Trip to the mountains

Sunday after Match Day we went to a bed-and-breakfast called Blue Mountain Mist in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. (Katie bought a groupon). We had a cabin, which was very nice. Once we unloaded our car, we went on a hike around the farm to the main house. As you can tell, Chase could hardly wait.

At the house, we explored. There was dessert left out every evening. They had a "TV room" that was full of movies. Mama and Hank got a picture with a poster of Hank's namesake...

We walked back to our cabin and grilled hotdogs. It was a 1-room cabin, but it had a sitting area and a kitchenette. Chase and Daddy enjoyed their hotdogs.
After hotdogs, we cooked s'mores. It was Chase's first taste of marshmallows and s'mores. He was a fan.

The next day we drove to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We stopped at the Sugarland Visitor Center. Chase got to see all the animals. There was a movie about the mountains so we figured it was a good time to give Hank a bottle. It was a "National Geographic-like" movie, so Chase was asleep in about 5 minutes. Mama and Daddy dosed off several times as well.

Our next stop was a riding stable. We had hoped that Chase could get to pet and maybe sit on some "neigh-neighs." We were very excited when they said he could ride one. It was probably one of the best moments in Chase's life.

Chase meets "Slick" (the horse, not the cowboy)

Chase settling in to the saddle

A natural cowboy. He even said, "yee-haw" several times.

Chase thought he was very big stuff after riding the neigh-neigh. We drove up to Clingmans Dome. We walked up the steep 1/2 mile path to the tower. Mama carried Hank and Daddy carried Chase most of the way up.

Chase nearing the top

Chase at the bottom of the tower-He did not want to walk to the top and it was very challenging getting him to go. I had to carry him while he slid his hand along the rail. It reminded me of being there about 20 years earlier with Granny and Grandaddy. Granny was very mad at how steep the "short walk" was and in protest refused to go to the top of the tower and waited at the bottom for us all to come back.

Daddy and Chase at the top of the tower

Mama and Hank at the top of the walk

Chase was very eager to walk down. He wanted to run, which would have been very painful if he fell (which was very likely). When he didn't feel like running he wanted to sit on the side and play in the dirt. It took us about an hour to make it down to the bottom (an unusually long time).

Once we got to the bottom Chase wanted to climb on the rocks like many of the other kids there. I remember climbing on these rocks with Wes and Clay. It was fun for me to see Chase want to do the same. He worked hard, but eventually made it to the top of this "Chase-size" rock.

We ate lunch in the parking lot and let Chase nap on the drive back down the mountain. We had very little gas, so I basically coasted all the way down to Gatlinburg. Once there we drove around a little and visited the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Thanks to Mama Zo and Pops we ate an early-bird dinner at the Park Grill that was very good.

Chase loved the bear outside the door

Hank enjoyed a bottle on the front porch

We had a lot of fun on a great trip!