Mountains, Rivers, and BEARS

June 7-12 Gaitlinburg, TN
We spent a wonderful week in Gaitlinburg, TN with the whole Orvis clan. The weather was nice. Too cold for us Houstonians but very pleasant. We had a nice cabin nestled in the mountains overlooking the city. It was great to sit outside and be in that nice, fresh air. Each family had their own space but we mostly convened in the living room watching TV and playing pool. If you have never been to Gaitlingburg it is just like Branson. If you have never been their either it is very touristy. Lots of shopping, go carts, mini golf, and shows. It is definitely a place to spend money. It was nice walking around town and just browsing.
We all arrived on Monday. Once we found our way to the cabin and backed down the steep hill with the dirt bike trailer we were set for an enjoyable week. Nothing was planned, just relaxation.
Tuesday-Dean, Matt, Nathan, Bennie, Kari, and I went white water rafting. It was awesome. Very cold but fun. Dean was the only one to get "dumped" but the rest of the men went swimming at the end of the ride. We had a pretty good guide who led us down the adventurous side of the river which included some surfing. It is definitely something everyone should at least try once. It was a long drive there and an equally long drive back. We managed to stumble upon the Bush's Beans Factory on the way home. Cool if you eat Bush's. We eat Van Kamps. We met back up with the rest of the fam who had gone shopping or something like that. We spent most nights watching movies, playing pool, and chatting.
Wednesday-Today we spent the whole day golfing. Dean, Matt, Bennie, Nathan, Dean, and me. It was a long, hot day but fun. The course was very hilly and difficult. If you weren't careful at any given moment you could have been drilled by a golf ball. We lost alot in the trees and water. As long as someone wasn't directly behind us you could drive over and over again. The only hindrance was the cart patrol who constantly drove by monitoring your rate of play.There was much discrepancy over winners, losers, cheaters, and non cheaters but overall it was a pretty fun round of golf.
We spent one day at Fun City. Playing laser tag, mini golf, and bumper cars. We had a great time shooting each other in the dark. We also spent an afternoon riding go carts and playing bumper boats. We got wet just before it started to rain.
On our last day we ventured into Smoky Mountain National Park. We enjoyed a nice picnic then went swimming in the frigid river. It was sooo...cold. It just happened to be hot that day so it worked out great. After that we hiked up to a waterfall. Of course the men had to climb all the way to the top. Hannah even joined them. It is not very out of the ordinary for them but with all the people staring you would have thought it was quite extraordinary.
We got to spend a lot of time just enjoying each others company. We also had the opportunity to enjoy the company of a black bear each night. The first night he wandered into the yard just looking for food. It was quite a sight. We all stood out watching him and taking pictures. There are alot of details about the actions of the men and the bear but I will let you imagine them instead. The bear came back each night and each night he had an audience. It was nice that we got to see some wildlife besides birds, squirrels, and raccoons.
On Saturday we all went our separate ways after stopping at the Apple Barn (delicious apple dumplings) and the Orvis store. Matt, Tash, Nathan, Shelly, Dean and I then stopped at Tony Gore's BBQ for some lunch. Tony Gore is apparently a gospel singer. I had never heard of him. The chicken salad sandwich was delicious but the BBQ may have left a little something to be desired.
Pictures will be coming soon so you can see the adventure for yourselves. Hopefully, next week you will get to read about our next adventure.....The Appalachian Trail.