Trip Conclusion

On Wednesday, we did a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains. Luke was whining as we hiked. In an attempt to engage him, I made him the pace setter, except then he tried to make us jog. Up the mountain. Then, he was kind of annoyed that I wasn't really letting him set the pace. So, Thomas and Jack said they would jog with him. They ended up jogging the last 0.80 miles of the trail, all uphill, to reach the waterfall. Show-offs!

Can you see them rounding the bend?

The hike was really pretty. It was about 3 miles round trip (from the car, which was about 1/3 mile from the trial head). It ended with Laurel Falls, a very pretty waterfall. It had lots of scenic views and most of us, well, at least Thomas and I, enjoyed it. After the hike, we went to a visitor's center. It had a small museum and a gift shop and everyone picked out a souvenir. 

Next, we went to a late lunch at the Local Goat, which specializes in "locally sourced, sustainable food." It was very good. Then, we went to Walmart to pick up some dinner supplies to bring back to the rental house. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. The boys played video games and board games. Anna sat on the deck and painted and Kara and I sat with her and we chatted. It was a peaceful evening.

Thursday, the forecast called for rain. We stayed with our plan for a second day at Dollywood and it was pretty empty. We rode our favorite rides again and saw a show. It rained off and on in the afternoon and we left around dinner time to get ready for the drive home.

Thomas and I woke up at 5 on Friday morning and finished up the last-minute packing.  Thomas got the kids up at 5:30 and we were on the road at 5:45. The drive went really well. Although, we did get pulled over in South Carolina. It was one of those areas where the speed limit changed and as soon as Thomas saw the officer, he looked at our navigation, which showed the speed limit and our speed. He knew then he was the target. He immediately started pulling over and had his license and registration ready to hand over. I am not sure if it was Thomas' contrite attitude, the fact that we had all the kids in the car, Thomas' license identifying him as a Veteran, the cop's good mood, or a combination of all of the above, but he let us off with a warning. We drove very carefully the rest of the way home! The other eventful thing is we passed a car on fire in Jacksonville. It had obviously just happened, as the first police car was pulling up to the scene as we passed. Thankfully, no one was in the car. I imagine we got by with just a few minutes to spare before they would have to start closing more lanes or shutting down the highway for the firefighters to put it out.

We made it home in just under 10 hours. We have already started unpacking and it is nice to relax in our space.

For everyone's favorite part of the trip:

Jack & Luke: white water rafting

Anna, Thomas & Kori: Dollywood

Kara: Can't choose, she liked everything