Tennessee Days 2 & 3

On Monday, we went to Foxfire Mountain. We hiked to a waterfall, walked on America's longest swinging bridge, had a picnic by the river and tossed around the football.  A great time was had by all!

Kara on the long suspended bridge

They also had some fun little bridges that the kids (and I!) loved crossing. This is Luke running across one that crossed the big bridge.

We did a short waterfall hike

then had a picnic followed by football in the field

After Foxfire, we went to the Relic Room, which boasts "the largest diversity of authentic history for sale in North America." They had coins, fossils, war memorabilia, and other collectibles. Everyone picked out some fun souvenirs. Luke was thrilled to get a piece of a meteorite. Kara got bullets from the northern and southern armies from the civil war and an old coin, Jack and Thomas also got coins, and Anna got a grab bag, which had a disappointing mix. 

We had dinner back at the cabin and then went to a mountain coaster. Our plan was to go back to the one we did in May, but the wait was over an hour. So, we went down the street and did "Goats on the Roof". The wait was only about 10 minutes. It was all lit up and super fun. After the coaster we fed the goats, then came back to the cabin for dessert. 

Coaster in the background

On Tuesday, we went back to Dollywood. But, it was even more crowded then Sunday. The kids really wanted to ride Lightening Rod. We got in line 30 minutes before the park officially opened. The ride opened on time, but the kids still had to wait 90 minutes (well, 120 if you count the pre-opening line). Actually, only Kara waited. The other three all quit at some point until only she was left. Anna and Luke joined us around the 30 minute mark. Then, Jack quit about 30 minutes after that. But, it was fine, Thomas and I sat in the diner across from the ride and we shared snacks, including the famous cinnamon bread. Jack and Luke went off to ride Wild Eagle, which had a much more reasonable wait. All the kids rode something. Then, it got too insane to stay any longer--there were crazy lines for everything, including to use the bathrooms! And, I really like Dollywood, but my biggest complaint is their inability to accurately determine wait times. Every line our family waited in took approximately twice as long as the posted wait time. Once it became hard to move we decided to throw in the towel. We went out to a very late lunch outside the park. Then, we hung out at the cabin the rest of the day. The Wills lasted longer than we did, but we all joined up for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing evening at "home," including toasting smores by the fire. 

The top picture is a line for the ladies room, the bottom is for hot dogs. By the time we left, Kayce said the cinnamon bread line was 200 people deep.