"To Disney & Beyond" ~ Road Trip 2010 ~ Final Drive & Final Thoughts

[jenniferkeala808]

hello there! Thanks for joining in for my TR! I'm here to join yours!! alrighty, going back to catch up!

*sorry...my post is a little lengthy!*

Ooooh! Of course I love that pic from your Hawaii trip! I’m from Oahu and I know exactly where that is! How was it?? I LLOOOVVEEE that you folks have the travel bug! I think that’s what life is about!! Experiencing new and awesome things with the one you love!!

Oooh my!! So so so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I know how you feel since I was very close to my grandmother also and I was her only grand daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!!

Wow!! You got an early start but I bet it was worth it when you saw that beautiful sunrise! And OMG at that temp! I don’t know if I could handle it! I feel ya about your husband not liking the heat…my BF Roman hates it!! LOL! Those are beautiful pics from the Best Western you stopped at! Hard to believe it’s a best western! Those are great pics from the wax museum! You guys are just tooo cute!

Can't wait for more! I'm loving your TR so far!

 

[mandas08]

LOVE all the pictures from the wax museum. Looks like you guys are having a great vaca so far

 

[burly]

Welcome back, great start! The wax museum pics are so funny!

 

[Jennifer48]

Welcome back!

I'm all caught up.

My DH and I did the same when we were at Madame Tussaud's in Vegas. Too funny!

 

[stacikristine]

Your dinner looks FANTASTIC!! I love cheese ravioli--and Chris's plate looks incredible. Your salad looks really yummy too! I'm not usually a salad at restaurants gal, but every once in a while, I love them!

Hahahaha! Your pictures are hilarious! How fun! As my husband says, "What's the fun in taking pictures if all of them are normal?"

 

[theduck619]

Great report so far!

 

[Spartangirl]

ray would've had the same reaction to the temperature! although it's been 100 hear since mid july so that's no surprise to us. but going on vacation in it would have caused him to scowl too!

love the room on the water! very pretty. and the pictures at the wax museum are hilarious!

That's so funny about Ray, Dawn! I guess having the temps at home is one thing but "vacation weather" is always supposed to be perfect! We always "hope" for that.....just doesn't seem to go in our favor!

We were really happy with our hotel choice. Originally we were going to get a cabin in the mountains, but we figured with such a short time in Gatlinburg, staying on the strip would be better. We really ended up with the best of both worlds.

Great start to your vacation. LOVE the wax museum pictures. Looks like you really enjoyed it. The hotel looks very nice and the food looks amazing. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the rest.

Thanks so much! We LOVED the wax museum...any chance to "ham it up!" Hope you're ready for the rest....that was only day one and we were gone for two weeks!

I don't even know what to say - those pictures are awesome!

Like I said, Michelle, I'll let the pictures do the talking......I didn't have words for them either and I participated in that madness!

I'm here, but it looks like I have some catching up to do!!!

Yay....So glad you made it over, Jackie! Welcome!

hello there! Thanks for joining in for my TR! I'm here to join yours!! alrighty, going back to catch up!

*sorry...my post is a little lengthy!*

Thanks so much for joining, Keala!!! No worries about the length...I love the feedback!

Ooooh! Of course I love that pic from your Hawaii trip! I’m from Oahu and I know exactly where that is! How was it?? I LLOOOVVEEE that you folks have the travel bug! I think that’s what life is about!! Experiencing new and awesome things with the one you love!!

We LOVED Hawaii!!! We've been there twice now......Oahu, The Big Island (Hilo & Kona), Kauai, & Maui!!! I can't wait to go back! With my family living on two of the islands (Oahu & The Big Island), it gives me a great excuse to visit!

Oooh my!! So so so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I know how you feel since I was very close to my grandmother also and I was her only grand daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!!

Thanks so much.......I still don't think I'm over the shock...

Wow!! You got an early start but I bet it was worth it when you saw that beautiful sunrise! And OMG at that temp! I don’t know if I could handle it! I feel ya about your husband not liking the heat…my BF Roman hates it!! LOL! Those are beautiful pics from the Best Western you stopped at! Hard to believe it’s a best western! Those are great pics from the wax museum! You guys are just tooo cute!

The sunrise definitely helped! It was HOT......I don't mind the heat so much, but the humidity was awful (80 - 90% on some of the days)! I had a hard time believing it was a BW too.........the rooms were really nice! Thanks so much for your nice compliment!

Can't wait for more! I'm loving your TR so far!

So glad you're enjoying it!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Love those pics!!!!!!!!!! How funny. Those wax works do look a bit scary!!!

 

[scottny]

Hi,
Joining in. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Nice music on in car when you left, Eminem, Love his new cd.
The hotel in TN looked nice. The ravioli looked really good. The pics at the museum are hysterical.
Looking forward to hearing about more.

 

[Spartangirl]

LOVE all the pictures from the wax museum. Looks like you guys are having a great vaca so far

Thanks so much.......the whole vacation really was terrific!

Welcome back, great start! The wax museum pics are so funny!

Thanks! We're so camera shy, huh?

Welcome back!

I'm all caught up.

My DH and I did the same when we were at Madame Tussaud's in Vegas. Too funny!

Thank you! MT is Vegas is fun, isn't it? That was the 1st wax museum we ever went to!

Your dinner looks FANTASTIC!! I love cheese ravioli--and Chris's plate looks incredible. Your salad looks really yummy too! I'm not usually a salad at restaurants gal, but every once in a while, I love them!

Hahahaha! Your pictures are hilarious! How fun! As my husband says, "What's the fun in taking pictures if all of them are normal?"

I love salads.....but, I did have to try a bite of Chris's meal...it was VERY TASTY! Chris and I are right on par with your husband's thinking!

Great report so far!

Thanks so much.....Welcome!

Love those pics!!!!!!!!!! How funny. Those wax works do look a bit scary!!!

Thanks, Laura! I agree.......some looked pretty decent, but some were outright scary!

Hi,
Joining in. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Nice music on in car when you left, Eminem, Love his new cd.
The hotel in TN looked nice. The ravioli looked really good. The pics at the museum are hysterical.
Looking forward to hearing about more.

Thanks for joining in, Scott! I appreciate your thoughts on my grandma. Chris and I love the cd too...it's very good...being that he's from here, Eminem's truly a hometown favorite! I couldn't have asked for a better start to our vacation...nice hotel, great food, and fun at the museum!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yea! You've reached your first destination on your road trip. The hotel looks so nice and relaxing. It looks very similar to the hotel we stayed at in Helen, Georgia.

I had to laugh at you guys hamming it up at the Wax Museum. We visited a wax museum in Branson, Missouri and they had a lot of the same exact figures there.

 

[Spartangirl]

Yea! You've reached your first destination on your road trip. The hotel looks so nice and relaxing. It looks very similar to the hotel we stayed at in Helen, Georgia.

I had to laugh at you guys hamming it up at the Wax Museum. We visited a wax museum in Branson, Missouri and they had a lot of the same exact figures there.

We were so happy to finally get to Gatlinburg! We loved the hotel...it was so peaceful, even though it was on the "craziness" of the strip!

Aren't wax museums fun? We've been to the one in Vegas too and we've enjoyed both of them!

 

[Spartangirl]

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Llamas & Camels in Tennessee? Yup!

Chris and I woke up feeling refreshed. We both slept soundly after being awake for 18 hours the day before. Breakfast was included in our hotel stay, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat. We wanted to hit the road just before 10:00 a.m. because we had a "date" with the llamas and camels at 11:00. Yes, we decided to do something off the beaten path today!

Prior to coming down to Tennessee, I spoke with Sandy (the Llama Trek owner and business partner to the owner of the Camel Ride safari), and she told me that it would take about a 1/2 hour to get to the ranch from Gatlinburg. She also mentioned that we shouldn't get there too early because there wouldn't be anyone to greet us until closer to our tour time. With just over an hour before our tour, we set out and figured we had a little "cushion time." What we did not account for was the 15 minute "parking lot" through Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. TRAFFIC! What a nightmare!

At ten to 11:00, I called Sandy and told her about the traffic and how we were still quite a distance from the ranch. Sandy was extremely nice and apologized to us for being stuck in traffic. WHAT??? We profusely apologized back to her for holding her up and Sandy said that she had no problem waiting for us. What a true Southern gem!
By 11:30, we were finally at the ranch! Sandy introduced us to Cinnamon, Yahzi, and Abu...the llamas we would be trekking with. Copper, Sandy's dog, also tagged along.

Here's Chris with Abu...

Here I am with Cinnamon...

We hiked through a beautiful forest, up and down many hills, until we came to a grassy meadow. Here we had to capture the moment!

Here's a short video clip of our hike...leading the llamas was kind of like leading a "huge" dog!


As we hiked further into the woods, we came across these weird looking green beetles on the base of a tree...yuck!

We continued on for a little while and then made our way to a shady bluff for a lunch break. Sandy brought out a beautiful antipasto platter with turkey, ham, cheese, olives, artichokes, pickles, roasted red peppers, strawberries, bread, and a basil/pesto sauce. All I can say is YUM...it hit the spot!

Here is Copper chillin' out while we ate...

I gave Yahzi some water before starting the walk back.

Speaking of giving water to the llamas...here's a video clip of their favorite way to drink water...through water bottles!


The walk back was pleasant...we enjoyed walking with the llamas and we really enjoyed getting to know Sandy. But, our adventure wasn't over yet!

Continued in the next post... http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=37777370&postcount=114

 

[Spartangirl]

Continued...

Back at the ranch, we enjoyed seeing some brand new baby pigs, a very young camel, some goats, and baby barn swallows.

Then it was time for our one hour camel ride on Rosie and Spud through a wild animal park. The 3rd camel following us was new to the park and being trained!

Matt was our guide and the owner of the park. What an amazing place! We loved riding the camels and enjoyed seeing so many animals in their natural habitats. There were TONS of animals roaming throughout the park...I didn't get many pics because it was a really wobbly/bumpy road!

Matt said the animal next to the zebra was called a "Zedonk" ... Part zebra, part donkey. I said it was the new "designer breed" for zebras...

The park kind of reminded us of being at Disney's Animal Kingdom on the Safari ride, except that we were on camels. What an adventure!

Up Next: Holy Calzone!

 

[mickeystoontown]

What an amazing adventure. I would have never thought something like that existed in Tennessee. Want to hear something cool? My uncle raised Zeedonks for years and sold them to people all over the world.

 

[Shannon84]

What a great update...that ranch looks like such a fun and random adventure!!! I loved the pictures you all captured of the animals!

 

[Princess_K]

How cool! What fun memories to have...how many people do you know that have ridden on camels?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Okay, now I am all caught up!

I love the pictures from all of your travels during your Disney hiatus! You have had so much fun traveling!

I had to laugh about how you choose your destinations based on driving distance. That is totally something I would do!

So sorry about the loss of your grandmother!

The hotel in the mountains is so pretty! Who would have thought a Best Western would be so picturesque.

The wax museum! What a hoot!!!

The llama and camel rides are so cool! Who would have thought you could do something like that in Tennessee of all places! Those beetles look like something out of an Egyptian horror movie!

 

[redsox721]

What a wonderful update. Great pictures of you both with the llamas and camels. I would never have thought about doing something like that. It looks awesome. I love the picture of the baby pigs. The picture of the birds is amazing. You take great pictures. How did you ever find out about this type of excursion? Do you still have the contact information? My husband and are currently in the planning stages of a trip to the Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, etc for next June the week after my daughter's wedding. Thanks for sharing.

 

[lovegrumpy]

That looks fun. Might have to look into it. The inlaws live 30mins from pigeon forge.