Summer Vacation

The past few months have been overwhelming….Covid, moving, having a baby, the passing of my uncle due to Covid. We were really feeling like we needed to just get away for a little bit, so we set up a last minute trip to one of our favorite places, The Smoky Mountains. We love the Smoky Mountains. This is our 3rd time going and I will say that every time we have been, the experience has been different. The very first time we went was in 2009 and it was in August. We went hiking, white water rafting, we went to Dollywood and watched several shows. The second time we went was in 2015. It was cold and we did more kid friendly things since we had the kids with us for Spring Break. This time, we just laid low. We went hiking and only went to one public place due to Covid, but it was great just to get out and see the amazing views that the Smoky Mountains has to offer.

A road trip with a 2 month old did not sound fun to me, especially when he doesn’t really like his car seat, so we broke our drive down into 2 days. Over all he did pretty well. We took plenty of car breaks and feeding breaks. Our half-way stopping point was in Indianapolis, IN. We had never been, so we stayed in downtown Indianapolis. That same weekend there was some type of body competition happening, so the number of very physically fit people there was insane. Back on the road for our last 6 hours of a full 12 hour drive.First night and Mason wanted to get in the hot tub. According to him, this was his favorite part of the trip. So proud of this boy for walking up to Clingmans Dome without complaining. Clingmans Dome is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest point in the state of Tennessee at an elevation of 6,643 feet. While we drove up most of the way, we did have to walk up at an incline the entire 0.5 miles and mostly with masks on, but the view at the top was beautiful! We visited The Titanic too. The last time we went, they were building it and I remember saying that I wanted to go. This time we got to go and take my boy. Of course, we visited the Christmas store. It’s a must stop for us every time we are there. Judah stayed at our cabin with his daddy, so it was just Mason and I this time. Catching crawdads in the little river that was behind our cabin. We had fun and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed. The Smoky Mountains never fail us and we are always in awe of the beauty that God created! If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it and it’s very kid friendly if you want to take kids.