Tennessee/Carolinas Vaca Chronicles--Part 2 (Sunday): Drizzly Day

A little orange lizard by the pool

Daddy and Fairy Girl at the Pool

Fairy Girl Hugging Smoky Bear

The view from our breakfast table at the Apple Orchard

Muscle Car Museum, Newport, TN
(one of the few times J grabbed the camera:)

The Smokies

Smoky Mountain National Park

Smoky Mountain National Park

Smoky Bear Campground

Apple Barn Orchard and Cider Mill

Sunday, our first full day was rainy and drizzly in the low 70's. We decided it wouldn't be a whole lot of fun with a 3.5 and a 5 year old to hang out in the camper---so we hit the road to do some exploring. (As an aside, we found out it rained quite a bit all day at the campground, but it barely rained and was mostly sunny where we went:) The GPS is a nice tool for exploring, though we learned, it can easily get confused on those small mountain roads--but we sure hit some beautiful scenery as a result of its so called "short cuts:)"

We started off with having breakfast at an apple orchard restaurant. After breakfast we went into the shop to look around and pick up a few of those gourmet items you find in orchards--we picked up some apples (though my guess was since apples aren't really in season, they must have been last year's stock--and according to J, they were dry). We also picked up a jar of apple butter and vidalia onion relish. Outside we saw a beautiful cabin; then I sneaked into another cute building--in it was a candy shop and craft shop (I didn't want to tempt the girls in the candy store, I'm bad enough--though I honestly didn't buy anything:) It was very cute and rustic in there.

From there we headed to a town called Newport and another called Sieverville--I'm not sure what we were looking for, but the campground owners recommended those towns. Because we were following the GPS directions, we wound up on some backroads we normally wouldn't have chosen, and found a giant Bush's baked bean plant, with a giant can of baked beans. Given our previous day's gas issues, we got a kick out of the theme continued:) We enjoyed some more pretty scenery and decided to ask the Garmin for ideas on local attractions---and up came the Muscle Car Museum----boy did J's eyes light up (more than mine in the candy store, really:). So we headed over there---J and the girls went in. Since it's not my cup of tea I decided to take advantage of the quiet time, and stayed outside to read a book (I'm still working on the first book of the Mayfair Witch series, called The Witching Hour--it's an excellent book with wonderful details, though not as addicting as the Twilight series, so I'm taking my time and have no problem putting it down:)

Apparently J had bribed the girls to be really good in the museum with ice cream, so we found yet another beautiful and very popular apple orchard near Pigeon Forge called The Apple Barn. The girls had icecream and I chose hot apple cobbler (cobbler is one of my favorite words, it just sounds so yummy:)---with some icecream melted on top--and I even let J have a few bites:)

At this point we decided the weather looked decent, so we headed back to the campground. As a note, it was Memorial Weekend--though we were in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (which has a ton to do)--the campground owners recommended not going there until at least Monday, or we'd spend our time fighting traffic--that's why we didn't hit those towns. Too bad, the aquarium in Gatlingburg, would have been an excellent choice--I'm sure it's not as great as Chicago's Shed Aqarium --but we heard it's really supposed to be very nice. Next time we're in the area, we will go there. http://www.ripleysaquariumofthesmokies.com/

It was now after 5:00 (somewhere, tee hee:) and the girls were begging to go swimming. It was slightly misty out, yet the sun was shining--it was actually a really fun time to be in the pool. J and the girls played in the pool, and I took my book to the hottub--the view was spectacular- I was sitting in the hottub and looked up to very tall trees and the beautiful Smoky Mountains--breathtaking!--I enjoyed talking at length with the campground owner (Chong O'Leary--I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw the name--like a red-headed oriental guy:) It turns out she's a very nice Korean women, married to an Irishman. They used to own a resort in Myrtle Beach, but decided to retire. They got bored traveling and took over the campground, http://smokybearcampground.com/gallery.shtml .

That about sums up our second day.

Wildlife Report: the only report today is a small orange lizard in the pool area, pictured above.

Our Tennessee/ Carolinas Vacation Chronicles --part 1 (Saturday) WE HAVE GAS ISSUES:)

Smoky Mountain National Park

The Smokies

Our Campsite at Smoky Bear Campground

A pretty cabin at the Apple Orchard where we ate breakfast.

Piper at our Smoky Bear Campsite

Pretty flowers at our Smoky Bear campsite

The Smokies, Gatlinburg, TN

I've decided the blog would be a fun way to document our vacation, including daily wildlife occurrences and funny moments. I'm going to try to do a posting for each day of our trip. Here is day one--travel day. We got up at 3:30 am and left the house an hour later. This was pretty much a travel day. I was very excited to put my new Mother's Day gift to work--my Garmin GPS. It worked for and against us (we didn't take the time to get to know it before we left ). I now understand that when you choose alternate routes, it will continue to strive to get you to the most direct/ fastest route--which isn't always going to be your choice. I need to learn how to program in an alternate route--I think it may require some software to do that.

So, I was driving in the morning, and thankfully J woke up just in time to tell me I missed the exit for I 57, ooops:) So we backtracked and were right back on track. Then, the family (not me the driver:) was sleeping away again, and I was enjoying the peace and beauty of southern Illinois (I'm not kidding, Illinois actually does have some pretty parts, not many:)--when all of a sudden I looked at the odometer and realized I had 9 MILES left of gas! (note, that means almost nothing when you're towing a camper!)--I panicked and woke J, put the good old GPS to use to find the nearest town and station. Thankfully, Centralia, IL was one mile up. I got off the exit and the gas station was CLOSED! So then I saw the sign that the town was 7 miles away--we JUST MADE IT! We literally pulled in the gas station with the computer on our jeep telling us we had 0 miles left! phewwwwwwwwwwwww! We used to have a warning beep on the jeep that told us when we had 40 miles worth of gas left--well, all of a sudden it doesn't beep until 13 miles left. Oooops.

The tank was happily filled, and off we went. I was driving again when all of a sudden we came upon a little old lady driving around 40 mph--I had to slam on the brakes (with a camper attached to us)--I did fine and threw on my hazards for the people driving behind me (so we wouldn't get hit)--and then got the heck away from her. I'm sorry, but people who can't drive the speed limit on the interstate, should NOT BE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE! To me, that's a lot more dangerous than speeding!.

We then had a nice picnic at a beautiful rest area with a park in Metropolis, IL (yes, the home of Superman, and there is a big statue of him, somewhere, we didn't look for it). The girls met a new friend named Olivia, and played with her for awhile--and then off we went again.

Our gas issues continue. J was driving, and the same darned thing happened again--we forgot to watch it, and the computer isn't working to tell us we're running low. We got down to 9 miles of gas left, and thankfully were only one mile from a gas station near Nashville.

Do I dare mention this happened to us on the 3rd filling that day! J forgot again (and so did I)--thankfully we still had 33 miles left when we discovered it!

Thankfully we had a nice day of driving, and made it into Gatlinburg safe and sound, without running out of gas:) We first stayed at a campground right at the entry of the Smoky Mountain National Park, called Smoky Bear Campground. The owners were so nice. Even though we arrived pretty late, they were wonderful, and even helped us with getting the camper backed in.

Funny Moment: and my little five y/o Angel said: "Mama--a tick bit Makayla (our neighbor girl) in the head trying to make a hole in her brain!"

Today's Wildlife Encounters: in the middle of the night, right outside of our camper (right out of the window of the side where J and I slept)--we heard this growling--purring--like some sort of wildlife feline animal---it was at our fire pit, just 5 feet from us---we actually believe it was a cougar---as soon as I turned my flashlight on it took off--I know it was at least the size of a big dog. It's probably good it didn't stick around, eh:)

My Little Mermaid

My five year old Little Angel has had an interest in mermaids as of late. She's been asking me questions about them, such as, "mama, do mermaids have soft skin or fish skin?" And she's been asking questions about swimming and how they walk, etc. (And no we haven't watched Little Mermaid in at least two years, and I remember her being very afraid of the movie when she was a toddler:). She's been asking for a mermaid barbie doll. And last night, after she went to bed (we just require that they stay in their rooms, they can continue to play, draw or read in their rooms after "bedtime")---she called her daddy and asked him to find a mermaid book. Then about a half hour later she called him back to give him her present---the mermaid art above. I thought it was adorable:)

Mother's Day

Yesterday was a very nice day. My husband and beautiful daughters took me to a nice brunch at Matty's (our local bar, believe it or not, but it's classy there:) They have a beautiful room in the back that is full of windows, and the natural lighting was incredible! They only take a limited number of reservations, so it was a nice intimate setting--it wasn't loud, and it wasn't crowded--it was perfect! And they came over and gave each mom a pretty potted African Violet!

From there we drove to Boerner Botanical Gardens (part of the same park system that has our Wehr Nature Center)--it's only about a mile from our house. We've been there to see some of the summer concerts there, have taken nice long walks on the roads and on the trails, have gone cross country skiing, and have gone to the many playgrounds (it's a very large park), but sadly we've never actually gone into the gardens in the whole nine years we've lived here! (We even looked for a house built along the park for easy access when we were house-hunting, but decided we didn't want to pay Milwaukee County taxes:) What a hidden treasure! The girls had a wonderful time running around, looking at the beautiful waterfall, climbing rocks, walking across the wooden bridge; and mama had a wonderful time with her camera:)

Biking and Hiking

The girls are at a nice age now where we can take them out to a nearby bike trail and let them ride as we walk Piper. We aren't as comfortable doing that in our own beautiful neighborhood, because we don't have sidewalks. The bike trail works out perfectly, and we can even actually get some exercise while walking now (as opposed to walking at their pace:) because we can't keep up with them on foot (while they are on their bikes).! It was pretty with some wild life and the beautiful sounds of the tree frogs; and the trees are finally starting to bud, I hope!

Spring Has Sprung

Piper the Easter Puppy

mmmmmmm Hagan Daas, The Villages

Clearwater Beach

I've taken a brief Hiatus. I've been pretty out of sorts since losing my beautiful Buddy Bear, and like to keep the energy of this blog positive. But, spring has sprung and it's time.

In March we took a wonderful trip to Florida, clocking in lots of sunshine and pool time. Easter, my dear friend, Dudley's mom very generously had the family over for a most wonderful Easter Brunch--it was a very warm and inviting day. Our family took a trip to Cave of The Mounds--the day before it was 82 degrees, the day of our trip it was cold, rainy and in the 40's so we had to go into a cave to warm up!
And other than that, I've been having lots of fun with my girl friends and band friends---thank you everyone for helping me get back into the swing of things!

This weekend is Mother's Day, and we have some fun plans that I'm excited about! Til then...

Piper Passes His Road Test!

Piper the Super Puppy!

Piper learned how to jump on the furniture yesterday. He took a running start and made it all the way up there with his short little legs--he was so proud of himself!

Piper the Big Brave Puppy

The girls brought their tent upstairs yesterday--for the past two days, Piper would walk up to the tent, bark at it, bite it, back away, stare at it--anything but go into the tent! Today he challenged his fears head-on, and there's no stopping him now!

Piper The Helpful Puppy

I wish my kids and husband were as anxious to help with the dishes!