Bear Cove Resort - Campground Review

While we were in Pigeon Forge, TN., we stayed at Bear Cove RV Park for a MONTH!

It was a great place that soon became home. :)  Their nightly rates are a little high, and even their weekly rates are out of our league, but their monthly rate of $550 was TOTALLY acceptable.  And worth it!

We had the perfect site, located right in front of the pool, laundry and bathhouse.

Just a few steps away, and we are swimmin'!

The staff was also cleaning the pool, cleaning the bathrooms and mowing or trimming every single day.

The bath house had 3 private bathrooms for women and 3 private bathrooms for men.  Aren't these cute?!

The laundry was a little high; $2.00/wash and $2.00/dry, but they worked well.

There is SO much to do in Pigeon Forge, as you can see from all the other posts I made, so I definitely recommend staying here and taking advantage of their awesome monthly rate, staff and amenities!


Blessings,
Steph

Silly Fun at the Campsite

After a long, fun day hiking and running around corn mazes, we came home and decided to have some more silly fun.  The girls put on a 'show.'

They are such 'hams!' ......I don't know where they get it from!?

Tanner played his guitar and sang his little heart out.

Todd put on a RAGING fire for smores.

And then, some of my silly family decided to jump into the pool.......with their CLOTHES ON!!!
WHAT?!

You would have thought they were high on Jell-o!  Seriously....it was hilarious!

Yep.  That is my muscle-man.  :)

Here they are.  The proud.  The wet.  The cold.

Still beaming in their cold, wetness.

Did I mention that it was a raging fire!  The wind was swirling the fire, and it looked like a fire-tornado in the fire pit!  Really cool.


Blessings,
Steph

Autumn Pics & Gooey Pumpkins

While we were in Pigeon Forge, we decided to take advantage of all the really cute and festive decorations placed all over town.

Uh huh,......We're from Texas

Best friends.  Really. :)

How's that, for using a camera with a timer!  HA!

Parker is SO excited about carving his pumpkin.  He was just plain giddy!

The tops are off, and it's time to dig in!

Hannah is a little grossed out. hee, hee :)

Parker was proclaiming his disgust, and asking daddy to dig out the "yucky!"

My five 'head-less horsemen.'   Aren't they adorable?!


Blessings,
Steph

A "Kornfusing" Korn Maze!!

Last Saturday, after we finished the really painful wonderful hike; 'Chimney Tops', we thought we would spend the next few hours of our day getting lost running around in a couple of corn mazes.

Who doesn't want to bury their kids in a corn tub?!

Or send them SOARING in the sky on a jumping pillow?!

Or even speeding down a HUGE tube, for who knows what this thing is!?

Yeah, it was fun. :)

Just a swingin'.......

If you look inside this tube, you can see one of the girls' feet.  They were both inside, while Zach swung.

There were also cute rabbits, sheep, goats, chickens and a pig to admire.

Here is an entrance to some of the fun stuff and a couple of mazes.

This is what it looked like inside of the maze.  We were wondering around forevaaaa......

 I'll admit it.  The girls and I got lost inside the ENORMOUS corn maze, trying to conquer the scavenger hunt.  It was a little scary.  You can't even stand on your tippy toes to see civilization!  It just kept going and going and going...... (I thought about suggesting to the owners, that they need to put a cow bell around the visitor's necks, just in case they want to give up.  Then they could get rescued. :)

Well, we eventually got out and won our treasured magnet for our prize.  Whew!

The whole farm was so clean and well manicured.  Even the bathrooms were adorable.
These outside sinks are old wash tubs.  :)

My little pumpkins. :)

At the end of our day, we went on a nice little hay ride to a cute little pumpkin patch.

We all picked our special pumpkin from the patch. :)

It is so funny to me that my OLDEST son picked the SMALLEST pumpkin he could find!

Here they are!  Aren't they SO cute!?

It was a LONG day, but DEFINITELY a FUN one. :)

It is times like this, when I wish I had a bathtub.


Blessings,
Steph

Chimney Tops Trail - "No Pain, No Gain!"

Our last hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was BRUTAL!

It is TWO MILES UP!  And  I mean, UP!

At first, you are tricked into thinking it is so peaceful and beautiful and quaint.

I love suspension bridges.

But then, the ground starts moving vertically.  And doesn't stop.....

Until you reach the tippy-top of Chimney Tops Trail.

Just breath-taking.

Todd and Tanner went to the absolute top edge of the mountain!  They took these pics for me, because I am a BIG wimp.  I was doing good just getting to the 'normal' spot, of the top of the mountain! :)

I was SO very proud of us ALL!  We did it!
This is definitely, the most difficult hike we have done since we hit the road.  Or ever.......

I was so sore........  For days..........  Literally.

Blessings,
Steph

Clingmans Dome

Heading to the border of North Carolina, in the Great Smoky Mountains, we went to the 3rd highest point, east of the Mississippi.  At 6,643 feet, it is the highest point in the Smokys'.

Up, up, up, we climbed, a half mile VERTICAL walk way, to the dome.

Can you say, "I feel the burn!?"  It was a work out!

We also noticed this sweet, little guy eating an acorn.

This is part of the walk way to the tower.

The view was so beautiful.  This picture just doesn't do it justice, that is for sure!

Here, if you look at the clouds on the left, they were moving in  pretty quick.  They were at eye-level, which was so cool. ;)

On a clear day, you can see a hundred miles away.  I love all the shades of blue, too.

 There is a European beetle eating up the forest.  You can see its damage from these dead trees.

It looks as if you can just scoop up that cloud!  Dye it pink, and call it 'cotton-candy!'

Blessings,
Steph