The first stop on our Smoky Mountain Adventure was visiting our favorite people in Georgia :). Unfortunately, due to some unfortunate traffic issues (this happens to us every time), we arrived a little later than we were hoping to. We didn't let that ruin the time we had with them, though! Throughout the weekend we enjoyed a lot of games, walks, church, meeting new people, swinging, and just catching up on the past few months!
the only people who stayed when it was time for a silly picture :)
this swing is one of the best things about visiting them... besides the people, of course :).
Thanks for hosting, Knapps! As always, we loved visiting!!
All too soon it was Monday morning and we loaded up to head back to Tennessee. We felt kinda guilty leaving our friends to a normal Monday morning - school, work, etc, - while we skipped our normal Monday morning duties and headed up to vacation... but the guilt wore off soon enough :).
we stopped to get groceries for the week and filled up our already full van... this picture is supposed to show you how packed we were, but it doesn't really do justice.
It's always thrilling to pull up to the new place that we get to call home for the week!
We've had some really awesome vacation houses and this one is added to the list! It was a lovely setting, the perfect size, and had inspirational reminders and Bible Verses posted all over - Kenan said that was his favorite part. It was cozy with a fireplace and a blue tooth speaker in the living area. Dad said that was his favorite part; he played music every morning! It also was stocked with fuzzy blankets which Lily named her favorite part. And Mom? Her favorite part was the whole thing, of course, although she was especially thrilled with the rustic ambiance of it all.
I think the front porch was my favorite part :). Such a beautiful place to do devotions in the morning... nothing beats that morning mountain air! It worked for homework too, actually...
I think we can manage that!
we got a kick out of the creative name, haha :).
We arrived to our cabin late Monday afternoon and settled in to cook supper. A big part of our family vacations is cooking our own meals. It cut down on the costs a lot, plus nothing is better than home cooking, anyway! Dad does a lot of the cooking but we all pick a day to help out.
An evening walk to scope out the resort and surrounding cabins!
Monday evening was one of those times where time actually doesn't seem to be flying by. We had an early supper and so the evening just stretched on and on! I was hoping that it was an indication of how the rest of the week would go... but, it wasn't.
Tuesday morning we started our hiking adventures by driving a scenic loop called Cade's Cove in Smoky Mountain National Park! It was beautiful. The weather was perfect all week: you know that ideal fall weather where it's cozy sweatshirt weather in the morning and evening but gets warm and sunny during the day. Yes, please.
We enjoyed driving around and soaking in the view, while stopping here and there to do some hiking and get some pictures.
walking sticks were kinda a thing...
we made it!
The fall colors were just beginning to turn as we started our week there. By the end of the week, I'm not sure it could have gotten any lovelier.
we stopped by an old mill and other buildings. Throughout our time in the van on this trip, we enjoyed listening to the audio story of Christy which takes place in the Smoky Mountains! It was great to be able to picture the setting as we listened and it almost felt like we could be part of it :).
After our hiking for the day and completing the scenic loop, we were ready to head back to our cozy cabin, enjoy supper together and settle in for a relaxing evening - another one of our favorite things about vacations.
Our golden getaway was slipping through our hands way too fast! Stay tuned for part 2.
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