We couldn’t get over how it all worked out. After a quick patch, we were back on the road. The kids have always traveled well, and this trip was no exception. They were fantastic.
We made it to the cabin in Pigeon Forge well after bedtime, but Pappy, Nie-Nie & Kels were already there and had our rooms ready and waiting on us.
On Thursday morning, we drove down to Gatlinburg for breakfast at the Pancake Pantry.
After a great breakfast, we headed back to Pigeon Forge to hit Dollywood for the day.
The kids had a great time riding rides. 
This picture cracks me up.
You couldn’t have paid me to ride that ride. AB asked Pappy & Nie-Nie to ride it with her and her daddy. They did. Nobody threw-up. I’m still shocked. The funniest thing was there were no open seats next to another one, so they all had to sit by strangers. 
We saw the magic show that we saw almost 15 years ago. It was the trip that Kelsey, who was close to AB’s age at the time, got one of the “raccoon” toys they use in the show. AB got called up on stage and that was fun, too.
It was a beautiful day in the park. The weather was nice and everything was so festive.
We headed back to cabin for afternoon naps, then drove out to the Apple Barn for dinner.
The weather was unusually warm for the first part of our trip, then the temps started dropping and we got some good cool weather that started on Friday morning.
We had breakfast in Pigeon Forge and then drove through the Smoky Mountain Parkway and into Cade’s Cove in hopes of seeing some fall color.
It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at the different look-out spots along the way.
We got afternoon naps at the cabin and then had dinner reservations at the Dixie Stampede.
AB wasn’t so sure about eating without utensils.
The kids all loved the show, and it’s always fun, to me, too.
After the Dixie Stampede, we couldn’t resist the Hot Light on our way back the cabin.
On Saturday morning, we visited Kryker Farms, a pumpkin patch I’d found online.
It was a lot of fun for the kids, and it just felt like Fall. We took the hayride out to the “pumpkin patch” (all their pumpkin vines were dead, and they obviously had just brought in pumpkins and scattered them in the patch, but it was still pretty and the kids enjoyed picking the perfect one. 
They had swings, and slides, and even a petting zoo.
The highlight, though, was the zip line. The girls have been all about a zip-line lately… my parents have a great spot in their yard at their new house that Pop’s been promising to build them one there, so they’re pumped about that. There wasn’t much of a crowd, so the kids got to ride over and over again. I even took a turn.
After such a fun morning, we stopped for lunch and then made a quick stop at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works store. It was vendor day, so the place was packed, but I got the cutest Christmas gifts for a couple of the nephews and Tucker got his very first pocket knife. (To be put on shelf, until he’s older, of course).
That night, we headed back into town to see the Comedy Barn show.
It’s a variety show that had all of us laughing. 
It was super cute. Cheesy, yes, but super cute. At one point they invited all the kids to come on stage and dance with them. 
After the show, we had some Mexican food for dinner and then headed to the cabin to pack up.
We left early Sunday morning, all bundled up, because of another cold front that had moved in over night.
We stopped in Gatlinburg for breakfast,
and after hearing about the snow up at Clingman’s Dome, we decided to take a little detour and ride up to the top to see it. 
The drive up through the parkway was beautiful, and we stopped at a few of the look outs. 
We couldn’t believe how cold it was when we made it to the top and it was crazy seeing snow on the ground and in the tops of the trees.
It was Tucker’s first time seeing snow, and Mamie’s first time being old enough to remember it. It was so crazy to think we’d been in shorts just two days before and now there was snow on the ground. 
It was beautiful seeing those snow capped trees through the fog on the mountains.
I was so glad we decided to add the hour (or more) to our trip and take the detour.
We came down the mountain through Cherokee and would have stopped to see the Indian Chief at the welcome center, but he wasn’t out that morning. We did get to see a buffalo though.
We also saw the elk moving through town. 
We had such a great trip. We packed a lot into it, for sure.
~amw~
