Resolutions 2023 - six month check

It's check-in time. One point a month for each resolution I've worked on. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll have 12 for completion. 

• Paint my home space - My ceilings haven't been painted since we moved in. My living room and my hallway need an overhaul. My bedroom could use it too, but that isn't as important as the first two. -  COMPLETED Score 2

• Entice Tom to build my shelves to display my playing card collection - I collect playing cards. I need somewhere to display them, and Tom drew plans for what I found on Etsy. He claims he can knock it out, "Don't waste your money." Once I get the paint done, this comes next. -  I mentioned it. Does that count? - Score - 0 

• Travel - Can't let those Wyndham points go to waste. - I went to a writer's conference in May and traveled to several states in June - Score - 2 

• Lower my cholesterol - I retake it in May or June. - Okay, so I missed my 6-month check-in, and although I did hike the Smoky Mnts, I also drank that entire week, so I put off the check. - Score 1

• Exercise/Healthy eating habits - This goes with the above, but I do need to shed some weight for my own mental health, not to mention the flip side of the coin. - A bit here, a bit there - Score - 1

• Catch up on my blog - Writing has kept me from this. My readers are complaining. I need to catch up! - Ugh. No. - Score - 0

Total - Total 6 out of 12 w/one completed - I stayed the same. I didn't go backward. I'll take it.

Goodbye Sevierville/Pigeon Forge

We awoke to sunshine and clear skies. 

Of course, we did.

Goodbyes were hard. It was a good girls' trip. But all good things must end, or so THEY say, so Kim set off to Ohio, and we set off for Pennsylvania. Steph let me drive for a few hours, but mainly, I provided the entertainment as we passed through multiple states. Maggie was a huge help.

We talked in our southern accent the entire time and worried we wouldn't be able to go back to normal.  

We arrived in Hershey at dusk, pulled up to unload out front, and Maggie's fans were there, a group of bicyclists shouting at her as she dragged her suitcase up the walkway. I'd forgotten her star status here in the land of candy.

Kid: "That's Maggie, right?"

Me: "It is. Sorry, kid, but no autographs tonight. She's returning from a week spent with adults. She needs some quiet time."

Kid: "Huh?"

Steph's son had dinner for us, and we ate while we regaled him with stories in our Southern accents. He was impressed with Maggie's accent and indifferent to ours. 

Nate: "I think it's kind of cool."

By breakfast of the next day, he was over it. 

When I headed home, we were back to normal except for the occasional slip. 

For the two days I was there, we caught up on things. Steph weeded her overgrown garden, I caught up on emails and phone messages, and Maggie ran amok with her endeared friend crowd. We hit the grocery, delivered the instrument panel to Steph's mechanic, and celebrated her friend's birthday. On the day I departed, we dropped Maggie off at volleyball and had dinner near the airport. The restaurant was having trivia night, and Steph and I were in second place after round one. Unfortunately, I had a plane to catch. Otherwise, we'd have won. I know it.

Wild Girls take Pigeon Forge 2023 is in the books!

Other things - Smoky Mountain vacation

 Shopping: 

We hit the outlet malls twice. Maggie needed some retail therapy, and Darcy had given me a list of bras she wanted that she'd gotten several months earlier in Pigeon Forge. Both of them got what they needed.

Steph, Kim, and I sampled odd moonshine flavors at a distillery while Maggie shopped. Afterward, we contemplated purchasing moonshine, but came to our senses about the time our stomachs told us it wasn't for us.

Tunnels:

In the national park, we came upon several tunnels. The first time we drove through one, other cars honked loudly, scaring the shit out of Steph. 

Steph: "Why are they honking? I thought I'd done something wrong."

I told her that's a thing people do. I remember my dad doing the same every time we were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Steph said that was ridiculous, so I googled it.

Apparently, it's a TN thing. And illegal. 

But it never failed to make Steph jump. Every single time. Finally, I started reminding her when we'd come upon a tunnel so she could brace herself, and sure enough, no one would honk.

On our last drive through a tunnel, Steph scared all of us by blaring her horn! 

Accents:

By the last two days, we could not stop talking in a southern accent. Maggie was really good at it. She sounded authentic enough to be mistaken for a TN native.

Maggie: "I'm from Tennessee because I'm the only 10 I see." 

She really liked that joke.

Pictures: 

Have I mentioned how GREEN everything was in this state?

Wrap up:

Me: "I'd come back to the mountains, but I've definitely seen all of Pigeon Forge I care to see."

Steph: "Totally. It wasn't my scene."

Me: "We could've been in Vermont. Who's idea was this?"

Maggie: "Yeah, mom, who's idea was it to come here?"

Steph: "Okay, okay, it was mine. People kept talking about Pigeon Forge. I thought it would be different. But we had fun, didn't we?"

Us: "We did. But next summer, someone else picks the location."

Day 8 Smoky Mountains Trip

And it rained the next day as we set out for Gatlinburg. By now, we don't even see it. If it were bright and sunny, THAT we'd notice. We had a lazy morning, doing laundry and reading. 

We got to town in time for our lunch/dinner and went to a Mexican restaurant that was surprisingly authentic. By the time we finished eating, the rain had stopped. We walked all over the city, shopping for last-minute gifts and vetoing tourist traps like the mysterious mansion, where kids were exiting in tears. 

I searched high and low for postcards, finding a variety in a store run by a Steelers fan. He turned out to be an asshole, robbing me of a couple of dollars by distracting me with football talk. I decided if he needed that five dollars that bad, I'd let him have it, but I bitched about it often.

I bet he was a closeted Bengals or Ravens fan. 

We walked along the river and started heading toward the swinging bridge, but the skies were darkening and rumbling, and they closed it before we made it halfway there.

It poured. We ducked into shops on the way back to the car, but we were still wet as we drove back to the resort. We dropped off Maggie and went to the winery down the street from our resort. We sampled wines, ordered glasses, bought bottles, found a bear, and sat outside in the cool weather until the rain returned. 

We agreed it was a nice end to our trip. 

Day 7 Smoky Mountains

Today's weather was supposed to be raining, so we opted to shelve Dollywood for Sunday and hit the mountains again. We drove along Newfound Gap again, actually seeing what we'd missed the first time through due to the smog/smoke/fog. 

Newfound Gap is the lowest driveable pass through the park, with an elevation of 5,048 feet, and is half in Tennessee and half in North Carolina. The Chimney Tops trail is off this route, and while we didn't hike it, we pulled off to admire the panoramic views.

The rain held off as we drove, and like most of our trip, the heat index was low, with temperatures anywhere from 75 to 85. Nothing like the heat in Florida. 

We took the road to Clingsman Dome, a winding seven-mile road that went up, up, up--6,643 feet. This is the highest point in the park. It is the highest point in Tennessee and the third-highest mountain east of the Mississippi. 

It ended in a large, packed parking lot. We drove around and around until someone pulled out, and Steph snagged the spot. The rain was back, the same drizzle we'd experienced the entire trip, and it was about fifteen degrees cooler this high up. Maggie loaned me one of her many sweatshirts, and ignoring the signs telling us we needed to pay for a parking pass, we followed the people. 

The paved half-mile trail to the observation tower is steep. Not only did we spot rangers here, but we also got a warning that the air thins as you climb. By now, we considered ourselves expert hikers, and off we went with Steph and Maggie miles ahead of us.

I used Kim and photography as an excuse to stop and catch my breath. Everything was so GREEN! I'd hike, stop, take pictures while secretly huffing and puffing, wait for Kim to catch up with me, and head up again. There were a few places to sit along the trail, but I was worried that if I sat, I'd never get my trembling legs back up. 

The sign wasn't kidding. The hike was STEEP. I hoped my Apple watch was capturing this as a million steps climbed. I'd long ago abandoned the sweatshirt. Sweat ran in rivets down my back beneath my shirt while rain dampened it from the outside. Anytime I walked, I concentrated on breathing and not dying. Then, I'd stop and take more pictures.

Maggie ran the trail once we got within sight of the dome. Steph and I started up the winding walkway, and I did my best not to look down because I do not like heights. The dome is a chance to observe all three states--TN, GA, and NC, at one time, if the weather permits. 

Since everything was foggy and rainy, I wondered if we'd see any state, let alone three, when Steph stopped and said she wasn't going any further.

Steph: "I don't do heights and I'm having doubts we'll see anything once we get there."

Me: "Oh, thank god. I didn't know you had a height fear, too." Then, I asked the people returning about the view.

Them: "Foggy, cloudy, can't see a thing."

Excellent. We let Maggie go, and when she returned, we hiked back the way we'd come. Downhill wasn't much better. Momentum pushed me faster than was comfortable, but somehow, I made it to the bottom without falling. 

Along the way, we passed the Appalachian Trail, which crosses through Clingsman Crossing, and someone offered to take our picture. It's one of my favorite pictures of the trip. As usual, our clothing, shoes, and crossbody purses scream HIKING EXPERTS.

Back in the car, we left the park, agreeing the park was a perfect ten, and if we ever saw ourselves coming back, which I can honestly say was NOT a vision any of us had, we would plan ahead, be in top hiking shape, and stay in one of the rustic cabins nearby. 

Me: "But you couldn't pay me to return to Sevierville/Pigeon Forge."

Maggie: "No wonder Dolly left!"

That's no dissing of the people of these fine towns, but the tourist strip was too much, too crowded, and god awful. 

We ate at a restaurant where Kim and I had more bourbon, something we'd sampled more than once, and then we went back to the resort for our nightly planning for the next day and game night. 

Planning could have gone better. We decided we weren't up to Dollywood and would have more fun whitewater rafting or something more entertaining than an amusement park. Turns out, anything fun like that is closed on Sundays. 

Looks like we're touring Gatlinburg for our last day.