Monday, November 17, 2008

Smoky Mountains Retreat

After reading about Coach Terry's marathon, you know that I just returned from a long weekend in Eastern Tennessee. Chasen and I went with his longtime friend, wife and THREE sons (5 1/2, 3, 3 months). After just shy of seven hours in the car, we arrived in Dandridge, TN on Lake Douglas!

Our 3-night digs on the lake. The family of 5 has the larger version of my red car with third row seating. We inspired them! Ha.

The first night, Thursday, we ate at a restaurant on the lake. After cooking a big breakfast on Friday morning, we all headed into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. What an area! Chasen called it Family Vegas. We will definitely return one day with Isaac! We walked TONS there.

Friday night we cooked at the cabin and watched a movie. I was pooped, so I turned in early. Imagine that...

I thought I'd get a run/walk/hike in while I was there, but no such luck. We were going going going. On Saturday I provided marathon course support for Coach Terry (his account is here). After that I met back up with the gang in Pigeon Forge and walked another zillion miles.

Chasen looks after Baby Cooper. He is a natural, I tell ya! He also fed him. But Cooper only spit up on ME.

Here we are on top of a mountain in Gatlinburg. We rode the gondola up there! The 5 1/2 year old rode with us, and I held onto him for dear life as there wasn't much keeping us in the seat.

Beautiful scenery!

Saturday night, our final night, we had a great meal in Gatlinburg. And did I mention that you can't walk five feet in this part of the world without passing a FUDGE stand? Needless to say, my first meal back at home was salad.

We drove home on Sunday in record time. Just like our trip out there, we stopped on the way home for lunch at the San Antonio Taco Company in Nashville. Yum! I slept nearly the entire ride home. Can you imagine?

When we got home this generous gift was on our front porch. It's a baby gym (which I registered for) from my longtime friend Martina! THANKS, Martina!

Baby Isaac can be quite the active little guy now. Ha!

Now back to the real world. Blech!

10 comments:

Arland said...

That cabin looks wonderful. I love the smokey mountains.

Tammy said...

Great pics!! Looks like you had a great time, it must have been a nice break from your job. You look wonderful by the way.

mrjwhit~ said...

Thanks for the nice comments on my blog. I have "met" David Goggins. He is a major motivation. I'd be honored to be in the same book as DG one day.

ShirleyPerly said...

What a LOVELY getaway! I've never been to the Smokey Mtns so I really enjoyed the photos. If I'm not driving, I often sleep in a car. Same thing on a plane :-)

Tom in Tennessee said...

I work for Pigeon Forge Tourism, and we hope you'll make the Smokies a frequent destination. We'll even steer you to fudge locations you didn't find this time. For trip planning, check www.MyPigeonForge.com. There's even an article called "Nine Ways To Save."--Tom Adkinson

P.O.M. said...

THat sounds so relaxing! I so need a nice mountain vaca!

Petraruns said...

You look fabulous and you both really seem to have enjoyed yourself. Pretty spot and great job fitting Coach Terry's race in there with the rest... And coming home to a present is ALWAYS nice.

Jenn said...

Beautiful TN...It looks so much like home sniff sniff! I miss the east coast. Have a great weekend!

Bev said...

You guys sure have a lot of fun traveling. Baby Isaac will be a lucky kiddo. You're looking great! And the fudge sounded really good.

Cheryl said...

I was through those same mountains this summer and everyone needs to at least drive through them. They are simply beautiful, what a nice weekend, sounds jam packed or should I say "fudge packed" HA!