|
Nov. 26, 2006
Thanksgiving in the Smokies
| We are spending our Thanksgiving holiday in the Smokey Mountains. A friend of mine has a cabin in Andrews, NC, and she generously let us use it for the week. It has been a while since we have taken a family vacation like this...meaning one with a long drive. (Always dreaded with small children!) That was offset though, by the overall sense of excitement about going to the mountains and possibly seeing snow. (four of the five of us had never seen it) Our plan was to leave Saturday the 18th, even though I had to run 16 miles for my marathon training, two of my three boys had flag football games lasting until 2:00 in the afternoon, we had to drop the dogs off at the dogsitter, and pack the car. PHEW! We finally pulled out of our driveway at 6:00pm, drove 6 of the 10 hours, and stopped for the night.
Now, I knew my husband was ready for a break from work...but "vacation dad" came completely out at the hotel when he said, " Boys, you need to be doing some more jumping on the bed!", and, "we get a free continental breakfast, so eat till your stuffed and stuff your pockets on the way out!". Mom had to step in on that last one. :-) The kids were in good spirits for the second leg of our trip, but it wasn't too long before we started hearing, "how much longer", and, "are we there yet?" I wonder if Ma and Pa heard that from the back of the wagon years ago too.
It has been completely wonderful since we arrived. The cabin we are staying in is beautiful. It is on 2 1/2 acres with a stream. We missed the fall leaves, but the mountains are still majestic in winter. The boys have been staying busy climbing over the stream and hiking up the mountain in the backyard. We have sat by the fire, roasted marshmallows, played monopoly, and even saw snow! The first day it did not snow where we are staying, so we drove up the mountain until we found it. It was only about 3/4" thick, but it was beautiful. The entire top of the mountain was white. We got out to play in it, but after a few snowballs, we realized what Floridians we really are! Only one of our three boys wanted to stay and play, the other two were sitting in the car with the heat on full blast. It was much better the next day. We were sitting outside by a fire, and it was snowing lightly for several hours. It wasn't heavy enough to cover the ground, but there was snow coming down all around us. What a picture!
Along with seeing snow for the first time, we also saw several wild turkey crossing the street and a hunter field dressing a freshly killed deer. ( a sight I could have happily gone without seeing). We will be here for four more days, so I am sure there will be more experiences to come. I am without internet, as well as cell phones or t.v., so this won't be posted until we get home. It sure is nice to be without the distractions of everyday life though.
|
| •
Post A Comment! •
Send to a Friend!
|
Comments
|
|
|
|
Nov. 27, 2006 - I am glad you had fun....
maybe then I will forgive you for not coming to see us on Thanksgiving...
me