BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY

Gatlinburg, Tennessee
7/20/12

Things had been kind of stressful around our house at the beginning of this month, so Steve and I decided to take a weekend to get away.

Actually, we'd been talking about taking a weekend trip for a while, and after dealing with the long, drawn out deal with the cabinets, the whole thing with Bear, me starting a new job (more on that later,) and Steve being generally stressed out from work, we just decided to do it. The sooner the better.

One of Steve's friends from work told him that his family was planning a trip to Pigeon Forge, and that he was going to spend a day golfing. After hearing that we were thinking of going on a trip to Gatlinburg, he invited Steve to go golfing with him one day, if we happened to be close by.

We got up early this morning and, believe it or not, actually left in a timely manner. We had taken Butler to his pet "resort" the day before, so that helped out a lot! Don't tell him I said that. :). We had to drive through a lot of rain, but once we got to Tennessee, the day got much prettier.  We were listening to the audio book "Around the World In 80 Days," and just in case your curious, that is probably not the best book to listen to while you're traveling. The whole time it was on I felt like we were running behind!  We only had to make one stop, wherein I literally got chased around the car by an angry yellow jacket. I'm sure the other cars at the gas station just loved that.  The stupid bug even followed me into the car when I finally got in, but after a short freak out, we finally got him outside.

I haven't actually been to Gatlinburg since our honeymoon, and I had forgotten how gorgeous the Smokey Mountains really are. I also think that my trips out west have made me forget how green everything is out here. Everything is just so beautiful, even the kudzu!  Well, let me rephrase, the mountains and scenery are beautiful, but Pigeon Forge and the main strip of Gatlinburg are typically "tourist ugly." Tacky stores and tourist traps are kind of a scab on the edges of things, but once you get out of that, it's like Rivendell.

It took us forever to get through the Gatlinburg strip, but we finally made it to our hotel. It's right off the main drag, but far enough away that the tacky is not visible. The hotel is tall and cylindrical , and the rooms all surround the middle where the elevators are. The rooms are shaped like a piece of pie with the pointy bit cut off, which is kind of fun, but the bathrooms are tiny! The scenery is first rate, though, so small bathrooms are not a problem.

Steve had to leave almost immediately to drive back to Pigeon Forge to make his tee time, and I'm just chilling in the room.  I walked downstairs to check things out, and the hotel is packed this weekend. There is a huge family reunion being held here that I'm thinking of crashing. Do you think it would be suspect if I was the only white person attending? There is also a wedding, so I could crash that too. I guess.  I'd walk to the strip to shop or something, but we are a bit too far for that.  If Steve is gone long enough, I'm going to get into all kinds of shenanigans.

Right now I'm watching the CNN coverage of the Colorado theater shootings, which is just awful. Mitt Romney is giving a speech about it "not as a man who is running for office, but as a father..." which would be more believable if he weren't on a stage backed with a Patton worthy American flag. His speech was very lovely, though, so I shouldn't make fun.  I hate that this is happening, and it's scary since that is very, very nearby where Josh and Jeoff live.

Hopefully, once Steve gets back we can go and find something to get into. :)

(Later)

Ok, he's still not back and I am so bored!

(Later)

Freaking finally. Steve got back almost an hour and a half later than I thought. I was hungry, but I had waited to eat in case Steve came back early. Luckily it had been arranged for us to have dinner at the Pigeon Forge Mill restaurant with the family of Steve's coworker. That place was crazy busy, but we were seated relatively quickly. The food was delicious and they gave us generous portions. Very generous portions. Almost too generous. :). We were stuffed, but all of us got a chance to walk it off while we walked down the main drag of Gatlinburg's shopping area. It was a fun night, but I'm very tired.

Goodnight!