Friday, September 7, 2007

We are home!!! 6 Days and 11 States later!!

Nancy and Kelly




Cades Cove in the Smoky's




My first view, it was So Pretty!!


At the wild life preserve at the beach

Whew!! We are home sweet home again!! I think Kelly left off with us leaving the ocean!! I fell in LOVE with the ocean!! I just loved it!! I want to live there!! I was so sad to leave on Tuesday morning ....We have pictures of the sunrise coming over the horizon and it is beautiful!


Sunrise at the beach!



We left the beach and drove through Alabama and near Birmingham we had a rock hit the windshield and it caused a rock ding and a small 6 inch crack, we spent about 45 minutes with the rent a car place and got things taken care of and were on are way but not before seeing the iron man statue on top of the mountain with the bare bottom!! On up to a corner of Georgia then into Tennessee and on to the foot hills of the Great Smoky's !!





We went through Pigeon Forge with people sitting out on the side walks in rocking chairs in front of old time cars!! Then over to Gatlinburg. This is when we discovered I had not been out of the minivan enough on the trip up from the beach! My feet were in a horrible mess and I no feeling in them!! The girls put me to bed and we propped them up really high!! By morning I was fine!! of course, this did freak out the kids!!




We went back to Pigeon Forge and took Nancy to the big Christmas shop they have there!! She loved it!! Me too!! I took off with her and the girls lost me!! They asked the clerks have you seen a little lady with a walker go by with another lady!!! Yes they said..... They found their Mom!! It wasn't to much later another lady at the store said I lost my Mother too! Great Store!!





We went to another nature drive in the Smoky's, and drove the 11 miles around the mountains at Cades Cove.... It was just beautiful but I told the girls, lets go... I want to see the Smoky's.. and they said...MOM, what do you think these are?? I meant the views from the tops that you see in all of the stories about the smoky mountains.



After a late lunch we headed up to the Great Smoky Mountain park and the mountains were breath taking!!! it was awesome!










On top of one of them it was almost a mile high and that is when we had to get Nancy portable oxygen out !! We have some good pictures from there!! We continued to drive and drive in these mountains Karen had decided to take the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway and we were going to Ashville NC but it was getting dark and Karen saw a sign that looked like we could get off the top of the mountains and she was right!! YEAH... the mountain were awesome but after 3 hours of driving through them it was good to see civilization again!! We were very glad that we turned off that curvy, twisty road! Yeah for interstates!!


About a 1/4 mile later and we were on a freeway and stopped in Wayesville NC and then we headed out for Nashville , it was 1:00 AM when we pulled in to our motel and were we ever glad to see a bed!!



Karen took us by the old Ryman's grand ole opery house and down the streets were they record all the country songs.



We took off for home going though Tenn, KY, IL, and into ST. Louis and on to I-70 on to home




Kelly had made CD's that went with all our travels and we sang away part of the trip at the top of our lungs having so much fun!!



My highlight of the trip was seeing the ocean for the first time!! We had a wonderful time and I thank Karen for including us in her plans for a great vacation!!




For Miss Arnold's class we started out in Missouri, into AR,TN,MS,AL. over to LA,back to MS AL, into FL. then up through AL, GA,TN, leaving TN, KY. IL. and MO. Karen can give Miss Arnold all of the highways and towns if you want them.


I've decided I would love to retire to the beach! My son said, but mom you already retired..
I know.. BUT I want to move there!!

17 comments:

Glo said...

What a trip. Glad to have you home safe. Beautiful pictures.

Denise said...

Wow, what a great trip.

Melli said...

LOL! The statue of Vulcan! What? NO PICTURES??? hehehe...

Those mountains and ocean ARE gorgeous! If I CAN'T have an ocean then the mountains would be my 2nd choice... but I do LOVE my beach!

Linda A. said...

Carolyn, You are so funny! So what did you think of the Vulcan's bare bottom? Isn't that just too weird!

You need to know that I was on the computer (almost 10:00 p.m.) when Karen came home. She gave me the salt-water taffy from Nancy! I did just what you did - I opened one right up and ate it! Then I ate 2 more! HA! I knew you'd appreciate that!

The pictures are so pretty - I definately need to see them all! I am so happy you had this opportunity. What a great bunch of memories you all have to share!

Get those feet propped up, get some popcorn, nachos, or chili and watch a bunch of football! You need to recover and rest up from vacation!

Linda A. said...

By the way, tell Karen she needs to make you ANOTHER map that has the states you went through on the trip colored in blue! (She will LOVE having another project!) hee hee hee!

Baba said...

Good morning Carolyn, You have traveled far and near ... I have enjoyed your pictures .. I am also a beach person and live 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.My mom's feet swell up on a long car ride too....
Take it easy today and rest. Baba

Linda said...

So glad you are home safe and sound. I too love the beach. I haven't been in 2 years. It cleanses my soul!! You have a lot of great pictures and look forward to seeing more.

I got stung by the name plate meme and made one for your travel blog. You are under no obligation to make more!!

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

Boy did you have a great time or what!! You saw so many states and with your family also!! What better time can you have than that!! We are all glad that you are all home now.

Melanie said...

What great pictures. It looks like you had a wonderful time. Beautiful photos.

Carole Burant said...

I've so enjoyed reading all about your trip and seeing all those fabulous pictures! I wish I could have gone with you but I can't promise I wouldn't have had a tantrum not being able to go inside Graceland!!! LOL xox

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

what a wonderful trip!!! we go to pigeon forge most every year in october to see the leaves change. this year we will be in italy though...

smiles, bee

Rach said...

Wow what an amazing trip! The nearest beach resort from us is only half an hour drive away, so it's hard to imagine never seeing the ocean! Having said that though, I do prefer beaches in much warmer climates than the UK!

Mary said...

Beautiful photos and a wonderful experience. I'm glad you're home safely. Traveling is great but it's always nice to be home.

Mary

Juhi said...

looks like u had a wonderful time. nice blog. Do take a look at my blog http://travelnlife.blogspot.com/

Barbara said...

I knew about your vacation, Carolyn, but didn't realize you came so close to me. You came through Birmingham, and I live about 35 minutes north of there. That's old stomping grounds for us!

I got tickled when you said you saw the Old Iron man 'with the bare bottom'. Never viewed him (if you are talking about VULCAN) in that way. :) Perhaps when they had him down for a long time awhile back for repairs, they forgot to put his pants back on! LOL!

There is also a true Iron Man in Birmingham, but not near as big as Vulcan.

Mary said...

Gram,

I'm so glad that I found your travel blog. When you left your comment on my blog, I clicked on your name and noticed this one. I love the photos - love the Smokies.

I always enjoy visiting you.

Blessings,
Mary

Marsha said...

You were in my neck of the woods on part of your trip! I live at the very end of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park! One of our families favorite places to go is Cades Cove! I blogged about it in October. And I know what you mean about the Christmas Shoppe...I could spend hours in there. Did you get to Old Time Pottery? That's a neat place as well.
Blessings to you!