With the wedding and the reception over it was now time to spend the rest of Saturday and the first part of Sunday, once again, with just my family. While it was a short time it was relaxing and enjoyable. Here from my point of view are the highlights.
Saturday October 3 (continued)
When it was down to just our family including the Bride & Groom, in the cabin we relaxed and watched the DVD of the ceremony. Then it was time to clean up, refrigerate the leftovers, and transform the reception hall back into its original "cabin like" state. It was another of the amazing family group efforts that highlighted the entire weekend.
Michael, Heather, and my nephew, Bobby, decided that they were going to go into Pigeon Forge to visit an attraction called "Magic Quest". It was an interactive live video game experience. They said later that it was a lot of fun. At one point everyone else in the cabin dispersed to change their clothes or just go to their rooms to rest. It was only Paula, Theresa, and me in on the main floor.
I decided that I wanted to take a nap but after trying to rest upstairs in the bedroom myself I came down with a case of "Cabin Fever". I went back down to the main floor and saw Paula and Theresa playing a card game called "Canasta". I told my wife I was bored. I wanted to get out and do something or just go see some of the sights of the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. She suggested that I go do it.
There wasn't anyone else around to go with me so I went by myself. I promised I'd be back in a couple of hours. I drove back down the mountain and into the heart of the tourist area just looking at the sights. I drove through Pigeon Forge past the road back to Dollywood amusement park and headed toward Gatlinburg. Part of that road was a hairpin turn that's a lot of fun to drive on.
With it being an early Saturday evening Gatlinburg was very busy and crowded. There were people walking everywhere. I drove from one end of the town to the other just looking around at the sights. I recognized things that were familiar to me from my two previous trips and saw some new things as well. I really enjoyed my time alone and the drive through what I consider one of the most fascinating and exciting tourist areas I've ever been to.
Before I headed back to the cabin I drove to a restaurant called "Applewood". I wanted to make sure that I knew how to get there because that's where we were going to have breakfast on our way out of town the next day.
When I got back to the cabin everyone in the family, including James & Brandi, were in the dinning room. We spent the rest of the night playing either the card game, Phase 10, or the board game, Cranium. We laughed, talked, and drank coffee until about midnight.
When the games were finished the preparation for leaving the cabin the next morning began. Everybody packed what they could and we went to bed about 1AM. The next day would be our last hours together for this vacation.
Sunday October 4
On Sunday morning, for the last time on this trip, our families worked together to get everything packed and loaded into each vehicle so we could check out of our cabin by 10 am. The last thing we did at the cabin was gather on the front porch steps for a group picture. We recruited a very gracious young woman to take the pictures for us so we could all be in it. The picture is at the top of this post.
We drove down the mountain for the last time and headed back through Pigeon Forge to the Applewood restaurant where we would have breakfast. Being Sunday morning the place was rather crowded and we had to wait on the veranda until they has a table for us. Shari & Bobby had to go back to the cabin to get something they forgot but got there just as we were being seated.
Following our meal we went back to the Apple Barn store to look around. We spent about an hour shopping and doing some final visiting with each other.
Paula got some sugar free apple butter and other apple products. Shari got some apples. I got Teejai and Bobby each a small wooden storage box as a souvenir to remember the trip.
Once the shopping was finished it was time to say "good bye". The Pennsylvania branch of family would be heading north on Interstate 81 toward Virginia and the Kentucky group would be heading east on Route 40 toward Nashville.
Everyone hugged on each other and we took some last minute pictures. We talked about our plans to get together next year at the Jersey shore and coming back to the Smokies some time in the future. Finally with teary eyes we departed.
We headed home this time with only Heather and Michael in their car behind us. Before leaving the area we stopped and shopped at a store that sells all those products sold on TV commercials by Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan. We looked around and bought some souvenir T-shirts.
The traffic and construction on the way to the interstate made for some interesting moments (especially the way I drive) but it was all okay in the end. Our last stop before getting on I-40 and heading home was at a mineral and stone outlet. It was a shack where they sold colored glass stones and small quartz formations. Paula wanted to stop and get some stones for our flowerbeds but they turned out to be too expensive.
The place was very strange in that there were some some very nice looking quartz pieces while at the same time they were selling what looked like nothing more than large broken chunks of colored glass for a lot of money. Paula did buy me a real nice faceted cut and polished emerald green glass stone.
The place was also one of those "mine for gemstones yourself" places. They have buckets of sand for sale and use sift them through a screen over a makeshift water trough. Theresa and Michael each bought a bucket and panned for rubies, emeralds, garnets and more. They found several and Theresa was very happy. She really enjoyed it.
As we headed down I-40 it started to rain. We had rain all the way home. We stopped in Cookville, Tennessee for lunch at the Cracker Barrel there.
We got home around 8:30 PM. I called my sisters cell hone to check on the PA family. They had stopped for the night in Virgina. Once again our families were in different places miles away from each other but at least we had a wonderful week together to talk about and remember for years to come.
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