Remainder of vacation was relaxing and uneventful

After a very interesting start to my vacation, everything seemed to settle down. We spent Tuesday by driving up into the mountains and driving on an 11 mile loop. Along the loop were many neat places to pull off and take pictures of the mountains. Also there were some old cabins and churches to go inside of and check out. It was neat seeing all of the history that surrounds that part of the mountains. It was a great experience to spend some time in nature and see the beautiful sights.
On Wednesday we went to Dollywood Amusement Park, which was very busy. We were lucky enough to get right on the train ride without having to wait in long lines. Before we had a chance to do anything else, a massive downpour shut down most of the rides. Once the rain cleared the heat and humidity skyrocketed making it very uncomfortable to do anything. We ate lunch and rode a few more rides in the afternoon before we decided to call it a day. We were all really getting tired and hot from the extreme heat. Plus the crowds made it tough to really enjoy rides. Some of the rides we decided to just skip because the lines were too long or we just didn’t want to ride them. Overall it was a decent park, but it was not designed for large crowds. Wednesday evening we just all relaxed because we were tired from the amusement park.
Overall the trip had many enjoyable points along with many interesting ones. We were able to do just about everything that we wanted to do. It was nice because we had one night where we had the swimming pool and lazy river to ourselves to enjoy. Plus we were able to ride the chair lift, play mini golf, and walk through a neat haunted house. It was a very relaxing trip, but it is nice to be back home and return to normal life.

Stranded in the air makes for an interesting day

Vacations are normally fun and exciting, but so far mine has been a very interesting one. It all started Saturday evening when we drove 20 minutes just to realize we forgot my dad’s wallet. So we turned around and went home and got it. It seems as though this was a sign that things were not going to turn out the way we thought. The entire drive to Gatlinburg, Tennessee went very well and we made decent time. The most traffic we ran into was once we got right into Gatlinburg. Both sides of the road are lined with businesses and places to eat as three solid lanes of traffic move slowly in each direction. The traffic is so thick causing most people to just walk around the town. Arriving at our hotel was the next interesting point of our vacation. The first thing that caught my eye was the size of the swimming pool and the lazy river. We had expected a much larger swimming pool and lazy river compared to what we saw right in front of us. It ends up the pictures online are very deceiving. Once inside I was very pleased with the size of the room and how nice the inside of the hotel looked.
Monday morning started off very interesting also. After breakfast we decided to ride the sky tram-car that takes you up the mountain. Once on top, there are many things to see and do. So we boarded the tram-car along with about 100 other people and headed up the mountain. Once we got about halfway up the tram-car came to a stop. The operator of the tram said there had been a power outage and that we would not be going anywhere soon. Everyone looked around as our tram hung from a cable as we waited to find out how we were going to get back on solid ground. The tram operator told us that they have a backup power source that would pull us in but it would take a little while for them to get it going. After about 20 minutes we finally got going again. Then before we knew it we were on solid ground again. The biggest thing that bothered me was the heat because when the tram wasn’t moving it was very hot.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as we went to some stores and did a few things around town. Hopefully the rest of the trip will remain uneventful because the tram-car incident was enough for one vacation.