Trip Report

Vacation is coming to a close and it's time to start packing the van so I'm posting this blog instead.

I'll forget all this by tomorrow morning, so here's a brief breakdown of our trip:

Sunday:   Drive, drive, drive, dinner in Maggie Valley followed by a "swim" in the jacuzzi

Monday: Drive, drive, Blue Ridge Parkway/Oconaluftee Visitor's Center/Doc Brown's 1st fever and headache of the trip

Tuesday: Breakfast at Joey's Pancake House where we had the best cheese grits this southern girl has ever tasted.  Doc Brown still wasn't feeling well so we hung out at the cabin the rest of the day.  

Wednesday:  Doc Brown woke up chipper so we did a little hiking and creek hopping before heading to Black Mountain for the day.  Doc Brown started up with the headache and fever around bedtime.

Thursday: Doc started the day looking great so we went on our favorite outing by far: Chataloochee Valley in the Great Smokey National Park.  We did lots of creek hopping and a little hiking and exploration, too.  Doc Brown started up with a headache about the time we started back to the cabin.

Friday: Santa's Land.  We really enjoyed this little tourist trap.  Lots of shade, no crowds and some cute little rides for the kids.  I terrorized Obi Wan-da on the "Rudicoaster".  It's a kid-size roller coaster, but it's a fast little bugger.  When it was over Obi Wan-da said "get me out of here!" and wanted nothing more to do with the rides.  We did manage to get her on the paddle boat by the end of the day.  Doc Brown started heading south again in the afternoon so we headed back to the cabin for more rest.

Saturday: Our last day and our only headache and fever-free day all week!  We started the day with one last trip to Joey's for more grits and then hit downtown Waynesville for a little souvenir shopping.  We'll pack up tonight and then hit the road first thing tomorrow.

So, clearly there's been a theme to our trip.  You'd think that one of the children being sick would put a damper on things.  And it was sad to see my boy not acting like himself and I know that he could have had a lot more fun on this trip if he were feeling better, but it was still a GREAT vacation.  Our family spent 8 uninterrupted days together.  That's a huge blessing.  We had fun, we laughed, we played and we RESTED.

We're refreshed and we're ready to go home.  And did I mention that we had cheese grits?