Tennessee!!!

We took a short 4 day vacation to Tennessee with the Lyons side of the family this year. We sure crammed a lot in... but here's some highlights that we thought were fun!

First... we got a little behind and didn't leave North Carolina until late Saturday morning. We knew that meant we'd hit traffic... but we didn't realize we'd hit a PARKING LOT! I guess the sign that says "Check Fuel Level" should have been a clue!! The rock slide on I-40 West that happened last year still had things quite a mess. Once we got to the actual rock slide, it was quite fascinating to look at... a HUGE chunk of the mountain just wiped away!

Finally, after a spending almost 2 hours to travel about 10 miles... we were on our way again!

We finally made it to our cabin! Saturday evening we spent just hanging out, visiting, and letting the big kids and little kids all play. The cabin had pinball, a pool table, and a few arcade games that kept everyone quite entertained!

Sunday we hiked a bit at the Ogle Farm with all the kids, then spent some time at the pool. Later in the evening we headed downtown Gatlinburg to play some Hillbilly Golf!


Monday, we hiked up to Laurel Falls and spent some time up at the top... it was gorgeous, and the falls made it very cool! Afterwards we picnicked at Chimney Top and let the kids swim and play in the rapids. I think it's fair to say that Grandma Lyons was a nervous wreck... but all was well!

Monday evening we headed to the "Best Italian" restaurant in downtown Gatlinburg. It POURED down rain! While we were waiting outside under cover, our entertainment was my 2 nephews doing the Macarena dance! Hilarious and cute as ever!!

Tuesday morning, before the rest of the family left, we all headed down to the Log Cabin Pancake House... Lyons family tradition every year, I'm told. It certainly didn't let us down! Yummo!! The kids spent a bit of time on the rockers out front while the adults all said their goodbyes...

The rest of Tuesday was just us. We enjoyed exploring the mountains on our own. Took a nice drive up to Cade's Cove, then picnicked at another rapids area where the kids could play a bit, and got some good group pics of them... much to Kayleigh's dismay (she HATES pictures!)!!



All in all... it was a fabulous trip to the Smokey Mountains where we made LOTS of fun memories to share for years to come!