Gatinburg, TN Vacation 2009

You'd think that since I'm not working this week that I'd have all this time to post or do other things I said I was going to do in a prompt manner...but that's not the case apparently. So here is a brief synopsis of our vacation and a catch up on some pictures, including the 25 week pics since tomorrow will be 26 already (6.5 months)!

We left Sunday morning (06.28.09) rather early - by 6am - and after some pleading with the dogs to be good for our parents, we headed south to TN. The drive was easy and actually went rather fast. We were about 45 minutes from our destination when the weather turned pretty rough, but thankfully we were just in torrential rain/lightning (not wind and hail as predicted) and got to see some of the most amazing rainbows ever! The neat thing was we could see where they originated...but no pot of gold. Ho hum. Unfortunately, the stress of the weather and riding (I can be a nervous rider) set off a series of Braxton Hicks contractions (BHCs) which got us worried since I'm not really supposed to have more than 6/hr. Then it's time to call the doc and maybe go in. We only made it to 4 so that was good. We checked in after about 12.5 hrs of driving and were very pleased with the views of the Smokey Mountains - we were located right in them at around 2,500 ft. elevation. Gorgeous.


The next day consisted of a short meeting for the resort and then some down time in the afternoon. We went to an outlet mall (b/c that's what you do on vacation!) and got something for each of us...including the baby. :) Then it was dinner at our condo and more relaxing. Tuesday we went to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies (I think that was the name) and got to see some pretty cool water critters. This was the first time I was able to look at pictures and see myself gaining weight in other places besides my belly...namely my arms. :( Boo. I feel like a little is in my face too, but my wonderful husband tells me it's just arms and belly. I love him for his honesty. Or half honesty. It's perfect either way. :) Tuesday afternoon consisted of relaxing by the pool and consequently burning. Adam got it worse than I did, but it's a very different ball game when the giant belly is pink from the sun. Almost comical...but after an entire bottle of aloe vera later, we are both doing well post-peeling. Whew. Another night of dinner in, Sportscenter (go figure) for Adam while I read, and then bed.

Underwater tunnel

Funny-looking trio of fish (they were rather huge)

Adam and some gigantic crab

Wednesday we decided to go on a "hike" which consisted of a half mile of rather flat terrain with a ranger/guide to Cateract Falls in the Smokey Mountains National Park. I asked the activities person at our resort to tell us where to go for a "bears free" short hike - and that's exactly what we got. It was nice but I wish it had been longer...but with all the BHCs, it was probably better than it wasn't. On our way back (unguided), we came across this little family with an 18-month old boy, his parents, and a set of grandparents all hanging out by the small river bed. The mom yells out to me and asks when I'm due...I tell her mid-Oct. She tells me huh! I'm due Oct. 22! To which I stammered, "That's great, good luck" or something along those lines...b/c I couldn't tell she was pregnant!! She looked a little chubby in the trunk but NOTHING like the giant basketball I have under my shirt (my uterus is actually the size of a soccer ball at the moment) ...which then prompts me to keep walking faster and start crying. Adam was so sweet and told me how much he likes my belly and this is just how my body works right now...to which I said but she should be even bigger than me since she just had one and this is her second! I felt a little better after a hug, but I think b/w that encounter from tiny mom and the pictures really starting to show my weight gain over the vacation, I am beginning that downward spiral of missing my old body that allowed me to see all parts of my feet at once without leaning forward. Ho hum. After the "hike," we hung out in downtown Gatlinburg where we had lunch and did some window shopping. We're not much for junk collecting so we didn't get any suveniers outside of some candy (you know, for the baby). After that we were both pretty tuckered out, applied more aloe, and took a nice long nap at the condo. This is where it gets interesting again...we decided that we would go out for a nice dinner and then catch a comedy show at the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge (which was about 10 minutes away) for the evening. Well, to get to PF, you have to go through the national park...in which we found a HUGE traffic jam. After almost an hour of stop/start/going nowhere traffic across about 1.5 miles, we found that we had been in a tree jam - a tree had fallen off the mountain and was blocking the tunnel we needed to go through to get to PF. That took care of us going out to dinner at a nice place, so we just went straight to the Comedy Barn and got cotton candy (finally!! I've been wanting this since the beginning of JUNE!) and Adam got his tub of popcorn. Guilty feelin' momma, let me tell you. Here, baby, have some cotton candy for supper. So anyway, we did the CB which was funny, but something I'd only need to see once, and then realized that pretty much every restaurant was closed at 10:30pm on a week night. So, instead of a nice dinner out, we had McDonald's but at least I got a grilled chix salad without bacon so I didn't feel too bad. Busy day!

The "Elf Tree"

Cataract Falls

The Comedy Barn

Thursday, we went golfing in the morning which was outstanding! The belly wasn't in my way yet and the front 9 holes were great. I actually golfed out of my mind and had a career low 47!! I can beat some of our guy friends with that score (or at least make them nervous). :) Adam had a 44 and looked rather nervous at the end...then the back 9 was MUCH more difficult as it was all in the mountains. By hole 15, I had had 3 BHCs within a short amount of time, so we decided I should just ride along for the rest which was fine with me as I was getting pretty tired by this point anyway. It was a great time though for my last golfing of this season. We headed back to the condo to change/shower and get lunch before heading off to a scenic driving tour of the national park. It was 11 miles long and had the Murano not acted up (it has issues with start/stop traffic), I would have enjoyed it much more than I did. But it was still really neat and we got to see a turkey, some deer (including Bambi), and a young bear that was only 50 yds from us in a field! We then headed back to Gatlinburg for that nice dinner we hadn't had the night before. The restaurant I found was at the top of this mountain and built so that you looked out the windows and straight down the cliff of the mountain. I got a weird vibe from the place b/c it was dark, quiet, and there was hardly anyone there...like the waitstaff was going to come out horror-flick style and tell us we were doomed and had to stay there forever...or give them the baby or something...food was good, but not sure if I'd go back. We packed (ok, I packed, Adam watched Sportscenter...ok, I'm lying, he packed a bit) and then headed for bed to rest up for another long drive in the morning.

25 weeks!

Adam golfing at Bent River Creek Golf Course

Somewhere on the 11-mile loop of the scenic drive tour in the national park

See the bear??

Friday we drove back with more and longer stops. It was an uneventful ride and the Murano behaved beautifully. Whew! I knew it would though...then Adam's parents came to IA Saturday morning with the dogs (who we missed so much!) before leaving Monday morning. It was a nice vacation and I loved not having to send Adam off on a plane after seeing him for maybe 48 hrs like we did all June long. May have to take the fam back there sometime when the kids are a little older. I think we'll just work on this ONE for now though. :)