Last Full Day

Monday—
Everyone slept late today. I didn’t get up until after 10:00, and that was with “encouragement” from the children. It was close to noon before we had breakfast, and close to 3:00 before we had lunch. The children played in the hot tub for quite awhile, then found snails and worms to play with. Meg and I were somewhat non-energetic. We didn’t get a jump on the day until almost 5:00!
When we finally set out, we went to Ober Gatlinburg. Took an aerial tram up the mountain to the place (a ski resort that has cashed in on year-round attractions). Riding the tram up the mountain was pretty awesome—especially for me who is not fond of heights. When we got to the Ober Gatlinburg level of the mountain, we stopped to eat. We ordered a small pizza. Ryan got a hot dog that he didn’t touch. Both children got Slushies. Robin swallowed a chunk of pizza that hadn’t been properly chewed and had a few moments of panic when it seemed to scratch her throat. She insisted it was stuck in there. After a bit, she said she couldn’t feel it anymore. There were a few times on the trip when I wondered how anyone could get emergency care if it were needed. Traffic, crowds, and mountains would have made it pretty tough, plus the fact that there was virtually no cell phone coverage in the area.
Then, we went outside to the “amusement” area of the high valley. Children six and under got in free. (We lucked out with Robin and Ryan.) Adults had to pay…and had to accompany all children six and under on the rides. The first thing that Meg wanted to do was to ride the ski lift to farther up the mountain to the with the children in order to ride the Alpine Slide down. The Alpine Slide is a much tamer version of a bobsled run. You ride the ski lift up to the midsection of the mountain, then are given a “sled” (with brakes) on which to schuss on down. The sled would only hold one adult and one child, which meant we’d both have to go…but I took one look at the ski lift and how high they would be going, I passed. That meant that Meg would have to go up once with Ryan, then again with Robin. (I told Ryan that I was a chicken. He got a kick out of that.) The trip up takes almost eight minutes; the trip down, just a few seconds. Meg and Ryan went first. Meg had the camera but couldn’t really take pictures. When they finally came down, the look on Ryan’s face was somewhat terrified. Meg looked a little less afraid, but I think she was pushing her comfort level, too! By this time, it was starting to sprinkle…just a very little mist…so Meg and Robin headed up right away. This time, I had the camera and was instructed to get shots of them coming down.
I waited and waited to see them come down. Ryan was watching for them, too. Finally, one of the workers told Ryan, “There won’t be anyone coming down there. They’ve closed the ride. It’s raining up there.” I mentioned that my daughter and granddaughter were up there. The man said, “They may be coming back on the ski lift.” Well…we waited and waited…and they didn’t come down. FINALLY, I could see Meg’s red shirt and Robin’s dangling little feet on the ski lift coming down. It seems that, since the slide was temporarily closed down, they decided to take the lift all the way to the top of the mountain. I looked up. It was a LONG way up there, almost vertical at the end. Yikes!
We let the kids ride a couple of kiddie rides. I noticed some guys coming down the Alpine Slide, but they were workers who were coming down with towels under their sleds, drying the slide. Then, we could see that “civilians” were coming down. The ride had reopened. Nothing to do but send Meg and Robin back up the mountain for their slide down! Meg said the view was breathtaking but that I wouldn’t have been able to handle the ride up. I’m sorry about that…but I’m glad she got to see it. (Later, Robin said her favorite part of the day was seeing the “beauty of the mountains and being with Mommy”. It sounded pretty programmed but was a good answer!
By this time, Ryan was bored with waiting for Meg and Robbie’s treks up and down the mountain. He wanted to do the bumper cars, which we did. By the time we were done, Meg and Robin were already down. No pictures!! (Boo!) We did a couple more rides with the children, had some Dippin’ Dots ice cream, then got in line for the reverse aerial tram trip back down to Gatlinburg. By now, it was dark. From above, the city looked like it was covered in Christmas lights. Pretty neato!
We got back to the car and headed to the cabin. Ryan found an adult-sized, unopened bottle of water in the car, which he chugged. Thirsty boy! This, however, turned disastrous. Back at the cabin, we got the children ensconced in bed. Meg was on the computer talking to her Russian friend. I heard Ryan struggling with the bedroom door and fussing. “What’s the matter?” “I feel like I have to throw up!” I cleared the way just in time. Up came his blue Slushie and his bottle of water…and one tiny chunk of hot dog (which was all he had eaten)…in two volumes. (God bless the little dude: from a very early age, he has been pretty good about judging the state of his stomach and almost always gets to a commode before getting sick!) I got a plastic tub for him to keep next to his bed and made sure that the light was on in the bathroom off his bedroom. I had visions. We would be on the road for 8-10 hours the next day…with a potential sickie in the vehicle. I figured we’d let him decide what and if he could eat the next day. He went back to bed and never got sick again.
Meantime, Meg was on the computer a whole lot longer than I liked. I wanted to finish up the day’s notes (which you are now reading) and check my email, but her conversation with Denis went on and on. It was well after midnight before she gave up--then got talkative. By that time, I just wanted Grandma Time. Go away and leave me alone! She went to bed. I didn’t get much done on the computer. Just gave up and went to bed. Big travel day tomorrow.