Gatlinburg 2010

After church today, we packed up the car for our yearly trip up to Gatlinburg to see the colorful leaves, and get a breath of fresh air. The trip up was fairly uneventful - in fact, Madison napped for a good portion of the journey. Once we got to Great Smoky Mountain National Park, everyone's eyes were open. The leaves were colorful and bright, and things looked a little different this year. We drove through the higher altitudes, traveling into forests of orange and groves of yellow, the fluttering leaves descending gently all around us. It was quite picturesque.

So was Gatlinburg. We always enjoy a quick trip up, and this one was - for the most part - no different. We had a nice room with a fireplace which you can see Madison in front of in the photo above. Mommy dressed her up to look very lovely today, and as usual, she got lots of comments. Back to the room: it had a view of the stream, and a very large jacuzzi. But it also featured a bed that made me realize where the term "bedrock" came from. This thing was rock-hard, keeping us up just about all night. In fact, I've inserted this Mohs Scale measuring hardness to help illustrate my point.

As you can see clearly above, "Beds at Fairfield Inn" fall somewhere between quartz and corundum, and just below the hardness of a diamond.

Despite a complete lack of sleep that night, we didn't let it spoil the trip. Earlier in the evening, we ventured out for a walk downtown, as is our custom. We found the candy shop, which Madison was very excited about. We got her some marshmallow candy on a stick, and wandered up through a market area called "The Village Shops."

We like this place, as it has some nice fall decor such as these unique scarecrows. It also has a lot of nice stores in it. One store features a lot of Irish, Scottish and Welsh items, including Crunchy candy bars! Mommy was quite pleased with that. But we also found some salt and pepper shakers there that we picked up: two leprechauns for St. Patrick's Day. Mommy bought some other items too, and together we enjoyed a nice leisurely stroll through the area.

On the way back, we passed by a car museum, which focused more on Hollywood cars that folks would recognize. Right out front, there was Herbie. This was great for Madison: she ran right up to Herbie to touch his hood. The funny thing was that as soon as she did, the horn beeped. And as soon as she did it again, Herbie's hood went up and the car shifted about. Madison giggled - and touched Herbie again. And this time his headlights went on. It was a great moment for Madison, who enjoyed seeing Herbie out there. Who cares about the Batmobile when there's Herbie?

We went back to the hotel room after that, but our evening was far from over: we sat in bed and watched a movie together on DVD: "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Madison enjoyed that, but soon it was time for bed. Mommy and Daddy had a tasty hot chocolate, and settled down for bed upon our stone slabs cleverly disguised as beds: it would be a long night!