the family vacation

Day two

This Christmas, surprise the one you love with this beautiful “Humping Bear” figurine. Today was quite a bit better than yesterday. Because it had to be, I guess. We got a late start but ended up frittering away several hours in Gatlinburg proper, milling around, wandering in and out of shops, and getting rained on. A lot. We’re a slow-moving bunch, for sure. Mom is hobbling around because both her feet are in orthopedic boots…

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the family vacation

The mad house

It’s 2 a.m. in Gatlinburg. I’m out on the deck of our cabin, hoodie engaged, enjoying the ha-ha-not-free wireless we paid $12 for. The world’s tiniest creek is babbling several feet below me. The wind is blowing and my feet, despite being besocked, are cold. My grandmother is just inside, her hearing aids resting on the night stand, a frightening C-PAP machine strapped to her face, the television blaring its early-morning mediocrity to the world.…

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the family vacation

How the trip is going so far

Seen in her natural habitat, the Middle Child might seem grumpy, unapproachable, and/or miserable, when in fact she is just, as they say in popular parlance, “balls cold.” My parents’ Explorer’s every nook and cranny is full of stuff. We are taking Christmas decorations and baking supplies, for God’s sake. And a giant bin full of food. Because Gatlinburg is so rural that I heard you have to kill and eat your own dinner there.…

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bloggers dancing friends travel vacation

Dispatches From the Road: Holy Crap, I’m Home Edition

Wow, time got away from me last week and I find myself at home, back in cat hair-covered pajamas, just as god herself intended it. My trip across the state and back was amazing, as I fully expected it to be. And exhausting, like any good roadtrip vacation. Aside from the insomnia Tuesday night that knocked me out of doing the Jack Daniel’s tour Wednesday morning, everything else was smooth sailing. Let’s see if I…

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randomosity

Places to go? People to see?

My vacation starts in just a little more than two days. I’m doing mental fist pumps right now just thinking about it. I suppose I could do actual fist pumps, but I rarely have the gumption to follow through on a good fist pump once I’ve started it. They’re always better in theory, or when other people do them. That’s my thinking, at least. This vacation should be pretty interesting, I think. I’m taking it…

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