• Travel

    Day Trip to Birmingham

    Remember a few weeks ago, when I wrote about the Wednesday that Rob and I had a free day from work? Well, we ended up taking a day trip up to Birmingham, since Drew was going to be playing in a soccer game that afternoon. We headed up towards Birmingham and ended up stopping for lunch as we were too hungry to wait till we got to B’ham. We txted some good friends who gave us some suggestions. So stopped at Big “B” Bar-B-Q in Alex City.

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    Traveling in Texas

    On Day 7 we got up bright and early and told Granny goodbye. The boys had decided the night before that they wanted to go see the baseball stadium at Texas A&M, which would add some time to the trip. Hence the reason we got up super early. We first stopped on our way out of town to do a quick exploration of TCU‘s campus. I can’t remember if I mentioned it earlier, but Drew has a goal to go to all major college football stadiums in the south (or something like that.) Here he stands inside Amon G. Carter…

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    Quick Trip to Florida {September 2013}

    This past weekend we were able to take advantage of Labor Day weekend as Rob’s cousin threw a “non-funeral” birthday celebration for her Dad, Rob’s Uncle Frank. Since Drew was marching during halftime Friday night and didn’t want to leave after halftime we elected to get up at before the Rooster’s Call and get on the road early Saturday morning.

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    Family Visit and Picture Time

    Wednesday was a day of just hanging out and visiting. We started the day off with a trip to Denny’s for breakfast with my Granny. Then, we went back to her house and hung out for a bit. I had been waiting to hear from my Dad who we had planned to eat lunch with. We ended up picking him up from the hospital where his girlfriend was being treated for West Nile Virus. There was a Braum’s not far from there. We enjoyed ice cream, since we were still full from breakfast. When we got back and not long…

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    Dallas, Texas

    Monday we said our goodbyes to Maria and fam. Then it was back on the road headed to my favorite state, Texas!!! We were surprised to see some “mountains” in Southern Oklahoma. We went to a scenic lot and saw that Oklahoma is the hope of the Reflection seismograph . Not long after that we saw this just that made my heart sing. **cue the sounds of angels singing**

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    Oklahoma City Highlights

    Sunday was another fun packed day. We started our day off with breakfast and church. Then it was on to Bricktown for afternoon. We walked around and took a bunch of pics of the kids.

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    Oklahoma City Family Visit

    We left Friday after Rob got off work. Our first destination was Moore, Oklahoma, where Rob’s sister lives. We knew we couldn’t make it the entire 13 hours, so he made plans to stop in Maumelle, AR. We arrived around 1 am and quickly got to bed as we knew we needed to hit the road early the next morning. I didn’t take any pics on Day 1. Saturday (Day 2) we popped out of bed, grabbed a snack from the continental breakfast, and were on our way! We started to get hungry about an hour and half away from…

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    Gatlinburg, TN Trip {Day 1}

    Forth July 4th Trip 2013::Gatlinburg, TN {Day 1} Chalet ~ Day 2 ~ Day 3 ~ Day 4 ~ Day 5 Wednesday we got up pretty early so we could head up to Gatlinburg for the weekend. The trip there it monsooned for a good 2 hours, making the trip exhausting and stressful. Luckily the rain lightened up and we could relax a bit and make up some time. When we got to Townsend, TN, we started looking for a place to eat lunch. We stopped at the Black Bear Cafe. We enjoyed a quick lunch (cheeseburger, grilled cheese, grilled…

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    Gatlinburg Chalet

    Our 4th Annual 4th of July Trip {the Chalet} Day 1 ~ Day 2 ~ Day 3 ~ Day 4 ~ Day 5This year for the 4th of July, we went further away from home to visit Gatlinburg, TN. Rob and I have fond memories of this place and it has become a place that our kids love as well. We rented a chalet up on top of Ski mountain. It was a nice, roomy place except for the kitchen and dining room. The decor is a bit outdated for those that are concerned about that. We didn’t mind. We…

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    Fun times in the North Georgia Mountains

    Sunday we headed out to the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area to see petroglyphs made by Native Americans. Most of them were so weather-warn you could hardly make out the shapes, but I just stood there closed my eyes and imagined the Natives pounding away at the rocks to make those carvings. Amazing! We left there and drove over to the John C. Campbell Folk School, which is a school that allows a non-competitive, adult learning community offering classes in art, cooking, craft, dance, gardening, music, etc. that vary in length.

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    Another fun day in the Georgia Mountains

    Saturday was kind of a lazy day, much to Rob’s chagrin. He and my FIL, David, ended up going to the store for steaks and also to check out a couple spots. After they got back we ate lunch and decided to go tubing at Pappy’s. Every time we left the cabin, we passed this place and it piqued our curiosity. It was like $6 for an hour of tubing, but it ended up being nearly 2 hours on the river. Really great for the money! Then, when we got done tubing we walked around Pappy’s. There’s a general store…

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    Fishing, Young Harris, and Lake Chatuge

    Friday we got up, had a quick breakfast, and headed out to see if we could get any fish to bite. Since we needed to find out a good place to fish and get some bait, so we stopped at Paradise Bait and Tackle. We saw signs for it as we drove toward the river. Turned out to be a little building on someone’s property. My MIL had to use to restroom, so the man called up his Mama and asked, “are you dressed? cuz I gots a young lady customer who needs to use the facilities.” There were several…

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    Helton Creek Falls/Dukes Creek Falls

    Day 2 started with some homemade waffles and jambalaya quiche and some web surfing while surrounded in the beauty of the mountains. Soon after, we threw on our swimsuits and hiking boots and headed to Helton Creek Falls Daisy usually travels in a travel crate, but with 8 people in the Pilot, there’s was no room for her crate. All the pics shown on this post are of the upper falls at Helton Creek. On the way back to the cabin for lunch. Quick dip in the hottub. After lunch, several of us decided to hike at Dukes Creek Falls.…

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    Cabin in Blairsville, GA

    Here’s the cabin, we stayed in for the 4th of July trip this year. It was hands down the nicest and biggest cabin we’ve stayed in. It’s a 3 bedroom 3 1/2 bath with a large playroom on the bottom floor complete with games, foosball, and air hockey. Sleeps 9-10. It’s located in Blairsville, Georgia, which is just the location we’ve been trying to stay in since we started this tradition. The views from the cabin are amazing, but I’ll warn you that when you turn on the the street where the cabin is located it’s extremely steep; To say…

  • Travel

    Day Trip Amish Country in Ethridge, TN

    Last weekend we were up in Decatur, AL, we made a quick trip up to Ethridge, TN to visit the Amish community that Rob had heard about. We did it on a bit of whim after putting gas in the car, so we did not know exactly where to go. We followed the signs to the Lawrenceburg Visitor Center until had driven all the way through to Ethridge. We ended up seeing this sign, where we turned down a dirt road that dead ended to a quaint house and shop building. As we got close to the house a young…