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Being from the west, both Ben and I were not familiar with the smokey mountains, or how big Dolly Parton is. Let’s start from the beginning.

We went to church on Sunday thinking it was Kevin and Melora’s ward. They were off with her family in Nashville and not able to attend. We sat behind a couple with 4 kids who were doing their best with the young ones during sacrament. Afterward, the husband turned around to apologize (which he totally didn’t need too) and we got talking about our adventures.

He is a part owner for Climbworks, a zip lining company that has locations in Gatlinburg (which is close by) as well as Oahu (where we are going in December). He extended some free passes and we were ecstatic to try them out in Hawaii! What a neat family!

To say thank you, we offered to bring their family over dinner. As we sat around eating Indian food, we learned that they have a tiny home business and offered to have us stay for a night! We were honestly shocked. How cool is this?

They bought 16 tiny homes and assembled them on their property and doing really well. This is a very visited area and is second to the wedding in LV. So pretty much they are crushing it. We asked them about things to do around here and they mentioned Dollywood. Ben and I were on the fence but the couple offered their season passes so we got a good deal. There are so many good people in this world and we are lucky to have run into these guys.

We accepted their offer to stay in their tiny house after we went to Dollywood the next day. So here we go!

Dollywood

It was cold… like in the 30s cold. We went early in the morning because we wanted to get the most out of this experience and MAN this place was a huge amusement park. Rides, shows, restaurants, stores, a steam engine train, and even her old RV tour bus! I had no idea this place even existed.

We HAD to see what Dolly’s RV bus was like inside… I have to say, I like ours better.

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Because it was so cold, none of the rides were going which was disappointing but it was still fun to walk around and see the shows.

Every aspect had some sort of fun theme.

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Tiny Homes

At the end of the day, we felt frozen. We had layers on but it still felt like we were cold to the bone all day. After Dollywood, we headed over to the Long Springs tiny homes which were SO NICE! The RV doesn’t have great insulation so it was nice just to walk in and instantly feel warmer.

This location is really central to everything in the area. It has a small playground, outdoor games, and a fire pit if you have a group of friends that want to stay, we highly recommend this place!

Thanks, guys for everything! We are really excited to try out Climbworks in Hawaii. Also, those pulled pork nachos you recommended at Blue Moose were AMAZING!

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Funny story, as we were leaving, the worker Justin checked our oil levels and we were almost out of oil! If we would have driven the RV any further, I think we would have been busted down on the side of the road somewhere. Luckily, he pumped up the tires and helped us fill the LP and oil tank. Little miracles do happen.

Let’s go to Knoxville!

Kevin and Melora got a cute little country home and it was so fun to stay. We stayed just outside of Pigeon Forge which was an interesting and entertaining town. We had no idea it even existed!

We are staying at a place called The Eagles nest in Pigeon Forge, about 30 minutes away from where Kev and Melora live. We had no idea that this was such an entertainment center. It was really like a mini las vegas! There were tons of race tracks, museums, plays and there is even something called Dollywood we might hit up!

We went over to Kevin’s house on Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) and helped make pies. Their house is adorable! Such a cute country home. Melora has done a great job decorating. Kevin even made the table with his own two hands! After helping make pies, Kev came home early and we prepped things for Thanksgiving and for Melora’s family to arrive who flew into Nashville and were driving out.

We ate an amazing meal of fajitas and headed home.

Thanksgiving!

It was a bright sunny day and we were excited to have a lazy day of eating and family time! The table was beautiful and the food smelled delicious. After dinner, we played games until about 10. It was a great time.

We had to spend the next few days working and catching up from our days off but Melora and her family went to Dollywood and explored the area. We joined them on Sunday for a hike out in nature and found some unique rock formations. The Weeks family is from Wells NV and have two twin boys in highschool. They are a fun group and we loved getting to know them better.

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After the hike, we made our way into Knoxville to check out some of the local scenes. The leaves are amazing these days! Because everyone jumps on the Christmas bandwagon right after finishing pumpkin pie, we saw some fun decorations which got us into the spririt.

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Before we left, Melora took some family pictures of us. So fun that I have a husband to share these moments with. Ben is my favorite person. He really amazes me. I am so happy we found each other.

We really enjoyed the time we can spend with family and are so grateful and “Thankful” that we have this opportunity.

Yep! The drive from Virginia to Asheville was extremely cold. It was a really long drive and the first time we encountered snow. Our feet got so cold on the drive we had to keep moving them in our shoes just to keep warm. Stuff you find out on the road I guess!

We didn’t think about this when we bought the RV, but there really isn’t much insulation especially in the front. The generator is in the front hood so it’s quiet when we are driving but MAN does it get cold.

Luckily, we had some fun stuff too look forward too. Family in town!

My brother Kevin and his wife Melora are now living in Knoxville TN and wanted to come out and stay with us in the RV. Our first visitors 🙂 We splurged a bit and stayed at a nicer campground and it was well worth it. Magic Mountain RV resort! We stayed right next to the river and enjoyed the white noise.

This is probably the nicest RV park we have stayed in so far. They have a fun store (with ice cream) an arcade, mini golf that was actually clean, and even a giant chess set.

More importantly, the staff was really helpflu. This was the only RV park to help us get to our spot and back in. Thanks, Justin for all your help!

We drove to Asheville early on Saturday morning and was able to catch a local parade. It was small but fun to see the town come out and all the creative floats they had. One of my favorites was a float playing Jazz Christmas songs. Such a fun funky culture. Reminded me of Austin.

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After lunch at the White Duck, we headed to see a pinball museum that was pretty much just an arcade but you pay $15 and then play as long as you like! Not a bad idea for a date night! After that, we just walked around at some shops then head to the Biltmore Village.

There we walked around some more shops and found a fun little bakery that we got some sweets at. When we visited Kevin and Melora in Germany, that is something they liked to do. Cake in the afternoon!

The next day we played some mini golf at the RV park, the headed into Gatlinburg! What a crazy city that is! It seemed like a ski town mixed with Branson Missouri! We went to the visitor center and learned about the smokey mountains and went on a walk to a waterfall.

Then headed over to the center where some more cute shops were!

Something funny that happened, we were all looking in a spice shop and Ben and I were getting a little close (we are newly weds so dont judge) and the worker said “I know it’s spicy in here but seriously, get a room!” We all laughed, but did cool it.

Something else we were able to do is look at some local grafitti art which always seems to amaze us.

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Next we are heading to Knoxville for Thanksgiving!

About 14 years ago I served a mission for The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints and was able to visit one of my areas called Buena Vista. This little Norman Rockwell Town is nestled in a valley in the Shannondoah mountains. We stayed at a place called Buckhorne RV Park which was just 35 minutes away from the campus Southern Virginia University. The RV park was super small and had a nice store where the owner played us a song that he wrote. It was very patriotic and interesting.  The leaves have started to fall but the colors are still beautiful. When I was there before, it was spring and summer so I never saw the fall.

This is a previous southern Sim school, It’s a beautiful building. This isn’t actually an LDS school, it just has LDS standards. The school is doing really well and just hit over 1000 students per semester!

We came into town and I remembered the train that ran right through town that I would listen to at night. I wanted to walk around on campus to see how it had changed. It seemed smaller than I remember. We parked on the hill and I wanted to take this picture next to the knight. I believe I have a similar one from 14 years ago I need to scrounge up. We walked into the old ballroom with the chimney and huge mirrors. I remember feeling like this school was like Harry Potter with the large staircases. Now it seemed more like a school. Maybe I had missionary goggles on.

We walked to the second floor and guess who we ran into! Someone we used to know from the ward! We chatted for a bit and learned she is working as an activities coordinator for the school and helping students mix and mingle. That little town is really growing!

We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and past where I use to live. Then went over to a members house for dinner.

It was so sweet to be in their home and meet their kids after all this time. They didn’t look like they aged a day!

I love this family with all my heart and so grateful for the time I was able to spend with them. That short night, as well as 14 years ago. Till we meet again my eternal friends. <3

We left the next day and the weather dropped into the 30s. This is the first time we experienced it and things got really cold in this tin can! We actually hand to bundle up and wear blankets as we drove. Yes, that’s a mermaid blanket.

We stayed in Williamsburg for the week and the leaves are falling fast! That is not all that is falling… acorns! Man! Those things are loud! It’s been a little windy and the first couple nights we were here, we had a hard time sleeping. The acorns would hit the top of the RV and sound like we were under attack! I went up on the roof and covered it with a tarp which helped with the sound.

This area is really historical with the civil war but we threw that all out the window and went to the Metro zoo. It was a good choice!

Ben has a friend from college that works at a zoo. Let me rephrase that. Ben has a friend that grew up living in a Zoo. When his dad was in his 30s, he bought land in Richmond and built a house… and a zoo. I remember going to the zoo as a kid, but I don’t remember it being this awesome. The animals had plenty of space, it was very clean, organized, and spacious for the animals.

One of our favorite things to do was to feed the animals. Especially the Griaffes!

You could feed them right from your hand. They could just extend their necks over the fence. Very friendly and beautiful.

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I was also able to fulfill my dreams of becoming a Disney princess. Just kidding. But the birds made me feel like one! You could purchase popsicle sticks with honey and seeds on them and these birds would land right on you and eat them.

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The zoo is amazing just as is, but our friend is also known as the Zoo Ninja and competes on America Ninja Warrior and build a zip line OVER the zoo! We couldn’t resist and signed up. After an instruction and safety demonstration, it was about 2 hours of zip-lining. The views were amazing.

They had some rope obstacle courses that you could choose to do, or an easier route if you were afraid of heights.

We had such an amazing day, we took our friend and his wife out to dinner that night. What an amazing and strong family. So great to get to know you and we hope to see you again soon!

The weather is getting colder and we are heading more south into Virginia. We are staying at a super nice campground called Little Bennet Park. The leaves are just magical here.

Ben has a Cousin that lives south of Washington DC that we can stay with for a few days. But first! The Washington Mall!

We are on a slight time crunch we had to pick and choose which places we saw. First up, the Natural History Museum. This place is the best of the best. I’m not sure if I can walk into another natural history museum and be impressed.

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Next, we made our way to tour the capital. Ben is much better at handstands than I am… but I’m working on it.

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Our tour guide was this super short monotone dry humor girl that was not only informative but very funny.

We learned a lot about our nations capital and had some good laughs along the way.

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By then it was about 5pm and we needed to get back to the car and start heading toward the cousins to stay the night. We tried to find some bird scooters but we didn’t realize, everyone getting off work from the city were using them to get home outside of the city. We finally found some that were ditched on a freeway entrance island and road back. We wish we could have spent more time touring around, however, I’m learning on this RV adventure that you can’t really do it wrong. If you are enjoying yourself it’s ok if you miss some things along the way. You don’t have to see every stinking thing along the way. This isn’t the last time we will be in DC.

Halloween With The Cousins

These particular cousins are the only ones living out east so they were super excited to have family in town! It was fun to have a holiday to share with family and do some classic trick or treating. Hope to see you guys again soon!