mtntp: : national park: church by a stream, was it worth two hours, rainbow falls

we set off pretty early sunday to have devotions in the woods.

like most people, we knew what gatlinburg was about before hand so we had planned to not be there most of the day. leaving early made beating traffic easier.

it also gave us time to look around some mountain cabins and then go to the one store i found that was run by people from the mountain. i love that store.

the good thing about not paying for hotel on a vacation is i allowed us to get some cool things for the house.

i'm not sure what's more impressive, the giant plank of chestnut or the swollen hand.

by this point swelling of hands, calves, feet and face was full blown.

he doesn't look like a tiny man but the top of the door frame barely hit our guy's shoulders.

i'm thinking this guy was more like my height.

running out of room for steps? just make them progressively shorter.

i totally won.

we were waiting to say no to a time share.

they had stuck us in the worst run hotel. not updated since the 90's (the outside of the building was cool though). no free breakfast. barely working air unit. blankets the weight of sheets. one tiny barely working fridge and no real room to move around.

if a time share company thinks my brain is that easily manipulated by conditions they had another thing coming.

first question was: how often do you vacation? answer: every 7 years.

the last 'traditional vacation' hubs and had where we paid for hotel and did more of the typical american thing was 7 years ago.

the guy thought we were nuts.

i'm sorry dude, i have relatives up and down the sea board and my family does this thing were we actually talk to each other. and indeed the last vacation i did not see or stay with a relative was that long ago and i think it's awesome. not sold. and we bumped into an aunt and uncle while in town. how cool is that. i think it's great.

another question: can you afford it. answer: no. we don't go into debt to spend time in a swimming pool in another state. sorry, i think that's lame.

he wanted to know but think of all the food you have to buy and to save money on hotel (but you don't really so that's a lie) etc etc.

you should have seen his face when i told him we brought all of our food and were eating out of cups.

yep, we made due in a hotel without a kitchenette.

i took paper towels from the ranger giving honey demonstrations at a welcome center to act as coffee filters. mr., please understand me. we're that committed.

3rd ridiculous thing: travel is the best way to instill and inquiring mind in children.

firstly, you are telling this to a couple has has just hiked 8 miles with their 4 year old. i think we have that covered. also, that is not the only way to create an inquiring mind. in addition to that, travel takes on many forms. lastly, tell me, how are a bunch of pictures of kids on inter tube in a swimming pool that looks the same as every swimming pool in the world is not exactly 'creating an inquiring mind' material.

and tell me how is $24,000 saving money????

answer was no.

we had just enough time to get to the rangers station to get our junior ranger badge after completing the program.

this was an amazing challenge. rainbow falls trail. great trail.

it was getting rocky.

i choose the 'slow and easy finishes the race' pace so that i can see the woods instead of rushing through them. i must have looked really swollen or about to die because everyone i passed stopped to encourage me.

totally cool was the british couple we met on the path. they came from Sussex. i asked them what brought them to the states and they said in stereo:

'DOLLY'

yep, they traveled over the pond to see dolly parton in person. and they did, she was in a parade the day before. he was also a big dukes of hazard fan. we talked to them for a while, they were really nice.

find huzzle.

falls in the background. they were huge. look for the people for scale in the next pictures.

i couldn't let fizzle and p climb up and not have done it as well. looks like i was caught.

then, i had to scramble down, get the camera and scramble back up because it was so breathtakingly gorgeous. these pictures do not justice. i have more pictures but sometimes more is just overkill.

barely visible is a couple condescendingly canoodling ruining my shot. how do people condescendingly canoodle? they found a way. they did it the whole time with these weird fake romantic expressions on their faces. i wanted to throw up in my mouth.

news flash young couple. the outside world can tell when you're trying to be noticed as romantic or oh so cool.

we have a word for it in case you didn't know, it's poser.

try just enjoying things and maybe other people enjoying God's creation won't be annoyed at your presence. just be real, pretty please.

rant over.