Ober Gatlinburg and Over it! - Day 6

After breakfast and showers, we headed out to spend another day in the Smoky Mountain National Park.  But if yesterday taught us anything, it was the importance of staying flextible.  So after being stuck in traffic for 1:15 hrs and only travelling 8.7 miles, we decided to stop there and spend the day in Gatlinburg instead. 

We found a place to park and walked to the an air tram ride to the top of the mountain.  After the 10 min ride, travelling appx 17 mph, we arrived near the top of the mountain at Ober Gatlinburg. 

 

First the kids wanted to take a ride on the swings.

Then we took a turn on the alpine sleds.

 

 

Next we headed in for lunch and then took a quick walk through their animal preserve. 

 

We headed back down the mountain and back to our motorcoach for a quick rest time before heading out for our helicopter ride.  This was a highlight for me!  It was an 60-mile tour covering Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, the Smoky Mountiain National Park and then the return trip.  There isn’t nearly enough room for all the pictures… but let’s just summarize by saying it was beautiful!  I’m so glad we did it.  Tyler sat shotgun beside the pilot and loved every minute of it!

After our ride, we headed home and fired up the grill for some Ribeyes right from Sobies.  We watched the recording of the dinner show we went to the other night, highlighting Sammy and Tyler’s cameo.  After enjoying a bowl of ice cream, our neighbor Mr Doolittle invited us over to watch the fireworks from Dollywood (from afar).  We did and then it was a bedtime story and tuck in.   

Today was another great day!

My favorite quotes from today: 

• "I miss my cats..."(We all pause thinking how sweet that was) "But I want to stay here forever"
• (At the top of the alpine slide)  Me:  Sammy you remember how to drive these right.  Sammy:  yup.  See, there's a sign (pointing to the directions between her legs in the cart)
• Scott:  Sammy, keep the gun inside the window while we drive (pause). Wow, I thought she'd be older before I had to say that!
• Sammy:  this is my best day ever (as the helicopter takes off)
• (We couldn't figure out why Tyler didn't stop talking the entire time we were in the helicopter.)  When I asked him why afterwards... Tyler: "well, I didn't want it to be awkward... you know, the silence?!?".  We explained that it's totally ok, if not preferred, to have long stretches of silence while using pilot headphones.  To which he replied, "oh, sorry". Ahaha

Time Travel (1818 & 1912) and an Alpine Slide

We all needed a good sleep so I wasn't too upset when I woke up (first one) at 8:30 am.  It felt good to get a solid rest in.  We had a nice breakfast and got ready to start the day.  While Scott packed the Jeep, the kids helped me to pack a picnic lunch.  We left the RV park around 11:00 am heading toward Smoky Mountain National Park.

Of course, the place is gorgeous!  We stopped briefly at the Gatlinburg Visitor Center for some motor tour maps and a Access Pass for Sammy (she will get free entry into all national parks for life).  As we left the visitor center we headed west toward Cades Cove.  We made a few stops to check out the scenery.

 

At noon, Sammy decided it was time for lunch, so we had to eat.  There wasn't a good place to stop so we just ate our picnic lunch in the car and kept moving.

Cades Cove is a beautiful valley set between the mountains that is rich in history.  It was home to several families who settled the area.  The park put in an 11-mile one-way loop to tour the area which includes stops at several original buildings.  Its also said to be the best place in the park to see wildlife.  We took a hike to see inside the oldest home in the valley (dating to 1818), passed several original church buildings and learned a bunch about life during that era.  

 

 

Although we didn't see any bear, we did find 3 groups of turkeys and 6 deer.  When we were finished, we decided to leave the park on a different road.  It was actually an original path used by the settlement to exit the valley and once used as a Cherokee trail.  Today it is a one-way single lane gravel road that leads up and over a mountain to exit the park.  I'm so glad we took this trail... it was bumpy but beautiful.

On our way home, we an alpine slide park named Goats on the Roof.  Honestly, I never would have stopped based on the name alone, but it was awesome.  Sammy rode with me and Tyler and Scott shared a ride.

 

Next, we decided to get some ice cream for Sammy and fudge for Tyler.  It was just before 5 when we got back to the motor coach so the kids took a break while we made plans and I prepped dinner.

After Szechwan Shrimp & Rice, we headed out to the Titanic Museum.  It was well-worth the visit.  The employees all wore time-appropriate clothing and they had hands-on exhibits as well as actual pieces from the wreckage.  Sammy liked playing with the telephone-like listening devices we all received to listen to the tour.  Tyler enjoyed playing a video game what measured your reaction time to see if you could save the Titanic from hitting the iceberg in the 38 seconds the crew would have had.   My favorite part was the biographies on the survivors and Scott enjoyed reaching his hand into the cold water to simulate the temps of the ocean the night Titanic sank.  It was fascinating... Tyler couldn't get enough!

It was a big day again today.  There were a few tears before bedtime and we decided that tomorrow will require some down time.  

The weather has been warm... hit 90* today but with the light rain in the early afternoon, it was so humid!

Ober Gatlinburg - Day 3

We started off the morning in search of adventure!  So we headed up to Ober Gatlinburg, a local ski resort.  It was a 14 mile drive but took 56 minutes up the winding mountain road.  There were beautiful views along with wash out and debris from last nights storm.

This was a great attraction!  Not too crowded and lots of fun things to do!  We headed for the alpine sledding!  First we took a chair lift to the top of the ski slope... This was a test for Mom to keep tabs on squirmy Sammy as we hung suspended on the lift.

Then we took wheeled "sleds" 1.4 miles back down!  It was a riot!

We had lunch in the lodge, rode the swings and then headed for the Smokey Mountain National Park.