This fall the didn't did not turn out to be as good as we had anticipated. The drought, combined with the wild fires we have experienced due to said drought, caused some pretty slim pickins this year. But I do have a Ladies Only Hunt coming up in January at Berry College so there may be one more chance. I'm looking forward to taking the trailer up there and spending a few days with my honey. We have a new generator that I gave Charles for Christmas so that will make it much more pleasant then in the past. It doesn't look like it's going to be as cold and damp as last year, so that's definitely a blessing.
I had never been to Dollywood before so when my husband asked me if I wanted to go up there during Christmas, I jumped at the chance. So we decided to take the trailer, take our daughter and her husband and children. Our 6 year old grandson's birthday is right before Christmas so we had the brilliant idea of making it a birthday trip for him. Needless to say, he's the apple of our eye so we were excited to do this with them.
We got down there on a Friday afternoon, set up the trailer at http://claboughcampground.com/. It was a really nice campground but we really didn't have time to explore it very much. So much to see and so little time. Then we went to the park to see the lights. They were amazing. I'm so glad that we decided to come down during Christmas, even if it was really cold. It was even more special seeing it through the eyes of my grandchildren, Sebastian & Caroline. Caroline is only 10 months old and she was very excited by everything she saw for the first time.
The next morning we got up and got ready and went to Dixie Stampede. It was a lot of fun. They did a spectacular job. It reminds me a lot of Medieval Times but with a western theme, of course. They added the Holiday theme to it and made it exceptional. If I could, I would move up there and work at Dixie Stampede. I would love to get to wear the costumes and I've always enjoyed working with people. Fun! But it would be better if I was younger. Lol!
After that we proceeded to Dollywood and it was amazing. Some of it reminded me of Six Flags and Disney World, but they also had a lot of unique things to see, they did blown glass, stone forging, wood working, all kinds of marvelous things. They had Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, Robert F. Thomas Chapel and Calico Falls Schoolhouse. Then my daughter, Amanda, somehow convinced me to ride on the front row of http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/Rides/Wild-Eagle! OMG, what was I thinking?? I did it and lived to tell about it. I guess I've finally gotten to that age when I'm ready to push the boundaries. Lol! Better late then never, right?
Before heading home the next day, we stopped at Smoky Mountain Knife Works https://www.smkw.com/ and did some shopping. It was incredible. Three levels of all kinds of stuff, not just every conceivable type of knife there is. They have geodes, fossils, stuff from past wars, all kinds of stuff. We had to get home so we weren't able to look at it all. I plan to go back to Pigeon Forge in the near future just to see everything we missed.
There is nothing better than spending time with your family at Christmas and we have been so blessed to have wonderful children and absolutely perfect grandchildren. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for everything you have given me. I know I don't deserve your mercy and grace. I will spend my life praising you with song! I love ya'll!
