Gatlingburg

This past weekend Brad and I went to Gatlinburg to celebrate diez anos de matriomonio. I’m pretty sure that means “10 years of marriage” in Spanish. We stayed in a sweet cabin with some great views. It was huge and felt kinda odd without David with us. It was our first time away together (without him or the boys) since 2002.

This is the view from the back porch of the cabin we stayed in: We did the Gatlinburg tourist trap stuff for the first time (Dollywood – fun, Splash Country – more fun, and Dixie Stampede – fun). They rode ostriches at Dixie Stampede - who would have thought? Oh and we cheered for the South and sadly we lost. We ate at our favorite breakfast place just off of the strip one morning. We tried to go swimming in one of the rivers, but it was too cold. So we sat on the edge of the river watching several stupid kids jump off the rocks that clearly said “AREA CLOSED” on the big white sign underneath these two guys. Each time they’d jump I’d hide my eyes for fear that they would bust their head on a rock. They were having a fun time and part of me wished that I was up there doing that too.
In keeping with my 5k training schedule I attempted (and I use that term very loosely) to stay on track….so I decided to walk up to the top of the resort and then jog back down to the bottom. The problem was that I forgot once I got to the bottom I’d have to walk back up. In a fit of stupidity I tried to run back up the mountain – didn’t work out too well. That’s probably why my calves are still killing me today! I thought I was going to die. But I’m happy to report I’m still here. So then I decided that I got my heart rate up plenty of times on the roller coaster and rides we went on that my heart had had enough exercise for the weekend. Since I’m sure that counts.

Friday night we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I’m such an Olympics junkie – by the way what’s up with a 7 hour opening show?…it’s always too long. The ending was pretty cool, although nothing beats the 1996 Olympics lighting of the torch.

Sunday on the way home on a whim we decided to try and find Deep Creek – a place that my family used to go to every summer when I was a kid. It was about an hour and a half from Gatlinburg and sort of on the way home. We found it and I was so happy, since I remember just how much fun it was when I was little. We rented some tubes and walked almost a mile UP HILL to the top where we tubed down. Too bad the water was low because there wasn’t too much floating going on. The first half was okay with several small falls – the first one we both flipped over….I was able to stand up quickly but Brad went up to his neck in the ice water. It was so freaking funny – I wish I had my camera. I’m not sure he was laughing, but I was! We had a good time, but next time we’ll hope for some deeper water and maybe some water that’s not 22 degrees.

David stayed with a friend while we were gone and each time I’d talk to her David said he didn’t want to talk to us and that he wanted to stay with Holly for a long time. I was a little worried when we got home if he’d actually be happy to see us since he had so much fun with Holly and her two kiddos. Well, I don’t think that boy has ever hugged my neck for so long when I first saw him. He was thrilled to see us and we were thrilled to see him. It was a good weekend for Brad and I, but we are happy to be back home with little man.

Saw this on the strip in Gatlinburg...is there really a need for 21 varieties of hotdogs? Yuck.

I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years holds for us.