I was in serious need of a getaway. Ethan had Friday off, so we were planning on going north (to some church history sites) but the cold moved in and we quickly changed direction. Tennessee it was!
We told the kids we were going somewhere special for lunch... Can you guess where we stopped?
That's right, the Sanders Cafe! Corbin, KY is the birthplace of what we all know and love as Kentucky Fried Chicken. The kids have been begging us to take them to KFC as long as we've been here... we finally obliged.
There is a nice little museum dedicated to Col. Harland Sanders. I learned a lot of things I didn't know. Turns out he was a lot nicer guy than depicted in Water Boy. Who knew?
They also had models of the old gas station cash register, the kitchen, and even a model of his marketing strategy of a model hotel room right in the middle of his restaurant. It was a lot of fun.
As we drove through town after lunch we spied this awesome guy!
After hitting some rotten traffic in Tennessee (thankfully, we had a great audio book!), we finally got to our destination! The kids were excited to run around. We just missed the business hours of the visitor's center, but a nice volunteer that was getting ready to leave helped us out and gave us some good advice on where to take the family on Saturday! I love it when people are just nice. Makes my day.
After we drove through the park a little and had dinner, we went to our cabin. We rented an awesome cabin up in the mountains (I really mean up!). I found a great cabin with enough rooms and beds for everyone. I was so proud of myself, I was going to prevent fits at bedtime! Ha! I should've known better. There was one twin bed in the upstairs loft... all three big boys wanted to sleep there. So I let them draw from a hat and 2 boys would get a chance to sleep there and one wouldn't. Jonas had already staked his claim on it, but then he was the one who ended up not getting a night in it. I was so proud of the way he handled his disappointment! Bryant got it the first night, Levi the second. Well, at bedtime, Levi had a major meltdown. He did NOT want to sleep downstairs. Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. He finally bedded down on the floor in the same room as Jonas. So much for enough beds and rooms for everyone!
In the morning, the kids were excited to explore our new digs. Levi and Jonas found these awesome icicles and a little overhang they could crawl in. So fun.
We also took turns teaching the kids to play pool. Bryant picked it up pretty well. Jonas was a little distracted. He kept looking up at the TV right before he'd hit it, then he'd swing without looking at the ball again. It was funny.
After playing pool, we all piled into the hot tub. Soaking in a hot tub with kids isn't nearly as relaxing as soaking without kids. Go figure.
Then we finally hit the mountain trails! Laurel Falls was our destination.
Eager to embark on our journey.
It may have taken us a bit longer than the average hiker... there were just so many rocks and hills to scale.
Jonas showing us that he's a gargoyle.
Our first taste of the waterfall... I hoped there was more to it than this!
Love this picture. Perfect illustration of our day.
Yes, Jonas is inside a tree.
The falls! We made it! Jonas was being a stinker and wouldn't get in the picture with us.
When Ethan grabbed him to join us, this is what we got. The pathway is in the middle of the falls... this is the view looking up...
This is the view looking down. Honestly, it looked more impressive (scary) from the opposite side, but I didn't dare get out on that ledge with the baby strapped to me.
The mountains got their name from this bluish haze that is always hanging around. I tried to capture it for you. It was more impressive in real life.
The way down was just as exciting for most the kids. Bolton got a turn in the hollow tree.
Eliza said to me when we were had about 1/3 of the way to go that she was getting a "little bored." We played a little game called "Can you find something...?" Just fill in the blank with a color or a starts with the letter... its a great game for passing the time with small kids.
The next stop for our crew was nice flat nature trail. Bolton and Eliza had a much easier time keeping up with this one. Baby Abe did a great job hanging around all day.
One interesting thing about this national park is that while most parks have been acquired from public lands, this one was all private lands. A lot of the park used to be homes/farms and even more was used for lumber, so the trees are relatively young. The kids thought the fallen trees were just as much fun to climb on as the rocks on the mountain.
Somebody's old fireplace.
Bryant found the tiniest pine cones I've ever seen. Ethan captured this awesome photo.
From here, we headed up to the:
It was pretty cold and icy.
Oh, I could just eat this baby up, he is so sweet! I'll even put up two pictures of me because he's so dang cute!
Ethan got to walk on the Appalachian Trail! My shoes were not good for all the snow and water, so I was happy to stay on the pavement.
On the way back down the mountain, we had to stop and take more pictures of the ice... it was so beautiful and breathtaking.
We drove around trying to find some place good for dinner. We stopped at this place and all went in and were waiting for a table when I noticed how much money it was going to cost for us to eat there... I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't have too much pride to walk out. But we still stopped for a photo op.
We just ended up getting pizza for dinner. And a quick stop at Krispy Kreams on the way back to cabin was the perfect way to finish our day. Nothing like eating a bunch of junk while on a trip.
Funny enough, when it was bedtime, Levi was upstairs in the bed he wanted so badly the night before... after about 10 minutes he came downstairs and said he didn't want to sleep up there. So Jonas got a turn after all.
Sunday morning we got up and cleaned up, checked out and hit the road. We planned on going to church close to the park, but with daylight savings (darn spring forward!) we couldn't get there in time. So instead we stopped in Knoxville. After some confusion on the time that was listed online and the actual time of meetings we decided to just let the kids go to primary in one ward and then we'd get them out for Sacrament in the next ward. The meeting was being conducted by the bishop who happened to be someone we knew at Weber State that grew up in the same town as Ethan! Its amazing what a small world we live in!!!
The drive home was much more pleasant than the drive there. We made it home and were so happy that we had had such a great time on our trip!
