my family vacation to gatlinburg: part 1

we went through the national park to get to our cabin up on the mountain. there is a view of it from below.

the view was just gorgeous. we didn't do much the first night except sit on the porch and get in the hot tub. we were there for my grandparents (on my dad's side) 60th wedding anniversary. which just blows my mind! i can't even fathom ten years! ah! i hope travis and i live long enough to have a 60th anniversary. almost everyone in the family was able to come, except for two boy cousins and one of their wives. my dad's family is really spread out so we are almost never together.

in the morning we got up early and went horseback riding. i thought that it was just going to be us and my mom but it turns out almost everyone wanted to go.

the whole group of us about to go riding!

my horse is the dark dark brown one. her name is crissy. the redish one in front of me was named porter wagoner. so cute!





ah! the baby ducks are getting washed down the river! poor things. mama had to come and save them.

we walked around down town gatlinburg for a while. it's mostly really tacky stores (like the same tacky crap you buy at the beach) mixed in with putt putt golf and candy shops. not really what i remember from when i was little. here are some pictures from the candy shop i DO remember.



i got a caramel apple with peanuts. my favorite.




i love all the cute bears everywhere. and omg i love taffy. i only bought a small box because i would have eaten it all so fast! yummmm.



i love standing and watching the taffy machines. after sight seeing for a while we went to the aquarium. it was awesome, so i'll let it have it's own post!