DAYS 1091 - 1095...
For our third anniversary we traveled to Pigeon
Forge, Tennessee. Brian was there several years ago, had gone White
Water Rafting, and always wanted to go back and do it again. We
arrived on Saturday evening, the fourth of June and spent the next three
days and four nights having a blast!
 We stayed at the EconoLodge Riverside located
right on the parkway with the
Little Pigeon River flowing behind us.
After checking into the hotel, we walked
down to a nearby restaurant and ate dinner, then hopped on the trolley and
rode it through its entire route so we could get a glimpse of what all was
out there and where.
Sunday morning, June 5th, we headed out for
a game of Par 3 Golf. That first swing is so cool!
Vicki had never played golf in her
life (aside from miniature golf ) and even though she only made par
 once,
she totally enjoyed the game.
Brian, having played golf several times before, did much better
:-) Par 3 Golf is like miniature golf for big kids!
 After our game of golf, we hopped in the van and
drove over to Sevierville for a helicopter ride. This was not something Vicki was looking
forward to at all, and as a matter of fact, as soon as we took off she was
ready to land! But the sheer thrill of the ride quickly made her
fears disappear and we enjoyed a short but beautiful and exciting tour of
Pigeon Forge and the surrounding area.
Back to the hotel for a quick swim and shower,
then it was off to The Dixie Stampede for dinner and show.
Stampeding buffalo, ostrich races, chicken chases... it was both funny and
fun and the food was delicious.
What a totally awesome first day! :-D
 Day two, Monday, June 6th, found us back on
the trolley, this time heading to Gatlinburg. Once there, we spent most of
the day just walking up and down the main street, window shopping and
allowing ourselves to be drawn in to a few tourist traps. We
intentionally avoided everything "Ripleys" and instead chose to take a
tram ride up the mountain to Ober
Gatlinburg. Once there, we took a
chairlift even higher and then
hopped on the Alpine Slide for the
 1800 foot ride back down. What fun!
Vicki bought one of those
key chains that they write on rice for you.
It says "Brian Vicki Gatlinburg TN 2005". Five lines... totally
legible... no kidding! Back to town in time to catch the show at the
Comedy Barn (which was SO funny!) and we got to purchase a DVD of the live
show we had just seen. Then it
was back to the hotel with another fantabulous day behind us :-)
 Day three, Tuesday, June 7th..... the day we have
been waiting for.... what we actually came here for.....
White Water Rafting! An
hours drive through the beautiful mountains and we arrived at "Rafting in
the Smokies" for a one and a half hour trip down the Big Pigeon River.
This is where we took our traditional
self portrait. Twelve class
three rapids.... three class four rapids.... Brian was excited... Vicki
 was nervous.... the ride was AWESOME.... we lost two of our rafters (at
two different times) and at the end of the trip Vicki was so stoked that
she wanted to try to get on another trip that same day on an even more
challenging river. But alas, it didn't work out, so instead we stuck
with the original plan of the day, showered, changed, and headed up
farther into
the mountains.
We drove Route 441 stopping to take
a picture here and
a picture there.
We also took
a couple pictures at a cute little spot we found along the river. (Here's Brian, and here's
Vicki :-)
Eventually, we arrived at
Newfound Gap. This was the site where Franklin Delano Roosevelt
officially dedicated the Park in 1940. (Originally, Indian Gap,
a point two miles west, was thought to be the lowest gap in the mountains,
but Newfound Gap was discovered to be lower in elevation, thus the name.)
Off to the side was a clearly marked path for the Appalachian Trail and Vicki wanted to be able to say
she had hiked part of it, so we hiked into the woods just far enough for
the trail entrance to disappear from sight, then turned around and walked
back out. Brian noticed a guy wearing a Purdue shirt and struck up a conversation with him... turns out he is the brother-in-law of a guy Vicki
works with. Small world! He took
this picture for us
:-)
 Another 20 some odd miles up the road and
we reached Clingman's Dome. At an elevation of 6,643 feet, it is the
highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest
point in Tennessee, and the third highest point in the Appalachian Range.
Once there, you can walk half a mile farther up the mountain (and it was
STEEP!) to the 54 foot
observation tower for a 360* view of the surrounding mountains. Talk
about feeling like you are on top of the world!
Let me tell you, driving up the mountain was a
lot more fun than driving down. You couldn't take your foot off
the brakes for more than a few seconds at any time for fear of speeding up
to 50mph in a heartbeat and risk flying off winding curves. By
the time we got back into town Vicki was genuinely dizzy!
Day three, as well as the entire anniversary
celebration #3, was definitely a charm!
On Wednesday, June 8th, our actual anniversary date, we
packed up and headed home with a smile on our face and love in our hearts... looking forward to the next, and rest, of our years together!
Three years and counting! :-D |
