Spring Break Trip First Leg: Great Smoky Mountains

 Teaching has it's perks for all the hard parts...like a week off in the spring.  Whohoo!

 This year Kyle talked me into to not working it away lesson planning all week, and just take a break.  To leave the state.  Decisions, Decisions...we decided to go visit our friends in the south.  Only trouble was that I had to be with my students who were part of the National History Day Club, who's projects were being judged on Saturday.  So we left Ohio by way of Fremont.  We took 75 south instead of 77.  Kentucky here we come!

We ended up in London Kentucky in our favorite hotel chain: the Country Inn and Suites.  We decided to continue through the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee before we headed over to South Carolina.

 We've always heard of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  It was way too busy.  Bumper to bumper traffic.  We just toured from the car.  It wasn't worth fighting the crowds for us.
 There was so much to see there.  I don't know how a person could decide what to see first.  It was super commercialized...kinda like an Eastern Vegas.

 We even drove by the Titanic...

 Iceberg and all.

 Once we got out of the chaos of people we got to see the mountains themselves.  It was 29 degrees, so much for all the summer clothes I packed.  I was super cold!

 There was frost in the forests and it was beautiful.  I only wish we could have had a bit of sunshine.

 The clouds were floating over the mountains.  That is always fun to watch.

 It was a super, gorgeous ride.  I'm glad Kyle always drives so that I can just look around.

 They really were beautiful, I can only imagine how much nicer they would have been with a bit of sunshine.

 Couldn't you just see a gnome living here?

 Later that afternoon we arrived in South Carolina to visit our god-children.  It was the whole purpose for going.

Aren't they super cute!  I think that it was worth the break to have fun with these little guys.