Creekside

I have a newfound love for the mountains, and this is coming from a beach girl! Until last week, I had never actually taken a mountain vacation, so that is how I brought in 2009 with John, Brittany & George, Bess & Reid, and Katie Beth & Brandon. Our quaint little cabin was called Creekside, located in Pigeon Ford, and it was just what this group of hardworking folks needed for a few days! The decor was rustic, with great log beds in every room, complete with a hot tub and pool table. We were slightly disappointed by the fireplaces, however, because they were ignited by a switch and were not "real fire." Do not be confused, they do radiate heat! There was one in my bedroom and I felt like I would be festive and leave it on one night. I woke up parched, in a full sweat, so that did not happen again.

I am getting ahead of myself. John and I rode to Creekside with Katie Beth and Brandon. It was almost a five hour drive, so we found various ways to amuse ourselves. One great new thing I was introduced to was THE RADIO GAME. You put the radio on scan, and when it pauses on a station playing a song, you only have a few seconds to name the song or who sings it. We got VERY into this game and there was a lot of screaming going on! Brandon would pump the gas every time he got one right. I won the first round because I was dominating the country stations. We also began to notice (once Garmin led us astray on some back roads) that every house has a barn that was falling down. This began a long stream of saying "Barn!" every time we passed one. This then led to "Silo!" once they present on every farm. Random, I know, but long car rides will do that to you!

Fast forward back to Creekside...The New Year was brought in with lots of laughs and a late night dance party. The hot tub was fully utilized each day. It was, all in all, a good time had by all! We cooked in every meal but one, the girls had an old school make up party (brought on by me insisting to do up KB's eyes like Taylor Swift's), we played board games, pool, and watched some football...We also perfected the art of "being bad" and thinking up ways to not be old farts post college :) I could not tell you the last time I had so much fun doing the simple things in life with good friends!

The trip would not be complete, however, without a play by play of our journey to Cade's Cove. We felt like we needed to get out and enjoy mother nature and do some hiking and what not. We packed sandwiches, a bag of chips, and everyone grabbed two waters each. All 8 of us then packed in the Tahoe and took off. We cruised through downtown Gaitlinburg, just to see it, and I could not BELIEVE what a tourist trap that was and the traffic was insane! We decide to go ahead and eat our sandwiches :) This is also a perfect place for people watching...I felt like we were on the strip in Panama City, but mountain style! Good stuff, people. Cade's Cove was going to be a 30 mile drive from here, so we settled in, best we could, and drove into Gaitlinburg State Park. Narrow roads, lots of river views, it was really beautiful. I began to get antsy, we were discovering that there is actually TRAFFIC in a state park. We pull over once to view a river scene and then carry on. Cade's Cove is an 11 mile loop, with valleys and trails you can pull over at and hike. We wanted to see the water falls. There were deer, horses, and turkey everywhere. We quickly discover there is stop and go traffic on this loop. It is a one way and no way out but FORWARD. We keep waiting for the traffic to disperse. It DOES not disperse. It takes us 4 hours to do 11 miles, my friends. I kid you not! There are 8 people in the car and John and I are sharing a bucket seat. Finally, two hours in, we make it to the trail. We get out, hike a short distance, take a lot of pictures, and realize, that due to TRAFFIC, IN A STATE PARK, we do not have time to go to the end of this thing and back before dark!! We are a bit upset and VERY overwhelmed but trying to make the best of it. We played games in the car and asked each other random questions, like "Would you do __ for a million bucks?" Poor Brittany needs to go to bathroom--and everyone is hungry. Being the meticulous planner I am, I had two packs of crackers in my purse. Those are gone in seconds. Reid, being as prepared as always, has a personal cooker in the car, a camel pack, and RAMON noodles. I had never had Ramon Noodles, they are something I used to buy in bulk for food drives in high school. I have developed a new appreciation for these and like them!!! Chicken flavor is the best and I highly recommend. We FINALLY made it out of there, after George and I are goaded into believing there is a bear right off of the trail (all these other people were pulling over and getting out to take pictures). There was NO bear, it was a big buck. Honestly, everyone there was from big cities and had never seen deer before (HEY THERE, MR. DEER, HOW LONG IS THIS LINE UP AHEAD??). In conclusion, never ever go to Cade's Cove, it is like driving through Callaway Gardens to see the light show. NOT worth it.

The days flew by to fast and it was time to head home. John, Katie Beth, Brandon and I were sucked into the tourist trap, and could not resist stopping and riding go carts on the way out. We felt that John needed the practice (He gets to drive 6 laps at Talledega here in a few weeks. Christmas present from me!) Long story short,KB and I smoked them (Brandon got style points for slipping in ahead of KB when we had slowed to park) and they had to take us to Outlet Malls (the Polo store) that were next door!

We made it home safely and had total post-trip depression the whole ride home. Happy New Year to you and yours!