Gatlinburg, Tennessee

I got to see a new state this last weekend! I had only driven through Tenessee before, so it was cool to have a chance to get to see it a bit more in depth. Thursday after work I drove down to Kentucky where one of my good friends lives, and then Friday morning we set off.

For two poor girls who still want to go on vacation, camping was the way to go, so our first stop was our campsite outside town.

When we checked in the campsite lady told us our tent neighbors were 3 military guys, but she told us they seemed fine and we 'shouldn't have any problems'. Anyway, Jill and I set up our camp and went into town. We came back at night and were sleeping when around 1am bright lights were shining into our tent. The guys had come back and were pretty drunk and trying to set up their tent, about a foot away from ours. The tent neighbors on the other side said something to them like 'you should have seen those girls, they set up their tent in 5 minutes'. So then the guys started calling out for us: "Girls! Girls! Come out! Help us set up this tent! We know you're in there!" My friend and I were laughing and wondering what to do. They kept calling: "We promise we're 8's!" And the other guys said, "no, we're 2's we can't even set up a tent!" They kept calling awhile. "Girls! Girls!" Then the campsite man came over and told them to be quiet and to move their tent because they were too close to us. And so we just went to sleep. The next morning we saw them sleeping in the car. Haha. Fail. And sad, 3 military guys can't figure out how to set up a tent but are still the ones defending our country.

Anyway, we had a great time. We went on 2 hikes, ate yummy food downtown, got semi-buzzed on free moonshine, shopped and window shopped, and just talked and laughed and enjoyed seeing each other again.

Some pics:

hmmm.... which variation of cough-syrup tasting moonshine is better?...

Jill gave this family our roll of trashbags to use as ponchos since a huge storm was coming. Seconds later we watched as that entire family struggled to get into their bags as it started pouring. It was hilarious.

On the way home Garmin wanted us to board a ferry... wha??? Many jokes ensued... "board spaceship to get home"...

Such a great trip. Miss you already Jill!

The next day on my way home I reached my goal:

A quarter million miles!! This car has seen me thru thick and thin. Good job Saturn :) ... and many more!