In the Mountains of Tennessee

The mountains in Tennessee are just amazing this time of year! We have been fortunate enough to visit Gatlinburg twice in the past month. Our visits start at the outlets. I love a good deal! We are usually pretty consistent with our other stops as well: Olive Garden to eat, go-carts so I can beat Richard and which ever one of the kids that has to ride with him, swimming at the motel, late trip to the candy and popcorn shop, early morning swim, picnic in the mountains, climbing rocks in the water, and a quiet ride home with two sleeping kids! We did try hiking on our trip before last, and since we didn't go this time, I'm sure you can imagine it wasn't what we expected. The trail was a total of 2.6 miles and the kids walked maybe .3 of the hike. The rest of the way we CARRIED them. The funny thing is that we didn't go prepared because it was our first trip with the kids. We learned a lot. TAKE A STROLLER!!!

I was prepared for the cold though, but it wasn't cold. I dressed the kids like the temperature was going to drop 20 degrees and I even had Richard wearing jeans and he never wears pants! The sight of him hiking with Gavin on his shoulders, sweat rolling off his face, and sporting a pair of jeans was almost too much! We laughed all the way home over him wearing jeans to hike. If we hike again with kids, I can assure you we will be better prepared!