Our First Trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, Tn July 2011

Saying Goodbye to the Smoky's..


I must have been missing Florida we all ordered shell fish..lol
Stuffed Shrimp & a Stuffed Mouth..lol
Our last night there we ate at Bubba Gump. Delicious!!

Cutest Cloggers ever, these poor girls tap there feet off every night it seemed. One gal's shoes were falling apart. I started to feel bad for them..

Look at the smoke on the mountains, nah..clouds..



There's tons of places where they carve stuff from wood..love it!

Tubing the Little River in Townsend. The water was so muddy looking cause it had just rained and the water was moving pretty quickly. We had left the camera in the car.. this was us as we were leaving..we had a blast..







Gem Mining, we got a 35lb bucket of assorted gems. The girls got a bunch of treasures to take home.


On the River, we had a super fun guide "Papa Mark" he took us through the rapids and spun the boat 360'. Did some tricks, High 5 with our paddles, even splash wars with the other rafters..


Loading up the bus to take us to Upper Pigeon River to go Rafting..So exciting. We can't wait to go back and do this again.





Cabins were so old, dating back to the 1800's.
Deer!



Butterfly!





Deer!






Entering Cades Cove, 11 mile drive of preserved land with cabins, water mill, churches, we saw deer, horses, and lots of tennessee..

Cold..and slippery..


Mallory wanted to do Gymnastics on every log..lol





Laurel Falls!



The waterfall!
Does that bite..
Bee's...run





Time for a Hike, we stopped at Laurel Falls and walked back down. Up hill the whole way there.




Riding the chair lift to the top of the peak. At night!


Amaze n' maze, the girls had to go back and do it again to beat there scores.


This is the replica of the Barbie Dream House.



Lets ride it again..again..


Hanging out playing for the crowd.










Water Turtle.
Owl.
Possums.

Squirrel!
Bear Skull.
River Otters, once completely extincted and now they are thriving here.
Bears!

Mallory never has a problem making new friends!
And we're off..


Getting ready..
We made it safely to the Alpine Slide, see nothing to worry.


Look how far away we are from them, Oh my gosh what if one of them slip out.. flipping out..but having fun..
don't look down..zooming in. on the kids.
made it..yes!
We are about to jump on the chair lift for the first time..letting the kids take off here on there own..




Incredible Views we road it twice. This thing takes you up 2.1 miles up the mountains to a little place where there is lunch, rides, and bears.

Cutest baby aboard!


Waiting for the Aerial Tram.

Our street..

Replica of the sky slops, small miniature's, love how they do that..
Ober Gatlinburg, this guy was funny..


I want a rock collection like that. Turtles!! so cute..
Then it started..rock collecting..can't take them all home guys. sorry..
Bear Hugs.



Love, love the old candy shops, making taffy, fudge. Tons of candle making. Arts and crafts.
Calling all Antique road shows..how much can I get for this phone..cool.



Here we go..lol




Dinosaur ride..not a bit scary..
First night out we ate at TGI Friday's, good food and nice server.

Moonshine Distillery!
Walking the strip.

Free trolley!
Arriving at destination. Gatlinburg, TN.


Driving through Cherokee, NC. There were these huge painted bears decorating the streets, people tubing in the river running through the town, Indian decor and art shops very cool.

Our first glimpse of the Smokey Mountains..

On the road again..