Dreaming of Disney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2000
- Messages
- 383
I'll set the scene for you. DH and I decided we needed a weekend getaway. We have 3 children. DD 4, Twin DD 2 1/2. I decided I would like to go to Gatlinburg to see all of the beautiful colors and since my Birthday was October 1, I figured it would be a good birthday present. DH agreed and I started planning. We were originally going to stay in a hotel, but I started thinking about how much that was going to cost. $100 per night minimum. We didn't have a bundle to spend, so I decided to camp. We hadn't been camping by ourselves since before our oldest DD was born. At a savings of $75 per night, DH was in complete agreement. We decided to stay at Le Conte Vista Campgrounds. It looked nice and they accepted tents. Finally October 5 arrived and we were on our way.
October 5
We left on Friday about 1:30, and it took us about 4 hours to get there. Then another hour in traffic. When we finally got to the campground and tried to set up our tent, we realized that we had left the tent poles at home. ARGH
Not a great way to start our weekend, but I refused to let it ruin our time, so we headed to Wal-Mart to buy a new one. We were actually borrowing my sister's tent, so I was kind of glad to buy our own. We spent about $40.00 on a 9' x 7' tent. It was just the two of us, no kids, so we figured we would be fine. We fianlly got back to the campgrounds and set up. By this time it was pretty dark, and we hadn't eaten supper, so we built a fire and roasted some metts and marshmallows. Yummy! 
After that we sat by the fire for a little while and then decided to hit the sack. DH works third shift and had only slept about 4 hours that day so he was pretty tired.
Saturday October 6
It rained all night. And it got rather chilly. The new tent passed it's first test. We were dry except for a little condensation on the inside. We started off the morning with Krispy Kreme donuts that we had bought at a gas station on the way down. A quick trip to the bath house, and we were ready to go. I really wanted to see the park, so we decided to head there first. The mountains are beautiful! The colors were great and the air was crisp. It was still raining lightly, but not too bad. We got to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and looked around. We decided to drive out to Cades cove. We were making our way there, when we passed The trail to Laurel Falls. We decided to make the 1.3 mile hike up to see the falls. They were beautiful.
After hiking back down, we were rather tired and I had a headache, so we decided to not go to Cades Cove right then. We went back into Gatlinburg and ate lunch at Texas Roadhouse. After that we started walking the parkway. We took the sky lift up and got some great pictures. DH really enjoyed the shopping. I loved the strore "Beneath the Smoke" They had some wonderful nature pictures and many, many books. I bought a Christmas ornament at the Christmas shop. We spent most of the afternoon shopping and walking. We bought our DD's all T-Shirts and giant Pencils, which they loved! When we finally got back to our van, DH decided he wanted to go into the outlet malls in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. He found some great deals at the Tommy Hilfiger store and I LOVED the Disney catalog Outlet Store. They had some wonderful deals in there and they let me use my Disney Club Card as well. By this point it was getting dark and we decided to go back to the campground. DH had an upset stomach. I really wanted to hit one of the dinner shows, but since DH wasn't feeling well, that was out. We ended up going to bed at about 10:00.
Sunday October 7
It got very cold. I think the temp. was about 36 degrees. We were actually pretty warm in the tent. We had zipped our sleeping bags together and had a big quilt on top of that. We were on an air mattress so I think that helped. Since we skipped dinner the night before, we decided to go eat. We ended up going to Pigeon Forge and eating at the Smoky Mountain Pancake House. It was YUMMY!
inkbounc 
After that we went back to the campground to take down the tent. I was shopped out after Saturday, so we decided to go visit Cades Cove. The drive there was breathtaking! We finally made it there and we took the 11 mile auto tour. There were so many people there, that it took us about 3 hours. We stopped and looked at many of the houses and churches. We saw many deer. It was GORGEOUS!! I can understand why many people would want to live there.
It was about 3:30 by this time and we needed to start home. We got home about 8:30 after sitting in about 1 hours traffic on the way out.
Observations
DH and I had never been to Gatlinburg, so we didn't know what to expect. We were surprized at how crowded it was. I had heard that October was very crowded, but we were very unprepared. Traffic literally crawled. On the other hand, I can't imagine it being more beautiful than it was in October. The colors of the leaves were outstanding.
We enjoyed the campground during the times we were there, but I think next time we will take the kids and camp in the park. Probably at Cades Cove or Elkmont. I would also like to spend a little less time shopping, and more time in the park.
I would really like to go to one of the dinner shows. I have heard that the Dixie Stampede is wonderful!
I also think we'll take the kids back in the summer months. We were fine camping in the cold, but I don't want to have to worry about the kids being cold.
I really wanted this to be a relaxing weekend, so I didn't stress about the things we didn't get to see.
We had a wonderful time and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. I had a great time writing it.
PS I have some pictures from my digital camera, but I don't know how to insert them into my post. If anyone can help I'll try to post them.
October 5
We left on Friday about 1:30, and it took us about 4 hours to get there. Then another hour in traffic. When we finally got to the campground and tried to set up our tent, we realized that we had left the tent poles at home. ARGH
Not a great way to start our weekend, but I refused to let it ruin our time, so we headed to Wal-Mart to buy a new one. We were actually borrowing my sister's tent, so I was kind of glad to buy our own. We spent about $40.00 on a 9' x 7' tent. It was just the two of us, no kids, so we figured we would be fine. We fianlly got back to the campgrounds and set up. By this time it was pretty dark, and we hadn't eaten supper, so we built a fire and roasted some metts and marshmallows. Yummy! After that we sat by the fire for a little while and then decided to hit the sack. DH works third shift and had only slept about 4 hours that day so he was pretty tired.Saturday October 6
It rained all night. And it got rather chilly. The new tent passed it's first test. We were dry except for a little condensation on the inside. We started off the morning with Krispy Kreme donuts that we had bought at a gas station on the way down. A quick trip to the bath house, and we were ready to go. I really wanted to see the park, so we decided to head there first. The mountains are beautiful! The colors were great and the air was crisp. It was still raining lightly, but not too bad. We got to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and looked around. We decided to drive out to Cades cove. We were making our way there, when we passed The trail to Laurel Falls. We decided to make the 1.3 mile hike up to see the falls. They were beautiful.
After hiking back down, we were rather tired and I had a headache, so we decided to not go to Cades Cove right then. We went back into Gatlinburg and ate lunch at Texas Roadhouse. After that we started walking the parkway. We took the sky lift up and got some great pictures. DH really enjoyed the shopping. I loved the strore "Beneath the Smoke" They had some wonderful nature pictures and many, many books. I bought a Christmas ornament at the Christmas shop. We spent most of the afternoon shopping and walking. We bought our DD's all T-Shirts and giant Pencils, which they loved! When we finally got back to our van, DH decided he wanted to go into the outlet malls in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. He found some great deals at the Tommy Hilfiger store and I LOVED the Disney catalog Outlet Store. They had some wonderful deals in there and they let me use my Disney Club Card as well. By this point it was getting dark and we decided to go back to the campground. DH had an upset stomach. I really wanted to hit one of the dinner shows, but since DH wasn't feeling well, that was out. We ended up going to bed at about 10:00.
Sunday October 7
It got very cold. I think the temp. was about 36 degrees. We were actually pretty warm in the tent. We had zipped our sleeping bags together and had a big quilt on top of that. We were on an air mattress so I think that helped. Since we skipped dinner the night before, we decided to go eat. We ended up going to Pigeon Forge and eating at the Smoky Mountain Pancake House. It was YUMMY!
inkbounc After that we went back to the campground to take down the tent. I was shopped out after Saturday, so we decided to go visit Cades Cove. The drive there was breathtaking! We finally made it there and we took the 11 mile auto tour. There were so many people there, that it took us about 3 hours. We stopped and looked at many of the houses and churches. We saw many deer. It was GORGEOUS!! I can understand why many people would want to live there.It was about 3:30 by this time and we needed to start home. We got home about 8:30 after sitting in about 1 hours traffic on the way out.
Observations
DH and I had never been to Gatlinburg, so we didn't know what to expect. We were surprized at how crowded it was. I had heard that October was very crowded, but we were very unprepared. Traffic literally crawled. On the other hand, I can't imagine it being more beautiful than it was in October. The colors of the leaves were outstanding.
We enjoyed the campground during the times we were there, but I think next time we will take the kids and camp in the park. Probably at Cades Cove or Elkmont. I would also like to spend a little less time shopping, and more time in the park.
I would really like to go to one of the dinner shows. I have heard that the Dixie Stampede is wonderful!
I also think we'll take the kids back in the summer months. We were fine camping in the cold, but I don't want to have to worry about the kids being cold.
I really wanted this to be a relaxing weekend, so I didn't stress about the things we didn't get to see.
We had a wonderful time and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. I had a great time writing it.
PS I have some pictures from my digital camera, but I don't know how to insert them into my post. If anyone can help I'll try to post them.
