Smoky Mountains Vacation!

In July we felt very blessed to vacation in the Smoky Mountains.  Highlights of the trip there were:  seeing a beautiful double rainbow - even its legs down to the ground, witnessing the widespread draught conditions in the Midwest, and visiting with the Massey family in Cookesville, TN. 

Hoop dancing - the hoops take the shape of various things - here it is the world.  Other shapes he created were a snake, butterfly, eagle, and Mickey Mouse!

We visited Cherokee, North Carolina, and watched a native dancer.  He pointed out to us that full blooded Cherokee dancers are dying out and few young people are interested in learning it.
    He told lots of jokes, such as:  Do you know why Cherokees are sure they are going to Heaven?  They have a reservation there.  

Eagle Dance

The whole gang!

This was actually a family vacation with Walter's mom, brothers, sister, and sister-in-law.  We felt very blessed to spend our week in this chalet in Gatlinburg.  I highly recommend it if you are ever looking for a great place to stay!  It had 3 levels, with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and lots of space for hanging out.

Cordell and Ryan enjoying the hot tub.

 Birdsong, our chalet in Gatlinburg, was amazing!  Lots of privacy, high up a twisty steep road, and a perfect place to call home for a week.  I would love to go back someday!

 The views were amazing.  Our first morning there some of us were sitting on the deck and watched a black bear walk right down the road next to them.  I, (Pam) unfortunately, was not one of the priveleged ones to see the bear.

Jenny on the back deck.

Ryan looking suave.  Notice the jacket - It was actually cool enough to need it!

Cordell just shot the ball.

Walter had a winning streak!

Grandma even got in the action!

Hiking to Rainbow Falls

After being in the middle of the hot, dry weather with the brown, crunchy grass in Missouri, we couldn't get enough of the lush green forest in the Smoky Mountains.  Our family went for a 5.2 mile hike to Rainbow Falls.  It felt like being in a cool, damp rainforest with dozens of mountain creeks and waterfalls.

Beautiful!

Speckled green canopy.

Relaxing on the hike.  Or, more accurately, waiting on Mom to catch up!

The water was refreshing.

Green, green, and more green!

We hiked right by a small waterfall we could walk behind. 

Cordell brought home this souvenir from the hike when he slipped on the steep path.

Rainbow Falls!  Ryan, Jenny and Cordell are behind the 80' waterfall.

Looking through the waterfall.

We saw so many rivers like this.  I loved the moss covered rocks.

Dennis, Angel, Janice and Ryan riding in a wagon to the start point of a putt putt golf game.

Mike preparing for his putt.

One of our favorite memories of the trip occurred during our game of putt-putt golf.  A thunderstorm started brewing on the 5th hole, but we had to abandon the game on the 11th hole when the rain started pouring.  Grandma ended up getting a rather wild, wet ride in the wheel chair as Walter pushed her through the maze of the golf course trying to seek shelter in one of the shacks!

Wet, but still having fun!  Actually, another of our favorite sayings came from Dennis.  We found this to be applicable on a several of our adventures during the week:

"It's all fun and games until the Fruit of the Looms get wet!"  ~  Dennis Williams

Posted by Pam

Another highlight of the vacation was white water rafting on class 3 & 4 rapids.  Everyone enjoyed it and Walter and the kids even went for a swim, or they fell out.  Accounts vary.   At any rate, they had a great time!