Wednesday, July 9, 2008

vacation fun

I will admit I am so far behind it is sad. We have been back from vacation for almost two weeks and I haven't even blogged all the wonderful things that happened.
The first day (June 21) we met up with Katie and her BF Brad and went to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains. The trip around the Cove is taken by a 11 mile loop road-- one way traffic. The first thing you see as you start around the loop is just about the most beautiful view. I love that view of the mountains from the bottom of the cove.

Anyway... there are usually lots of animals to be seen and we saw some. We saw deer, turkeys and many smaller critters, including a copperhead.
Brad was delighted to see his “very own deer”. He saw the deer that was most photogenic. We also visited several of the homes and grist mill in the cove, and the Methodist church (it was the one Brad wanted to see the most). The only problem with the trip around the cove was that it was hotter than blazes. I swear it had to be at least 100 degrees down in the bottoms.


After we made it around the loop we headed to our villa in Gatlinburg for the week. We were on the 9th floor much to Lois' dismay—but that is another story. After we arrived and settled in a little Mark, Kate, Brad and I headed out to the Alamo in Gatlinburg. If you ever get a chance eat at the Alamo---wonderful steak-- yummmmmm.
While we were on our way to the Alamo Lois, Amy and Ashlyn called and said they were coming up for a visit YEAH!! Amy and Katie has not seen each other in a loong time. And I think, this was the first time she had seen Ashlynn. we found out that Lois has a really big fear of heights. You would have thought there was a bunch of drunks walking down the hall. She got all panicky as soon as we stepped out of the elevator. I held her hand all the way down the corridor and she held onto the wall and to me. She was scared to death and in her fear she stated laughing and then I started laughing--- at one point she asked how much further it was. I told her to raise her head just a little to see where Brad and Katie were standing and they were right outside the door. Much to my dismay--- she grabbed me and nearly sobbed-while laughing--”they are to near the rail-get them away!'. We made it to our villa and they stayed and visited for a long time. It was so nice to see Amy and Ashlynn and have the opportunity for Katie to see them. Ashlynn is a hoot by the way. She has a great sense of humor. Gosh that is a lot of detail for one day-- but I cant figure out what I would have left out of the narrative. The next morning Mark and I slept late (actually Katie had to wake us up) to go eat breakfast at the pancake house across the street from the resort. Soon after they ate they left for the long trip back to Memphis. We didn't do much else that day-- it was just too hot. We had taken a jigsaw puzzle and Mark worked hard on it all week. (That was/is one of the hardest jigsaw's I have ever ever seen.)
The rest of the week passed in much the same way--- it was really really hot (95+) every single day so we didn't really even go outside until nearly dark. I did a LOT of sleeping andreading and Mark worked on the puzzle a lotand slept a lot.
In the evenings we went downtown (which was great because it was just a short stroll away) and explored the shops and watched people. We did manage to hit the outlet mall one day, Walmart the same day for something as exciting as haircuts, of course the Scrapbook Super Store was a big destination for me. I look forward to that a lot. We ate out and we ate in, we rested and relaxed, we went to the national park and to the Ripley's Aquarium. We came home really rested and relaxed. It was a good vacation---lazy and restful.
Then something REALLY exciting happened on the way home!
More Later----

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