Tennesse family trip

kellyjoyhover
Apr 25, 2022
3 min read

Notice this is called FAMILY TRIP not a vacation?! lol

My sweet bestie reminded me via a few breakdowns that cleaning, cooking and laundry just moves to a better view on a trip. A trip still takes energy, planning and usually involves kids. YUP - Josh and I took a trip earlier this year and that was a VACATION - totally relaxing.

This family trip was not, however we did do some pretty cool things so I want to share our #favorites

I planned this trip 3 times (long story you don't get to hear!) but basically I did all the research and I think picked some pretty fun family activities. My kids are currently 15 and 11 and I know not everyone will like everything every time, but we did pretty well . . .except one FAIL - more on that later.

We were 2 hours from checking in when we got a call that our lodging reservation had been canceled for the week due to wild fires.

Insert 3 hours of trying to find a new place to stay (+ a few tears from me) but we ended up getting a cabin

in Gatlinburg, TN and it was AWESOME!

Cabin had 4 bedroom and 4.5 baths bean bag toss, grills, fabulous wrap around deck, fireplace, huge kitchen and Kaylin used the hot tub everyday!

Saturday was a relaxing morning and we hiked to Laurel Falls.

This was a family friendly, easy hike that led you to a gorgeous waterfall. SO worth it and we ALL loved it!.

ps- tip: if you know you're planning to go hiking make sure all your kids pack shoes ('ehem Kaylin left hers at school, thank goodness there was a Tanger outlet nearby)

Sunday we did zip-lining and horseback riding (through the same company at the same location ~do the bundle ticket for a discount)

Zip-lining was a definite hilight- we all loved it!

Horseback riding was a typical tourist ride. Basically, the horses followed in a line, no direction needed but the trails were gorgeous!

Monday we planned to go to Dollywood.

Well, we spend the whole day at the park and we even closed the park . . .HOWEVER, its a thumbs down from all of us!

I did not know that Jaxson HATES rollercoasters! He never complained and walked all day. We ate, we rode (well most of us) we spent money on dumb arcade games and. . . . did I mention we're not big into tourist grounds? -lol, yup fail!

Tuesday was raining all day and we didn't have anything planned during the day. Kaylin and I chilled aka I read on the deck and Kaylin went in the hot tub, AGAIN! The boys went tool shopping. Can't they do that in Michigan?! #boyswillbenoys

At night we went to the Dolly Partons Stampede - HIGHLY reccmomned!!!

Dinner is so good and eat with your hands - you will be FULL!

The entertainment was AMAZING and I wish it would have lasted longer-SO GOOD!

One of our families favorite things to do in Michigan is go to Silver Lake Sand Dunes. We ride razors, dirt bikes, and enjoy the ride. So, we rented a 4 seat razor from Mountain Life UTV for the day and we took a drive up to Cades Cove. Twists and turns took us up the mountain, we saw 5 bears, hearing the water run, gorgeous Mountain Views and 5 hours later it was one of our best days!

tip: pack a cooler with snacks and a lunch. There is no place to stop except up at the top.

Our last day . . . well, took a wild turn!

Josh woke up in the middle of the night with horrible stomach pain. Long story shortened for all of you, is that we ended driving an hour to the closest hospital in the middle of the night, found he had gall stones and needed surgery. We decided to get him strong enough pain meds to get him home to Michigan for surgery.

We pulled in the cabin driveway at 4:30, got josh comfortable and the kids and I jumped back into the car for our reservations to the Paula Deans LumberJack show. WOW, are we glad we did - it was our FAVORITE thing of the whole week!