35th Anniversary

For our 35th anniversary, Daryl and I planned a little getaway to Tennessee.  I only had 2 vacation days, so we made it a little 4 day - 3 night getaway. 

Arrived in Knoxville on a Saturday morning, did some sightseeing in town, then went to visit some good friends, the Herrells.  Apryl, Tom, Daryl and I went to dinner -having WONDERFUL burgers,  then out for ice cream after. We had such a nice time visiting with them.  Sure do miss them being in Texas, but we absolutely loved their home, and the area.  And it is wonderful that Tom has such family history, and so many members of the family in the area.. (We were slightly envious of both the home/land, and the immediate family so close!!!)  

We stayed at a hotel near their home that night, and the next day headed towards Wears Valley where our cabin rental was..  

 That was August 24, our actual anniversary.  

 Breakfast was at Krispy Kreme..  my adorable husband told me "Sweets for his sweet"   

The drive was absolutely beautiful..   and we had NO rain the entire weekend -
despite the clouds! 

We rented our cabin from a place called Great Cabins in the Smokies

We checked in at their office, and the lady at the desk was so nice and friendly.

We were SO happy when we got to our Cabin.. it was everything and more than we expected. 

Our Cabin - isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!! 

Living room area - 

Looking towards the Kitchen

Beautiful bedroom - four poster king size bed

Bathroom.. HUGE walk in shower, and jacuzzi tub.

Bear wood carved statue on porch. I loved this little guy! 

Hot tub and rocking chairs on the deck

We really want to go back to this cabin in the winter.. to take advantage of the two fireplaces, and the Sauna :)    

That evening we went and explored Pigeon Forge..   "The Old Mill" was beautiful..    

The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge

Lots of shops, restaurants, dinner theaters and touristy stuff..   

The next morning we went Zip Lining at Wears Valley Zip Lines

View from the "lodge" at Wears Valley Zip Lines

Dudley getting Daryl all strapped in..  

Goofy getting Daryl ready for his first trip across..  

ME and Goofy.. he was awesome.. I was so nervous, but he went right behind me and I didn't feel so afraid..  

The afternoon after Ziplining, we went to visit Great Smoky Mountains National park, We did a drive through tour of Cades Cove..   Stopping a few times for photos, visiting buildings.. and bear watching. 

White tail deer in Cades Cove

One of the church buildings in the area.. we visited all of them.. 

Me and my sweetie 

Bear in the tree, right beside the road.. Rangers had people off to one side .. worrying what the little guy might do. 

Bear paparazzi  

After Cades cove, we headed back to Pigeon Forge, Ate dinner at Margaritaville 

Was kind of a disappointment, food so-so, service really bad..  But I guess you go there for the "experience". 

Next morning we got up..  tidied up our cabin, checked out and headed to the airport to turn in our car, and catch our flight home..  It was a wonderful few days, we enjoyed just being together, the two of us..  Looking forward to our next trip away..  

Saying Goodbye.....

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

The words of "An Old Irish Blessing" say so much of how we feel. 

We are going to miss our friends. We had no idea when we became friends last spring how attached we would become to this family. The most awesome mom in the world, and four of the kindest, sweetest kids you could ever meet. 

Now they have moved on, Back home to Seattle, after a five year stay here in Texas. Back to their families, and their roots. But they leave so much of themselves here in North Texas, in our hearts. 

I didn't get many good photographs today, I don't know if it's operator error, or just the tears in my eyes, but these few tug at my heart..   

Great day Hanging out with best friends...

Great friends! 

The Zambeck, Graves, Gentry and Smith families.. 

We had SUCH a fun time today 

(The Herrell girls were missing from this photo, they left before I could get a group shot!)

 

Group shot up in the tree house

Herrell Girls, My girls , Zack, Quinn and Aidan

 

Eli way up in the tree :) About 5 feet above the treehouse!