Pirates Voyage

 We left a little later this morning, this after some last-minute arrangements with the service upcoming and a few packing details too, but leave we did.  It was our first "vacation" in a few years, or at least the first time Mom and I have actually left the state in a few years.  The drive was easy, and it was very clear outside, which made for some tremendous views.  

Ah, here you can see the rubber chicken was brought along for the journey.  But Maddie's friend Joey was along for the ride too - he's a porg, and you'll be seeing more of him as the trip continues.

The weather was very chilly up top, or at least felt that way given that we're used to warmer temperatures lately.  We brought along some appropriate clothing for the cooler temperatures, and we're certainly ready for fall.

Ah, here's Joey.  Maddie has given him his own social media account, and he's been posting a lot lately.  

And here's Maddie too.  She's excited about this trip, as she'd rather go to the mountains than the beach.  She'll have fun this week, with all the activities we've got planned.  She's been in North Carolina recently, and in fact these pictures are from North Carolina here, although the state line is just a few feet away where we'll be stepping into Tennessee.

Here's the Appalachian Trail, which crosses over this point too.  Joey is thinking about hiking it some day. We've hiked a few portions of it in Georgia, but that was some time ago.

Maddie noticed a little face on the bottom there, one I had to take a quick picture of.  We see faces in things sometimes, and it's fun to look for that sort of thing.

The sign seems happy to see us!  And we were happy to be there too.  This part of the drive is always nice, and of course we have our traditional music we play as we make the winding curves, the loop, and the tunnels.  Oh, the tradition is usually to beep the car horn in the tunnels, but this time, we did things differently:

It's always a pleasant drive through Smoky Mountain National Park.  We saw a few elk, but no bears this time.  We made our way through Gatlinburg, a pretty slow drive given all the traffic.  But we did make it to our hotel, and had just enough time to get back out the door to head to Pigeon Forge.  

Tonight we were there to see the "Pirates Voyage Dinner Show."  We got in, and took our seats, and got ready for a great night with pirates, Davy Jones, parrots, seals, juggling, and a big delicious dinner.

It was a great show, and we were having a hard time trying to think which was better - Medieval Times or this one.  I guess it just all comes down to what kind of mood you're in.  Tonight, we were ready for pirates, and all of us enjoyed the event very much.  There were jugglers and all kinds of acrobatics.  There were plenty of jumps and falls from way high up, and down deep into the water below.  There were skeleton pirates and trained seals.  There were shanties and forbidden pirate love.  And there was food too.  It was good, and probably the best food we had the entire trip.  

We left there, and yes I packed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack with us to listen to on the way there and back.  We got back to the hotel, and it was a pretty full day already.  We got back home and got ready for bed - first reading, and then praying.  It's going to be a nice little time away.