Last week Caleb and I dropped Emmy off with Ama and Bop and traveled up to Tennessee for some time by ourselves. Our mini vacation was well overdue. We slept in every morning and did whatever we wanted to during the day.
On Thursday we got to the cabin around 3 and decided to just hang out in Gatlinburg the rest of the day. We went shopping in the little stores on the strip and ate at The Peddler (which was recommended by my sisters in law).
The next day we decided we wanted to do something different so we found a place to go horseback riding through a trail in the mountains. It was truly beautiful. Caleb's horse was named Dooley and was big and white. Mine on the other hand, Pete, was slow and hungry so I spent most of the time telling him to go faster and to not eat every leaf he spotted. It was pretty amusing.
This is the only photo of Pete that wasn't blurry.
And here is my goofy cowboy!
A beautiful view. During our ride it started storming over some of the mountains and drizzling on us. I was nervous that we were going to get rained out, but the trail ended right before the rain started.
On Saturday morning we went for a walk in a meadow. The weather was perfect and not humid at all. The next two photos are our attempt at a self portrait. With the huge camera that I have, it is hard to get a photo of yourself (I'd love to have a point and shoot for occasions such as this).
After our walk, we went to eat lunch and ventured out on the parkway to see the beautiful sights God has created.
It actually got pretty chilly with the breeze blowing, but the view was breathtaking.
Side story: As we were driving around on the parkway, Caleb decided we should stop and walk around a bit. He chose a remote area to stop and we quickly realized the bank was about 30 feet down. I had on a dress and flip flops - not really a conducive ansemble for rock climbing : ) I feel about 5 feet down at one point, but my knight in shining armor caught me and we made it to the river.
As I let my feet soak int he cold water to get the dirt off of them, I snapped a few photos. Then we sat on a big rock and talked for a while.
On the way home we traveled through a couple of tunnels and I got this photo - completely unedited. I love it for some reason!
On Sunday morning we packed our stuff, threw it in the car, ate a pancacke breakfast at one of the dozens of flap jack places we passed on the strip and headed home to see our girl. We were both so giddy about getting to see her. I have never been away from her this long, but we both survived and she had a blast with Ama and Bop.
On the way out of town, we stoped at the TN/NC line to sight see a bit and got one last photo.
It was so good to be able to spend some time with Caleb alone since he's been back, but even though we have been together for 11 years (9 of them childless), we can't even imagine our lives witout her now. We are both looking forward to doing this again and bringing her with us next time.
What a gorgeous place- beautiful photos! So glad you got to enjoy some time together.
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