Some Random Fun

A week ago today...we came home from Gatlinburg. We were pretty happy about it.

 We started out right after breakfast, hoping to make it home faster than we'd made it to Tennessee.

But alas, the construction got the best of us.

That was frustrating, but a little later, we passed {on the other side of the road} a horrific accident that we later learned killed 2 people. It was a pileup of six semis and one car. So scary to see such an awful thing up close. :(

On the way home, we stopped for one more meal...at Skyline Chili!!

We arrived home nine hours after leaving - thankful to be back in our own digs!

And I leave you with a few random photos from throughout our trip!!

Donuts I didn't eat but wished I would have. LOOK AT THAT ICING!!!

We got to go through some {really short} tunnels. I love them!! {Unless they're long and then I'm just claustrophobic.}

When the timer goes off unexpectedly.

May there always be glass between a shark and me. {If we must be inhabiting the same space at all.}

What? Is this not the view outside YOUR front door???

Why yes. He is asleep at a table in a courtyard in the middle of Gatlinburg. Let the record also show that while he took this nap, a deaf woman came up and tried to carry on a sign language conversation with me, and I was actually fearful we would awaken him. ??????????

It's POSSIBLE Ryan wanted to go into an "As Seen on TV" store, which should be a blog post in and of itself, but I'll spare you. This, however, concerned me:

Not Noah's Ark, but Noah Arck. And is the blanket made from the mink on Noah Arck??

Things I ponder.

Thanks SO much for taking a virtual trip with us! Hope you had fun! We leave you with this....

Aquariums and Such

Can you handle one more day of vacation? I hope so!! A week ago today was our last full day in Gatlinburg, and I wanted to tell you about our adventures! We started out with breakfast at the Wood Grill Buffet, which was right next door to our hotel. Food was good, but I always feel bad at buffets...I can't eat enough to get my money's worth!

We decided to be tourists on our last day and have some fun back in the heart of Gatlinburg. I really wanted to go to the aquarium there, so that was our main agenda for the day. I cracked up when we found our place in a parking garage, and Ryan made a big deal out of where we put our ticket. {If you missed this story...when we went to Chicago for our anniversary, we misplaced our parking garage ticket and I thought we were going to have to spend the night IN the garage...}

We did a few photo opps in town just for funsies....

That would be Ryan getting a little closer to the bears...

Our first stop for the afternoon was Ripley's Aquarium. We might have been the only people there without kids, but we had a blast! Wanna see a few pictures?

It was such a fun place! They had sharks and had huge turtles and all kinds of fish. We had a great time touring through that.

After the aquarium, we walked through town a little bit, and it began to rain, so we took a lunch break. The Thursday before we left, we talked about pizza on BLT, and multiple listeners mentioned a place in Gatlinburg called the Mellow Mushroom. We love pizza, so we decided to try it out. It was on the second floor of a building and had open windows...so we could watch the rain fall while we ate. A delightful lunch!

It rained pretty hard the whole time we ate, but it let up about the time we were done, so we headed to our next attraction, the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect in here, and parts of it were fun and parts of it were NOT. It's essentially a museum of strange things - like the guy with the biggest nose {boy did we feel better about ourselves after this!!}

There are many things to read and just look at, and then there are some parts that are interactive, which are fun:

{Sorry that one is blurry - lighting was terrible.}

In full disclosure, because I wish I would have known this before going in, there were a few rooms that were just downright almost like a haunted house. There was also a bridge that had barrel all around it rotating. I had to close my eyes and hold onto Ryan's shirt to get through that without getting dizzy. I didn't care for those parts, and if you go and are easily afraid, it just might be helpful to know those rooms exist in there. Still, overall, it was a great time.

And when we were done there, we went to the Ripley's Guiness World Records museum and walked through that too. Some of the things were the same as the Odditorium, but there were other things as well, and it was just fun to see.  

Ryan tried his hand at crushing cement blocks....

And I, in true Bekah form, took the typing test. I did really well on the first part - so it let me take a second test, but I got distracted during that one and misspelled some words. That killed my score! {Also learned that typing with autocorrect for the past several years has just taken my skills down a notch or two.}

After we left there, we did a little shopping and then headed out for our last Gatlinburg dinner. We tried a seafood restaurant, per Ryan's request...a nice place with outdoor seating called Harpoon Harry's.

And that did it for our trip...just a few highlights for you tomorrow to recap random moments and our trip home. Thanks for visiting Gatlinburg with us!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we woke up in the Smokies!! We so enjoyed our weekend getaway, and despite the fact that the weather was forecast to be rainy/stormy, we ventured forth to do some exploring! We drove the Cades Cove scenic loop, which included a long hike to see a waterfall. We did get rained on, but fortunately there were no actual storms, and the rain eventually subsided. Great day together - and it ended WITH SONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* Monday was our last full day in Tennessee. We went back to Gatlinburg and visited Ripley's Aquarium, the Odditorium, and the Guiness Book of Records museum. Really enjoyed all of those! We did a little shopping, enjoyed more delicious meals, and ended the day back on our hotel balcony drinking coffee and watching the rain fall.

* Tuesday was our day to trek back home...and it was another long drive! We were grateful for good weather and for safety in our travels, as we passed a horrific fatal accident in Kentucky. Braeya was happy {in a punishing sort of way} to see us, and we did manage to squeak out a walk when we got home. Nine hours in a car will make you desperate to stretch your legs, even if it's freezing outside!! {Guess we left the 80 degree weather in Tennessee!}

* Wednesday, Ryan went back to work, and I spent the day with some friends, enjoying their company and trying my hand at potting a hanging basket. It was fun, but I don't think it's my next career choice!  We had lunch together, which was fun, and then I came home, because I really wasn't feeling well. I don't know if I had some 24 hour bug or what, but I felt lousy!! I curled up on the couch with Braeya, who was just happy to have me home!

* Thursday evening we went to one of our blognonymous kiddo's preschool program...which is always an entertaining adventure. Dozens of kids and a stage? HILARITY. We had a great time giggling along as they sang and danced and waved at their parents. And after it was over, we got together with our friends for ice cream cake and coffee. A lovely evening together!

* Friday afternoon I went to a retirement reception for my friend, Suzanne...DELICIOUS snacks at that party!! Had fun catching up with some friends I never see, as well. Ryan and I were pooped, so we got pizza and garlic knots and had an at-home date. We did venture forth for a walk before completely crashing for the night. Ryan forgot his sunglasses, so I let him borrow mine. So funny!!

* Yesterday we had the chance to hang out with our nephew for a while...he was SUCH FUN!!! He even wanted to become best friends with Braeya, but she would have NONE OF IT. He offered her his toys, and even his beloved blanket, but she hissed and ran away. :( Even so we all had a lot of fun. And let the record show - he did not cry one single time while in our care, until we told him it was time to go. Then he cried!

Hanging Out in the Mountains

Know one thing we did on vacation that was glorious? SLEEPING IN!! We turned off our alarms and woke up whenever we wanted. It was delightful in every way.

We took it easy getting going Sunday morning, and before we headed out for some mountain adventures, we made a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts. {Something else we don't have at home.}

{Ryan had two also...he was just still hiding one in the bag for the picture. Didn't want you to think I was a bigger pig than I really am.}

The forecast was questionable that day, so we decided to drive the Cades Cove loop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I think this was another find on the Mom Creative blog, but I'd also had friends recommend this one to me, and since this was one we could do partly from the car, it seemed like a good fit for a maybe-rainy day.

It wasn't SO far away from the hotel, but it took us about an hour to wind our way there, and once we arrived, we had NO cell signal until we got back to town. Six hours off the grid was a lot for me! WHEW!!

So if you've not been there...Cades Cove is this eleven mile, one-way paved road that loops in a small section of the park. There are all kinds of cabins and trails along the way, and you can pull over to tour any of them, if you want. The views are incredible.

We found this little waterfall on our way into the loop. 

 

Never get tired of the mountain view. 

 This church is an old Methodist church...and we stopped to tour it and walk around. I love envisioning what life would have been like when churches like these were in use.

 Ryan tried the piano. I think he has a little Michael W. Smith look going on here!!

 Where are the Shaffers??

It was actually starting to rain when we took this picture, so we sat in the car for a while to see if the rain would pass, and it did.

I'd read about Abrams Falls...and it was next in the loop, so we thought we'd "hike" to them for pictures. And when I say "hike," of course, I mean I thought it would be just a short walk from the car...and then this sign:

I convinced Ryan to head back to the car for our box of granola bars and some water bottles, and boy were we ever glad later that we made THAT choice. While there are MUCH harder trails, I know, this was the hardest trail I'd ever walked. LOTS of climbing up steep hills, lots of mud {thanks to the rain that had just passed through}, and the ever present fear of bears and snakes. But the scenery was gorgeous and completely worth the sweat and rain and heat. AND the bridges. I don't like these!!

 But I did it! {Four times each way.}

 Ryan was way cooler about them.

 I could not believe my fear-of-heights self stood this calmly beside a dropoff, but look at this VIEW!!!

 

Handsome hiking partner!

Finally - about an hour and a half after starting, we arrived at the falls! Aren't they beautiful?

 There were tons of warnings about the slippery rocks and not falling...so of course Ryan scampered right out there and I inched out cautiously behind...

 Stunning. {The falls. Not us. We were rained-on, sweaty messes by this point. Ryan's hair suffered the most, I think.}

 The day was warm {in the 80's}, but the water was cold. Ryan did walk in it, very carefully, a bit. We watched several others bite the dust on the rocks...clearly they hadn't read the sign.}

 We stayed for just a bit. There was a family down there {several members} that were all having a huge smoke break, so the air was not the cleanest...which was disappointing after hiking 2.5 miles to see mountain waterfalls!! But the view was just stunning and I'm so glad we went.

Of course, we had to trek BACK...and it took a little over an hour to get back. {No rain on that trip, so it went a little faster.}

Cracked me up...on the way back, we passed a set of grandparents with two grandkids, headed toward the falls. The grandson was sprawled over a rock, whining about howwwwwwwwwwwww farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr this trip was, and his grandpa was saying, "You young whippersnappers...you can't handle anything." The kid wasn't amused to hear us say he still had 40 minutes to trek. LOL!!!!

 Hiking up..............

 WE MADE IT!!!!!

 So tired. So glad we took our food and water!!

We got back in our car and did the rest of the loop...and we only made one more stop. We stopped to look through old Dan Lawson's cabin. I couldn't imagine living in a cabin like this, but I have to think it was probably pretty fancy as cabins went, back in the day.

I was excited because some deer were having lunch out at Dan's.

RYAN was excited because on our way back to town, we saw bears in the woods. Here is the face of a woman who has just heard the following words: "YES!! BEARS!! I've been waiting all day for this!"

And with those words, he hopped out of the car, with the camera, and tried to get pictures of said bears. They were too far into the woods to get good pictures, and I was relieved to see him return, in one piece, to the car.

We went back to our hotel, got "cleaned up" - and you'll never guess where we got to have our dinner??????

You guys...it was right across the street from our hotel. Happiness. Total happiness.

We capped off the night with an ice cream treat, and headed back to our hotel to rest and enjoy!

I'm SO SORRY this was such a long post. Truly, I am. But it was a great day - and I think it's a beautiful thing to be able to spend a Sunday out in creation, being awed by all the things God has made! Grateful!