Conquering the Mountain Trails with child and dog

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Day 2 in Gatlinburg, we woke up ready to conquer the Smokey Mountains. There are two trails within the park that are dog friendly and more than likely city folk friendly

Off we went, backpacks filled with water, trail mix, I think we had more camera equipment than anything. At first the trail hugged an access road which we found disappointing but we were able to go down side trails that got us right up to the rivers edge. Jay discovered his own walking stick, making him the mountain man extraordinaire for the day!

The trail hugged a river for 2 miles, we got to see a lot of fallen trees that have over time become homes to little new trees, moss and small furry creatures. The river itself is low at the moment and as you looked down you would see the water running over perfectly smooth rocks and river pebbles- heck the landscaping part of me saw those rocks and thought “man they would fetch a pretty penny in Miami!”

The temperature for the day was idea, it was warm but with coolness hinting to the rain that was coming later in the day. For the walk though we couldn’t of asked for better conditions. We did bump into a friendly pug along on the way on the river bank where he and Lola played while cooling off in the water. A little further down we found a super shallow part of the river where Gabrielle got to toss her socks and shoes aside and splash her piggie toes in the water. I think this was a highlight for both Lola and Ellie. At first Gabrielle wasn’t to sure on being in the water, but quickly she was picking up rocks and giving us ample adorable camera moments to capture.

By the end of the trail we realized we should of brought two cars, one to be left at each end. Gerry though, probably feeling the effects of missing out on gym workouts and thinking about the serenity of the path with out us, offered to run back to the car and meet us in town which is where this particular trail ended. At that point we looked our hero with gracious eyes and said “Okay if you are sure!” Those of us left behind walked into town to a hot dog place with 21 topping options - yeah we knew we got the better end of the deal - but we didn’t eat…..until Gerry got back together with us…we did have a conscious!

It was actually nice to just sit at this main street eatery and watch the tourists pass by and take in the sights of the area including the two zombies who walked by, that I thought at first were escaped psychiatric patients, from the haunted museum down the road!

You would think this was a full day of acticity for us, but now we don’t go down easily. We zoomed back to the cabin and dropped the guys off and left them to their own devices, while Dena, Gabrielle and I did the classic vacation past time - Outlet Shopping in Pigeon Forge.

First of all let me just say Pigeon Forge is pretty much where all arcade games, cheesy tourist traps go to die….but amongst the neon signs and wacky amusements lies three outlets to encourage you to grab you wallets and further stimulate the local economcy. I think out of the three we went to the newest one which had all the shops we could possibly want to hit. We did some damage but not enough that we needed to eat that 5lb bag of pecans for dinner!

We met back up with the guys at the Smokey Mountain Brewery - where before the trip we had seen on the menu the mention of an appetizer comprising of soft pretzels and warm beer cheese dip - either we are soft in the head or easily swayed, our stomachs led us there to try this delight. It did not disappoint. We got their signature chicken wings tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce, burgers, steak and a great show from the band which Gabrielle was enthralled with.

Tired but stomachs full and feeling like we lived the area to the fullest for the day we headed home. Sat brings our last day in the area and taking in the Arts Festival and hopefully hitting Hillbilly Mini Golf where you have to take a cable car 300ft up the mountainside to get to the course - Ya’ll come back now Ya hear?

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