It's Christmas in the Smokies

Warning: This post is super long. If you don't have time or energy, you may want to skip.

This weekend me, Robbie, Deanna, and our friend Brooke went to the mountains for a girls weekend of shopping, eating, giggling, and getting in the Christmas spirit. We stayed with my Aunt Kay, Uncle Ronnie, and Brian, even though we really didn't see them too much because we were busy the whole time we were there. We had such a great time and have lots of funny stories and pictures. To make it easier to share, I will give you a day by day account of the highlights of our trip.

Day 1: Friday-Nothing really exciting here. We left after school and drove there and went to bed. The highlight of the ride up was the ginormous Pilot store that had way too many snacks for us to choose from for the ride and the photo shoot that Brooke and Deanna had in the backseat in an effort to find the perfect submission shot for America's Next Top Model.

Day 2: Saturday-This was Dollywood day. We got up early and made it to Dollywood not too long after it opened. Before we could even figure out what to do first, Deanna and Brooke had made friends with the lady who takes pictures of park visitors and we spent the first 10 minutes taking pictures in the big sleigh set up at the entrance of the park. It became our goal for our presence to be known in Dollywood and we managed to take some of the silliest pictures possibly ever made with Christmas decorations. We saw several Christmas shows and ate some good food. The funniest story of the day had to be the train ride which takes you around the park and up the top of the mountain. We waited to go at night so that we could see the lights all around the park. First of all, while waiting in line for the train, me and Robbie get separated from Deanna and Brooke and are allowed to get on the train while they are held back behind the gate. They finally got on with us and we were ready for the cold ride to begin. As we started out of the depot, the train was speeding along pretty well, faster than either me or Robbie remembered. Once we got up the mountain though it began to slow down and the lady came over the speaker telling us we were taking a brief stop but not to get up. So we sat on the 2 inch hard seats and waited thinking we will be back down the mountain in time for the parade that will be starting soon. But oh no, this little minor stop lasted for over an hour. The train had broke down on the top of the mountain and we were stuck up there freezing our tails off and not being able to even stand. We finally got down the mountain and off the train only to go to the bathroom and find black stuff all over Brooke and Robbie who had been sitting on the outside seats. The train is run by coal and I guess when we started our speedride up to the top it flew out on them. Once we got them cleaned up we were tired and ready to get warm so our Dollywood fun came to a close and we headed to Olive Garden for some much needed comfort.

Day 3: Sunday-We started the morning by going to Sunday School with Brian who once again provided a funny story to start the day with. Before class started Brian reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a bottle of water. He then leaned over to Robbie and said "I had to hide my water from my mom and dad because they would be mad if they knew I brought it." He is right. They would be mad but he is so funny. I love him. After Sunday School, we went back and changed and got ready for our day of shopping. We were girls on a mission and found some great buys. I don't think the KB Toy Outlet will ever be the same. After our feet were about to fall off and our bank accounts almost depleted, we left the shopping behind and went to do what we do best-eat. Calhoun's was really good. On the way home we decided to stop at Walgreen's to get some of the crazy pics printed and who should we run into working there but an Elvis impersonator complete with dyed black hair and thick sideburns. If you know Robbie at all you know how big of an Elvis fan she is (we had already visited the Elvis gift store earlier in the day) so Deanna thought it was her duty to introduce them which of course embarassed Robbie. It was pretty funny but since he was busy there was no time for pictures with him. I guess next time we will have to catch his show! On the way back to Aunt Kay's, we saw a couple of deer which Deanna thought she could take a picture of. There are deer all the time in Aunt Kay's neighborhood and they hardly even notice when cars come through so we slowed to a complete stop and Deanna rolled her window to try and get a picture. She finally found her camera and was just about to take the pic when the deer snorted at her and ran off. She was so scared she almost jumped in Brooke's lap. It was hilarious. She started saying "I almost got a hoof in my mouth." It was very funny. I think she's going to stick to shooting pics of people and leave the wildlife to themselves. The night ended with a relaxing time in the hottub and more stupid pictures.

Day 4: Monday-Unfortunately, we had to come home today but not before more memories were made. The first challenge of the day was trying to fit all of us, our luggage, and all the stuff we bought into my car. We weren't very comfy but we made it work. You have to sacrifice sometimes. Because of all the stinking boys in our family who like hunting we made a trip to the Bass Pro Shop near Aunt Kay and Uncle Ronnie's house. This place is way too overwhelming for those of us who know or care little about this pasttime. But I can't leave this out because it is the site of one of the funniest events of the weekend. We got there pretty early so there weren't too many cars in the parking lot so when we started to leave there was no one parked in front of us so I just decided to drive forward since it was kind of hard to see backing up with all the stuff we had piled up. So I press the gas and the car goes forward atleast initially...until it gets stuck on the parking curb. I, like a big fat dummy, didn't see that there were dividers between the parking spaces and drove right over one. So at this point, I'm laughing but also wondering what the crap am I gonna do if we are stuck. I try to back up but get no where so I conclude that the only way to get off is just to drive all the way over. So I push the pedal down and we jump the curb probably leaving behind half of the underneath of my car. I'm surprised we made it as loaded down as we were. In my defense, where we were parked was the only line of parking spaces that had dividers in between. All of the other ones just had painted lines to separate the spaces. But oh well we made it and were on our way. We then drove to Gatlinburg to drop Brooke off who is staying the rest of the week with her family. After that we made our way back to Meridian without incidence.

This weekend was so much fun and also productive. I made a big dent in my Christmas shopping and it was a great way to start a week-long vacation from school. I love this time of year.

My Private Shoebox