I'm off to Gatlinburg Tennessee!

It's so nice to get to go and visit with family, especially when you don't have to travel to terribly far to get to them! What's also nice is that with family, you can pick up right where you left off the last time you saw them and there's not all that awkward getting reacquainted stuff that goes on when you meet up with other people after an extended time apart. Your family already knows all your weird stuff, so you can just pick up where you left off...

I took the day off of work on Thursday and drove over to Gatlinburg Tennessee (actually, I drove over on Wednesday night) to visit with Pat and Kath, whom I have not seen since November 2008 when we were all on the cruise together. They were staying in Gatlinburg at the Westgate Smokey Mountain Resort & camp; Spa. Pat's mom, Donna, was also there and it was great to see her again- it has been 8 years since I last visited with her!
I had to be back to work on Friday morning so it was a whirlwind trip but we managed to have a good time despite the short duration.
I'm tellin ya though, the trip over was a bit of an adventure... I left right after work and didn't stop to eat dinner, thinking that I would stop on the way. Well. I did stop, right after I crossed the state line into Tennessee, at a little BBQ joint that was also a convenience store. I stood there in line for a few minutes and finally decided that I was too hungry to wait any longer so I headed back out to my car. As I walked out I heard a couple of guys whistling and making somewhat suggestive comments which kinda freaked me out - I didn't turn around in case they weren't actually hooting at me ( how embarrassing would that be) and also, just in case they were, I didn't want to encourage them- you know those long distance romances never work out...
Anyway, I drove on to another little convenience store down the road and pulled in. Does Tennessee have different rules than the rest of the U. S.? Every man in the parking lot AND in the store had their shirts off! I was starting to get a sickish feeling in the pit of my stomach as I parked the car. Two guys walked past, peering through the windshield at me. They grinned a bit, revealing a decided lack of dentition and I could have sworn I heard banjo music... da da da da da da da da daaa, da da da da da da da da daaaaa...
I hooked it in reverse and got the hell outta there!

It was 9:00 pm before I ever made it to the resort, I was so hungry I could have chewed my own arm off and I sure I was lost the entire way. I stopped at an ABC store and decided that if I were really lost that I might just buy a bottle and get drunk in the parking lot! (Ha, had ya going there for a minute, didn't I?) Thankfully Kath had food waiting when I arrived and after I ate
we stayed up talking, sitting on the balcony until about midnight. We finally got so tired we decided it was time to crash for the night.

Gatlinburg is really just one big strip mall of shops and small amusement parks. Dolly wood was around the corner but we really didn't have time to go there and Pat , Kath and Donna had already been the day before. We checked out some of the shops (I'll add the photos later) and went junking a bit too- I found two great cookbooks at a little thrift store. The possibilities for new and exotic foods are endless with new cookbooks, not that I have ever tried the recipes in them but hey, it could happen....eventually!

On the way home I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and did not get home until late but I made it and fell into bed then had to go right back to work the next day. I was pooped by the end of Friday and glad for the weekend.
Anyway, it was a great trip and I had a good time visiting the family, I get to do it again in September- hopefully I won't get lost again.

Well, until my next big adventure...
Willow