Fall Leaves

We woke up in Pigeon Forge this morning, and were pretty much up and ready to go right away.  We went downstairs for a quick continental breakfast.

Which is everything you'd expect from a Continental Breakfast.  Much has been made of the very phrase, "Continental Breakfast," as if it were something extravagant with a bit of international intrigue.  A delight to the senses!  Of course, it's pretty much just some doughnuts, cereal, waffles, bananas, and instant grits.  Still, it's nice and all.  Except that Mommy can't eat any of it.

So anyway, we left Pigeon Forge, and forged a path homeward.  The trip over the mountains is always a wonderful part of the vacation, and really one of the reasons for the drive.  Fall's colors are beautiful in the Smoky Mountains, with the twirling leaves flittering down along the road as you drive through forests of changing colors with streams of light filtering through.  Mommy plugs in the dulcimer music, and we're in for roughly an hour long drive through the park, one that includes a stop somewhere at the top for the view:

To show the wonderful colors of fall, Mommy took this picture above, and Daddy took this one below.

Then we handed Madison the camera, and let her snap a few photos too!

This one below shows the view we were overlooking.  We stopped at a different point on the way back, one with a more panoramic view than even the state line view less than a mile northward.  Madison took this picture from that overlook:

She had a great vacation.  She and Mommy are all smiles here, as the last few days have just been magical.  We've been so incredibly blessed.

The drive home after that was pretty smooth and straightforward, although we did stop at "Goats on the Roof" for a quick visit.

NOTE:  "Goats on the Roof" implies that there are in fact goats on the roof.  There were goats, yes.  There was also a roof or two.  But the preposition "on" would be misleading, as there were NO goats on the roof today.  This filled Daddy with a sense of disappointment, as if we'd been ripped off or something.  Why didn't we just go to another regular old petting zoo or something?  If I stop for goats on a roof, I want to see goats on a roof, by gum.  Not goats on the ground!

Anyway, the lack of goats on the roof didn't seem to bother Mommy and Madison, especially when we went to get some ice cream there.  It was ginormous, thick, and quite tasty.  We sat for a while amongst the other tourists, grabbing some ice cream before hopping in the car to head back home.

It was a quick trip home from there.  We unpacked, and Daddy got back to the office to do some work.  We watched a movie tonight, studied lines, and got to bed early.  Mommy's been continuing her prep of the house for the big day tomorrow.  It's going to be pretty big - maybe too big.  We'll see though.  Our pumpkin carving party has grown quite a bit!

Dollywood

We woke up pretty early on our own this morning, a new day before us.  We were fairly well-rested from the night before.  The hotel's beds weren't perfect, but they weren't bad either.  Let's just say there's no place like home.  Madison can sleep anywhere, and did so here.

We were up and out the door, and actually got to Dollywood a half hour before it opened.  Surprisingly, they let people in around that time, even though the rides aren't open yet.  We used that opportunity to walk around and see some of the decorations, taking pictures here and there of the pumpkin displays, and other things too.

When the rides were opened at 10:00 am, we were right there at the Rockin' Roadway, the same one we rode last night.  There was no line whatsoever, so we hopped on a car and made our way around the track as the Beach Boys played on our radios.

From there, we made our way over to the Country Fair area, where we just hopped on every ride we wanted to without a line.  We thought that surely people would start pouring in, and there's eventually be a line of some sort.  But that never happened - it was like we had the whole park to ourselves!

For example, Madison and Daddy were on the bumper cars this morning three times in a row - all by ourselves!  We never had to get out and get back into line again.  The operator just asked us if we wanted to do it again, and so we did.  

We rode of the Ferris wheel right away, the first people to ride on that for the day.  Once the wheel got turning, people saw it was up and running and got into line.  But we were there first and again, we just hopped on.  Daddy was talking to the fellow Ferris wheel operator as a member of a sacred organization of Ferris wheel operators.  I haven't operated one in years, but I can still do it.  It was a funny conversation.

Here's something else we rode on:  flying elephants.  These apparently aren't exclusive to the Magic Kingdom.  I don't know exactly how they explain this one away, as the only flying elephant I know of would be Dumbo.  And this ride is pretty much exactly like Dumbo.  Still, official or not, the flying elephant ride is a sacred one to us, dating back to Madison's first ride on Dumbo in Hong Kong Disney.

We also rode a version of the teacups, a ride called Lemon Twist, or something like that.  The cups themselves turned around the circle rather slowly.  But they spun really, really fast if you wanted them too.  You can see Daddy taking one for the team up there, as Madison wants it to go really, really fast!

We were actually also the very first ones on this next ride too!

I think it was called the Shooting Star.  The amount of people around this area of the park were so small that we rode this twice in a row without any line.  Madison immediately wanted to do it again, and you can see Mommy's expression there - she's actually having a great time!

We actually did a lot of rides in such a short time - our plan was to get something to eat early, so off we went to the Front Porch to grab a big brunch.  

Madison took this photo, by the way.  This restaurant was a wonderful experience for us.  It had a lot of gluten-free options, so it was almost like being on the cruise for Mommy, who got to try some things today that she doesn't usually get to eat.  This meal was a Rueben sandwich.  Later on, she had a tasty pizza.  She loved both of them.  Daddy got a meatloaf stacker, which was awesome, and Madison got chicken, as usual.  We had sweet tea delivered to us in Mason Jars, and just sat there relaxing with a nice filling meal.  It was really good.

We didn't want to go on any fast rides after that, but we did see the train was about to go on it's first trip of the day, so we hopped on board "Cinderella," and took ourselves a train ride through the woods and around the tracks a bit.  

It was a nice, leisurely ride.  Lots of people were onboard the train by this time, as the park's population started picking up.  Yet we had already done so much of the items on our little check list, and things just kept timing out in our favor.  

For example, the train was there right after we ate, and right after we got off the train, there was the theater showing a Dolly Parton movie, "Heartsong," starting right when we got off.  We watched that next, and it was very enjoyable.  Dolly didn't back off on her faith, and it was great to see her share that with everyone.

The carousel was right there, and yes, we walked right on this one too.  Left the theater to walk right on the carousel, and it was crowded there even.  All the horses were taken except the same exact ones we rode last night!  What a coincidence!

After the carousel, we did something Mommy and Daddy have been talking about for a long time:  we did an old time photo.  

We were posed in sepia tone, posed to look like a family during the Civil War.  The pictures came out really great.  We spent some money on them, but there were about four that were a lot of fun!

From here, we decided to ride the Raging River Rapids, something that Madison has been wanting to ride for a while now.  This was her first time, and it was unforgettable.  These are those circular boats that rotate around, and people randomly get splashed as the boats splash through the waves, or run into waterfalls.  Again, no line!  And even better, we didn't have to get out of the boat to ride again - they just let us do it again without even getting up.  

But we got soaked.  I mean, wow.  There is this waterfall towards the end, and it looks bad.  But a sensor is triggered as you go by and the waterfall turns off.  And everyone breathes a sigh of relief that they didn't get hit with the waterfall.  Well, the boats were all backed up, and we floated towards that waterfall, and it turned off.  But we were stuck there underneath that waterfall, because of all the boats in front of us.  And Daddy knew it was about to turn back on.  And he and Madison were right there under the waterfall.  And the next thing you knew, the deluge came.  It was a great outpouring, as hundreds of gallons of water plummeted over the side of the ledge there and onto us in our tiny boat.  Madison screamed the entire time!  It was hilarious - all the other boats were looking back at us with amusement and/or pity.  

Yes, we'd need some time to dry off now.

Why not eat some ice cream?  That was what we needed to do in order to get our first clue of the game, so we went over to the ice cream shop there, closer to the entrance.

It was delicious!  We each got some tasty ice cream, and although you can see us eating it inside here, we managed to finish it off outside in the warmth of the sun.  Madison is soaked here, as is Daddy.  We might as well have taken a shower with our clothing on - that's what it felt like!

Our next stops were a few Dolly-related visits, the first being her "Home on Wheels."  It was a quick tour of her tourbus.  Madison, Mommy and Daddy hopped aboard and got to take a look around, snapping a few pictures.

After that, we went to an exhibit called "Chasing Rainbows," which was a surprisingly large Dolly Parton museum.  We spent a long time in there, looking around at clothing, awards, pictures, videos, and all kinds of things related to Dolly Parton.  It was one of those museums that kept going and going and going.  Lots to see in there. 

Here's one of the things at the beginning, a hologram of Dolly Parton introducing the place.  She looks like one of those Jedi holograms.  We spent a considerable time in the museum when we looked at the clock:  it was almost time for the bird show.  There's this bird show a little walk away from the museum, so we headed up that way next to check it out.

The highlight are the bald eagles, of course.  There are a lot of bald eagles up there, but there are other birds as well, including a peregrine falcon, which we learned is the fastest creature on earth.  We've been reading Mrs. Peregrine, book two, so it was somewhat topical as well.  Like, oh, there's a peregrine!  They took up donations for the bird sanctuary at the end in a unique way.  A bird would take the money from your hands, and put it in a slot in a box.  We gave Madison a dollar, and sure enough, the bird took it from her and put it in the slot.  Fun!

From here, we took a leisurely stroll down the hill through an area dedicated to craftsmen.  There was a blacksmith, candlemakers, glass blowers, wood carvers (not witches!), and a replica of the old church Dolly used to attend.

They still do services here on Sundays.  Wouldn't that be something?  It was a nice walk back, looking at the different crafts, seeing all kinds of pottery and weaving.  There were unique items along the way as well, like this piano that was turned into a fountain:

We picked up the old time photos, and did a bit of shopping along the way as well.  We got ourselves a new Christmas ornament, one Madison had picked herself.  

It has a passage about adoption on it, and it is personalized by the artist herself.  Madison's name is written on it, and this one will go on our main tree - not too long from now, either.  

We pretty much left the park after that, as we'd been there quite some time and it was starting to get dark.  The park was open a few more hours later, so we didn't face a huge crowd when trying to exit the place.  We got on the tram and had no problem getting back to our car, and then back to our hotel.  

We'd been talking about going to Dollywood for years now, and just hadn't done it with Madison yet. This year, it sort of lined up for us, and the weather was just perfect, crisp and cool in the mountains.  And the number of people in the park was just right - we never had to worry about crowds so much.  It was just a perfectly pleasant day.  God's grace was all over it in such a way we had to ask, "What have we done to deserve this?"  Nothing, of course.  It was just a wonderful gift of love, and an unforgettable day.

Great Pumpkin LumiNights

Today Madison got home from school with familiar news:  she made the honor role again.  She got all A's on her first report card of Fifth Grade.  This is so routine for Mommy and Daddy.  She has a 100 average in science.  You want to see where you can help, and of course we do a lot of that, but there aren't necessarily any adjustments that need to be made at this point.  I mean, if the weakest area is a 95 average, how do you come in and say, "Okay, so that's a little low.  Let's focus on that."  Obviously, we're not doing that, because she's doing great across the board.  We're very proud of her, and we tell her that frequently.  She's doing such a wonderful job in school.

So we had school this morning, and work at the office too.  But it was an early release day, so we did something we love to do each October:  we traveled north.  Here above is a picture of Mommy and Madison at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  It's a beautiful drive through the park this time of year, as the leaves are colorful and the air is brisk.  It wasn't terribly cold on top of the mountains, but it was cool enough to remind us that it was in fact fall.  

Our destination today was Pigeon Forge, which we really haven't done so much with Madison.   In fact, we've never taken her to Dollywood before, and so today's visit fixed that a bit:  we went to Dollywood tonight, with plans to go tomorrow as well.

There is a deal where you can go after 3pm, and get in free the next day.  This was the plan.  We got there around 5:30 or 6pm, and really had just one goal in mind:  to see the Great Pumpkin LumiNights.  Everything else was just icing on the cake, including this very nice ride on the carousel here.  

The other thing Madison really wanted to do was the bumper cars.  This may be ever since she played "LEGO Batman 2," where she and Daddy would do the bumper car ride all the time.  There aren't too many bumper cars around, so when we heard about these, Madison got excited.  It turned out to be the highlight of the trip for her, at least her favorite ride.  We did it twice tonight with a full capacity, and we didn't really have to wait each time we got in line.  

We did that a few times, as well as the Rockin Roadway, which is somewhat like the Tomorrowland Speedway, but with older cars and fifties music.  And by the time we were done with that, it was getting dark enough to head over and see the pumpkins.

This is one of the more intricately carved ones, where the skin of the pumpkin isn't cut so much as carved into.  The butterfly is a symbol of Dollywood, of course, but it also makes for a nice image on the pumpkin.  Here are just a few of the pumpkins we saw tonight, also carved along a walkway:

They were everywhere.  It would be very, very difficult to count all the pumpkins we saw tonight - it would take a really long time.  The Great Pumpkin LumiNights is a seasonal event where you find a walkway nearby the entrance of Dollywood, and then follow it along, looking at all the pumpkins and displays along the way - like this one here:

This is one of the areas that everyone stops to take pictures.  There's music, mist, and all kinds of creepy lighting to add to the atmosphere.  It looked fantastic!  And here below are some more carvings nearby:

Like I said, it would be difficult to count them all.  We've never seen so many carved pumpkins in one place.  It was really impressive.  We walked along the pathway, taking pictures and getting ideas for our own carving party coming up.  We like the owl pumpkins!

Oh, and then there was this giant spider pumpkin too:

This one is sort of the symbol for the night, the pumpkin sculpture that shows up on all the advertising.  We're not entirely big fans of spiders, but this one seemed pretty friendly!

Here are some notable pumpkins!  We sent this picture to Madison's piano teacher, Mrs. Pam, who appreciated the shapes and carvings.  Oh, and here's one below that caught Madison's attention:

I couldn't imagine doing this one, just thinking of all those tiny strips in the back of the shell.  We're not sure if this was a real pumpkin or a foam one.  Regardless, its a unique carving, and Madison spotted it right away amongst all the others.  "Sea turtle!" she called out.  

Along the pathway, there were actually two guys there that were carving away pumpkin designs that were much more complicated:

These have to take a lot of time.  There were about twenty or so of these more intricately carved pumpkins, all lit up for everyone to see.  The artists were there in front, busily sculpting away at new designs.  It was fascinating to watch, and challenging.

Here's Madison in front of that large spider pumpkin.  She was enjoying the tour of the pumpkins just as much as we were.  The music and lighting made the night really fun, as did all the pumpkins.  Check out these owls below:

We were theorizing about the title of the area, "The Great Pumpkin LumiNights."  You can see the entrance here:

The theory is that the event itself is not "great," but that the place is home to "The Great Pumpkin" himself, and these are his LumiNights.  This theory is backed up by this image here:

Could this be Linus' legendary Great Pumpkin?  Is it that he thinks this pumpkin patch is the most "sincere," and is residing here in Dollywood?  That's a pretty big pumpkin character regardless, and we suppose he's the one that sort of rules all over the festivities.   Speaking of which, check out these characters that Madison ran into just before it turned dark:

There were a few stilt walkers out there.  This guy reminds us of Devine in the Animal Kingdom, although he's a pumpkin version.  Another stilt walker roamed about in an owl costume with lights:

Later on in the evening, it would be difficult to get a picture with him.  Owls seemed to be a theme at Dollywood, alongside butterflies.  This owl looked just spooky enough at night though!  Still, he was happy to take a picture with Madison here.  There were plenty of photographic opportunities, as you can see here:

Madison was posing inside the coffin, getting her Wednesday pose just right.  And here she is below, in front of the biggest display of all, with so many stacked pumpkins and lights:

It was a fun night.  We really enjoyed ourselves, and got into the spirit of things with this seasonal walk through the pumpkins and lights.  This year we've gotten to do so many wonderful things related to October that it'll be hard to beat.

But the month is not over yet, and we've got a big day planned for tomorrow.  We went back to our hotel by the creek, listening to the water go by just outside our window.  It was easy to fall asleep tonight.  The three of us were falling asleep while thinking of tomorrow's big plans, and looking back on a wonderful evening amongst the pumpkins.