianna, Brecklyn, and Momma on the Skylift
While those types of rides aren't my favorite, I'm so glad we decided to take it! The views were nothing short of amazing, and it truly wasn't scary at all. Even Brecklyn finally settled down and enjoyed herself!
At the top . . . Brecklyn, Brenson, Brianna, and Brooke
As soon as we arrived in Gatlinburg, we started seeing signs everywhere about bears . . . there were even signs in our condo! Much to our surprise and excitement, as soon as we got off the Skylift, we looked down the mountain and saw a bear on a parked car! He looked like he was eating the windshield wipers, but I think it's more likely he was eating the bugs from the windshield. Either way, we were super happy and excited to see it!
We did just a bit of souvenir shopping, then decided to walk the Skybridge and see what we could see. The views did not disappoint!
Brianna, Brenson, Brooke, and Brecklyn on the Skybridge
Chelley and Chris overlooking Gatlinburg from the Skybridge
Just look at that view!
We thought we saw a bear from this viewpoint, too, but ultimately decided it was our imaginations coupled with wishful thinking, haha!
View from Tulip Tower
I like this photo because you can see the SkyBridge behind us. While the bridge did shake and move a bit, it wasn't anything too major. We all agreed that we were glad we walked across it!
Skylift Park was a great start to our trip!
Brecklyn, Brooke
It was close to 8:00pm when we made our way back to the Skylift to ride back down. We discovered our tickets were for unlimited rides on the Skylift for the day, so we made the decision to ride it down, walk around Gatlinburg a little more, then ride the Skylift back up in hopes that we could see the sunset on our way back down. Plus, we all just wanted to go for another ride!
On our way back up the mountain, Chris and Brecklyn decided to ride together.
Brianna and Brenson wanted to ride without an adult (which was fine since Brianna is 13), so that left Brooke and me riding together.
Brianna and Brenson enjoying their independence
I love this little stinker, but she about made my heart stop a few times because she wouldn't sit still. She also dropped Chris's hat, and we barely caught it before it dropped below us. Sigh. Brecklyn was so scared she wouldn't move a muscle when I rode with her, so riding with Brooke was a totally different experience!
On our ride back down the mountain, Brecklyn rode with Momma and Daddy,
while Brooke, Brenson, and Brianna rode together. Eeeep!
So pretty!
It was close to 9:30pm by the time we walked back to the van and drove back to our condo, but what a great kick-off to our trip!
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