Our Family Vacation....Part 3!

As I checked my emails Tuesday night I had one from Tuesday morning that said it was the confirmation for our White House tour at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  I was not expecting that!  We had applied for a White House tour in April and the information said we'd hear back 2-3 weeks prior to our trip if we were approved for it. (That's how I understood it!)  We started looking at the information about visiting the White House and there was a lot of rules and regulations.  I asked if my husband and Caleb wanted to go, and Titus and I could just stay at the hotel.  (I wasn't sure how we would do it without his stroller or any bags and such because there isn't a place to store that stuff and you can't take it inside with you.)  They both wanted to see it and this worked out great!  Titus and I slept in and that was just what I needed.  We had a late breakfast, and then the boys came back.  They had a great time at the White House and enjoyed their tour! 

After they got back we went to do our tour at Arlington Cemetery.  I'm so glad we got to go back.  It was very beautiful and moving. 

We watched the changing of the guard ceremony again and saw the gravesites of President Kennedy and family.

We went for a late lunch at the USDA Headquarters building.  It is a huge building! 

Then we went to the Air and Space Museum.  There was lots of fun things to see in here.

Thursday morning we had tickets for a Washington by Water monuments river cruise.  We took our first Uber ride to go there to Alexandria to get on the boat.  It took us to Georgetown and we had lunch there before riding back. 

We stopped for (expensive) ice cream on the way back. 

That night we had supper and got some souvenirs. 

We headed to the airport with the hotel shuttle.  It was supposed to leave at 11:55, but there was a delay. It was a maintenance issue they were fixing.  Then they had to get a new crew. I don't know what time it was when we finally left but it was near 6 when we got back to Texas.

We walked outside and knew we were back in Texas with the suffocating heat!  It was 109 when we got back I think.

We stopped for delicious supper at El Fenix (with the sweetest waitress) before driving home.  It was nearly midnight when we got home. 

We had a travel agent who helped us plan this trip.  She did a fabulous job and I would recommend her if you need help planning any trip.  Please send me a message if you would like her contact information. 

Our hotel in DC was the Hampton Inn and Suites.  It was very nice and not too far from a metro station.  The only negative was that the swimming pool was under renovation so we didn't get to use that and I know the boys would have enjoyed that in the evenings.

We used the Metro a lot when we were there.  My husband figured it out pretty quickly as he had been there before. 

We are glad to be home and really enjoyed all we got to see and do on our vacation.  It was a special trip we've dreamed about for a long time and fun to get to actually do it!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 2!

Monday morning (July 16) we got up and headed to take back our rental car in DC.  It was a long stressful day.  We barely made it back to return the car in time.  We were supposed to go to tour Arlington Cemetery but we got lost to get over there so we didn't have enough time.  The man told us to come back another day to do the tour.  We walked to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Funny story:  As we were walking over, Titus said,  "I need to go tee tee."  He started to pull down his pants, and we said noooooo.  He said, "I can here on this grass!"  Daddy picked him up, and they walked quickly to find a restroom!

If you have not visited Arlington National Cemetery, I recommend that you do.

I knew Tuesday was going to be a full day.  It was our day to see the monuments and museums.  We walked A LOT this day.  And it was HOT.

We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Washington Monument, and World War II Memorial.

We stopped at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and had lunch there.

It was raining slightly after this as we were walking to the National Museum of Natural History.

I really would have liked to spend more time here.  But we had an appointment to tour the Capitol at 2:15 so we had to get on our way.  It was raining still and I was SO thankful when a $1 trolley came by called the Circulator and took us part of the way to the Capitol.  Then we still had quite a ways to walk when it dropped us off.

The tour was nice, and we all enjoyed it.  Titus fell asleep during the tour.  It started raining when we were in there.  They suggested we use a tunnel to go to the Library of Congress.  We were going to do that, but the tunnel was flooding!  So we didn't get to do that.  It was pouring, coming down in sheets, so we had to wait around a little while for the rain to slow down.

After this we got some supper and went back to our room. I took a bath and that helped me feel so much better.

Continued tomorrow for Part 3!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 1!

We left home on Wednesday, July 11 and spent the night near DFW.  We got up at 3 am to go to the airport for our flight which left at 6.

Our flight went great.  We had tried to prepare Titus for flying and he did super too. We landed, got our luggage and went to pick up the car rental.  As soon as we got on the road he was asleep.

We drove to Ronks, PA where we stayed the night in a caboose!  It was a fun place we all enjoyed!  They had a little petting zoo and playground.

We visited a place called The Amish Village before riding on the Strasburg Railroad. This is one of the quilts that was displayed in the Amish home we toured at The Amish Village.

We enjoyed the beautiful farmland.

The train ride was very peaceful and relaxing.  It was a great way to end our day of travel.

Friday we got up and went to the highlight of the trip for me......meeting my pen pal!  It was so very special to me to meet her and listen to her share her stories and wisdom.  It was a dream come true to meet her in person.

We left, had lunch, and drove to Hershey!  Note the little kisses on the light posts.

Oh it smelled so good when we walked in!!

We spent the night in Martinsburg, WV that night.

On Saturday morning we drove to another part of WV to visit my husband's youngest brother and his new wife.  It was so nice to have a place to relax.  We were able to do some laundry and enjoyed home cooked meals!

We also went with them to see this bridge. It was a pretty little trail to see it.

Continued in Part 2 tomorrow!!

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Family Vacation 2016 (Part 2)

Read about part 1 of our vacation in this post.

After we left the park, we drove a short distance over to Cherokee Trace Drive Thru Safari.   I had never head of this place but found it on Trip Advisor.  

We tried to arrive earlier in the day before it got too hot.  We started our drive a little past 11.  Some of the animals were under the trees, but they would come up to the car for food when we stopped.  

It was such a pretty day, and we all enjoyed it.  We could take our time and drive at our own pace to enjoy the animals.  The boys thought it was fun to feed the animals out of the windows.

We recommend you driving through too if you are in the east Texas area.  Visit their website for more information about pricing and hours of operation.    

Here are some of the animals we saw:  

This camel was chasing us!

You can tell what a beautiful day it was when we went.  I loved the big clouds is the sky as we drove through the park.

We had to stop to figure out how to get around these guys!  This big fellow would not move!  Look at those horns.  

Have a day of blessings!

Bethany

Family Vacation 2016 (Part 1)

I wanted to share a little bit about our vacation.  We were not sure when or where we were going until about a week prior to leaving.  Earlier this year we'd thought about going to Arkansas but didn't know if we wanted to drive that far so I didn't plan anything.

I had found one cabin for us that I thought would be great.  Then a couple days later I looked and I believe the prices went up over night. While it said prices may change without notice, I just did not like that so I did not want to go there.

Instead we went to Jellystone Park at Whispering Pines.  I'm so glad we made the decision to go here!
We drove down the beautiful tree lined road and came upon the entrance to the park.

Examples of some of the cabins

We got checked in at the Ranger Station and found our cabin.  It was situated among the trees and across the "street" from the pond.  In the picture below you can see the pond behind these other cabins.  

The resort property is so nice.  Everything was clean and comfortable.  The equipment was well-maintained.  I thought the staff was nice and friendly.  They seemed to enjoy being there and wanted to help.

They have all sorts of activities for guests....swimming pools, basketball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, volleyball, and a jumping pillow to name a few which are all free to use.  They have a mini golf area that was very new and very nice.  You do have to go "rent" the putters from the Ranger Station which is free but you have to buy the ball for $5. There is also a really cool playground with a neat wooden climbing structure.  They have a nice outdoor theater where they show movies at night.  They have a big fire pit surrounded with tree stumps to sit on where you can meet with Yogi to make s'mores. Besides these amenities, they offer some special activities for the kids including gem mining, tie dying, and ceramics.  

I thought this was a pretty picture with the light coming through the trees.  

We stayed here Sunday through Wednesday.  There was plenty to do and enjoy.  We would not have had to leave the park except we forgot a couple of cooking items!  It was not overly busy while we were there.  There were quite a few cabins full as well as RV spots and tents, but I did not feel like we were surrounded by people.  

We took food to cook on the grill outside our cabin.  Some of the cabins have kitchens in them, and I may get that cabin in the future. We forgot our BBQ tools so had to run to get some at the dollar store nearby.  One day it started raining too while my husband was trying to cook. He'd already finished the hot dogs and had to take off the pork chops because of the rain. I had not considered what we would do about our food if it had rained and he was unable to cook.  It did not last long though and was able to finish cooking the pork chops for our supper.

We all enjoyed our time here and would like to return.  Check with this park if you would like to make a reservation this summer for an affordable vacation at a fun, relaxing location!
  
Have a day of blessings!
  Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!  We've been on vacation this week and got home today. We had such a great time. We couldn't decide for a while where to go on vacation. I didn't want to be too many hours in the car.  Then we finally found a place about a week ago.  I guess i will do a separate post on the days of our vacation but we had a wonderful time!  It was so fun being together in a new place and having new memories together!

This week I am thankful for....

~ my husband having vacation time at work and his boss being agreeable to him being off. Also I'm thankful for the love he has for his two boys and me. I loved seeing them interact this week at the pool and being silly in our cabin.

~ my big boy fisherman. He made a fishing pole for me so I could fish with him at the catch and release pond. It was so fun to do that together and see him in action as a fisherman

~ my baby boy having fun with his new experiences on vacation. He loved being outside so much and also climbing up and down the steps to our cabin. Also he went swimming for he first time.

~ safe travels.

~  my online orders arriving before we left. I had ordered a car seat for Titus, two Shutterfly books, a swimsuit, YL essential oils, and a Father's Day gift. I was glad it all came before we left.

~ getting to see my Dad last weekend.

(I typed most of this on our way home Thursday and internet at home messed up so I couldn't post it last night.)

Have a day of blessings!

Day 7 and HOME!

(Continuing on with pictures from our vacation after taking a break from posts this week!)

Day 7 (Thursday)

Today we had to pack up and head back to Texas. The man at the cabin recommended a scenic drive for us before we left so we went there and to a visitors center. We saw a pretty waterfall  and took some pictures. I remembered last night how we took a family picture in our Colorado shirts when we went there on vacation, and I wanted to do the same in our new Tennessee shirts.

We drove until we got to the Financial Peace Plaza.

When we got there Dave Ramsey was recording a show. We looked at the store and watched the show through the window. A lady came up and asked us if we'd just arrived. We told her we were passing through on our way home from vacation. She told us the plan of the show for the next 30 minutes and said at the break we could talk to Dave. We watched a couple scream "We're debt free" and then he came out. Apparently he'd already talked to the others. He talked with the couple and then shook our hands and took a picture with us. Then he gave us his autograph. I got him to sign the coupon book I use for our cash following his cash envelope system. It was very fun and exciting to meet him. We weren't really expecting that!

 

Then we drove.  And drove some more to stay the night in Little Rock.

Oh and on the way before we got to Memphis, TN we were stopped in the left lane as the right lane was closed ahead. A truck pulled over right in front of us to cut into traffic on the left lane before traffic started moving. We thought he was going to run into us with the back of his trailer. Thankfully he did not.

Day 8 (Friday)We did not have a restful night of sleep which was disappointing.  We'd used our points for a "free night" so I guess that is a good thing that we weren't paying for it! ha!  We were at a La Quinta and heard loud banging that woke us up at about 3:45 and again after 4:00.  It went on for some time and was shaking the pictures on the walls in our room.  We called the front desk and they couldn't get an answer in that room or do anything about it.  It eventually stopped.  It was hard to rest after that though. 

We got up and got Krispy Kreme before heading on our way.  We were so glad to see the Texas state line!  We got out at the Texas welcome center and took pictures with the Texas shape before driving on towards home.

We got home and unloaded so I could start on the laundry on Saturday. 

I'm so thankful for our vacation and the memories we made.


Have a day of blessings!

Days 5 and 6

Day 5 (Tuesday)
For our days here I didn't really plan activities. We knew of a few places we wanted to visit so we just went exploring.  My husband fixed us breakfast burritos to have before we headed out.

Tuesday morning we went to Cade's Cove. We spent several hours driving and looking around. On one stop it started sprinkling. We walked under the trees out to a cabin. We got a little bit wet but not soaked.

The drive was beautiful, and we enjoyed driving with the windows down. We saw several deer as we drove. Also a turkey crossed the road right in front of us. We heard some other people who were stopped say they saw a bear but by the time we got there we could only see it moving around in the distance.

 

 

Here are some other pictures we took there.

 

 

 

When we left we got some pizza. Then we drove over to Gatlinburg. We could not believe how busy it was as we passed through Pigeon Forge. We were not expecting it to be like it was!  Then when we got to Gatlinburg we were surprised there too at the people and how busy it was. We found Cooter's which is a Dukes of Hazzard museum. They also had go karts and putt putt so we did that.

We headed back to the cabin and were disappointed the ice cream shop did not have ice cream as they were defrosting their freezers. So we fixed our hot dogs and had that for supper. We felt like we are still on Texas time.

Day 6 (Wednesday)
Today we went to Seiverville. We went to a ham radio store for the boys (they are both licensed ham radio operators).  We also stopped at The Apple Barn. It was nice to walk through here. We enjoyed some delicious ice cream...wow was it yummy!  We got turtle caramel fudge, almond joy, and chocolate. We picked up fried apple pie to go too.

 

As we drove back we stopped at various souvenir shops and The Christmas Place.  You can't believe all the Christmas decorations here!  I did have a moment where I almost cried too.  The door we entered was the room where you could get your ornament personalized.  On the walls it had big words above each section to describe that set of ornaments, like sports, careers, wedding, etc.  Well one wall said "Family of...." and then each number was a section of ornaments.  It made me feel teary when I saw "Family of 4," thinking of the baby that we lost last year. 

We also went to the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.  I'd looked for a set of S&P shakers for my Mom that said Tennessee or Smoky Mountains on them and couldn't find any.  We went to this museum.  I thought my mom had a lot of shakers!  This display had 20,000.  Here is a picture of one of the cases. 

We ate supper at this delicious BBQ place called Bennett's BBQ. I had a BBQ sandwich, and the boys both got the all you can eat salad bar. The service was great and fast, and the food was wonderful. This is a place we would like to eat at again.

When we got back to Townsend we stopped at this little bridge we had seen.  It was a swinging bridge and we all walked across it. 

Then we headed back to the cabin. It started raining. We packed up some stuff and spent more time in the hot tub.

to be continued.....

Have a day of blessings!