KCK Blogger: camping/vacation

June 29, 2018 at 0500 grandma Dot came to pick us up to start our adventure to Tennessee.

We had breakfast in Findlay, Ohio, lunch in Kentucky and dinner at Chick-fil-a in Sevierville TN. The cashier asked where we are from and how long the drive was:
Grandma: 11 hours, no big deal
Cashier in disbelief: no big deal???!!!
go rest your feet
Lyn: why should we rest our feet, we've been sitting 11 hours

This was our accommodation at the resort. Complete with full size kitchen appliances, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, one of which is a jet tub.

June 30, Saturday, we picked up tickets for Dolly Stampede after listening to Wyndham salesperson over breakfast. Sister-in-law mentioned about visiting Cade's Cove and since we don't really have a planned itinerary, we then drove to Cade's Cove, we drove by Pigeon Forge where the road that goes to Smoky Mountain is filled with restaurants, hotels, stores that cater to tourists and amusement parks.

We also drove by Gatlinburg, TN where there are also a lot of restaurants and hotels and pretty shops.

We drove around the Cade's Cove loop.

Old Methodist church. The two doors according to a pastor I happen to sit beside while watching the July 4th parade is because one door was for women and the other door was for men.

We saw two deers with horn still in velvet.

Had picnic where a very kind local couple shared their picnic table with us.

Made Cairn after our picnic.

Before our picnic, we hiked up the trail to Laurel Falls.

Lots of these white flowers on the trail.

Laurel Falls..

On our way back after the picnic, we used the bypass Gatlinburg road since Gatlinburg although pretty was very traffic that day and we also want to see the view using another road. We stopped by Pigeon Forge and had ice cream while watching people on rides, we were sitting in front of the sling shot.

The next day, July 1 was a Sunday. We had a relaxing day enjoying what the resort has to offer. We went pot pot golfing, swimming in the pool, played in the Splash park and had dinner at Applebees. Grandma met up with a friend she haven't seen in 15 years but found each other recently online.

July 2, Monday, we decided to go to Firefox Mountain. On our drive, we passed by a sign about a covered bridge. Took a few pictures as we crossed the covered bridge.

Below are pictures at the Firefox mountain.

Bridge to Prosperity Mountain.

Made our own cairns.

Where wishes are hang.

We hiked up to the waterfalls.

They sell flavored hard maple syrup.

Had dinner at the Great Steak and Lube.

July 3, we went swimming in the morning. Then we went to Gatlinburg to witness the first 4th of July parade. The parade starts at 1201 midnight.

While in Gatlinburg waiting for midnight to come. We went around town walking and riding the trolley. Stopped at the Hillbilly Golf, rode up the incline and played a game of hillbilly golf.

Chairs were all lined up since the first of July according to our trolley driver.

Had dinner at the rooftop of Loco Burro cantina.

Picture below is Blake Shelton's "Old Red" restaurant and theater in the making. Will open sometime in 2019 according to our trolley driver.

We were situated on the 3rd floor of the parking garage across from "Old Red". Played the flash pad while waiting for parade.

Midnight parade. We were anticipating a very traffic drive home but fortunately it was not too bad and we were back to our room at 2:30.

July 4th, after lunch, we went driving around Pigeon Forge and stopped by souvenir stores. The Island, The Wonderworks and the old mill.

We also went gem mining and had a blast having our stones named.

Then we went to Patriot Park to watch the 4th of July fireworks and a concert by Craig Morgan and an electric 80's group. Waited for the shuttle to bring us back to The Island where we parked our car. We got home at 1130p.m.

View from our balcony.

July 5, after lunch we drove around Pigeon Forge again and stopped by walmart to look at sunglasses for the "We are Cool Too" look, since Vyn got sunglasses for his band parade. Took picture of the three of us wearing the same sunglasses.