Our Vacation October, 2007

We set out to clear our heads, enjoy the children, contemplate more seriously relocating to the East Coast, and try something new...a travel trailer. We decided to head up to see the brand new Creation Museum in Kentucky, visit Aunt Velma and Uncle Butch on the way there, then make our way down to see Auntie A and Kim and Kim through Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We'd make the bulk of our adventures in Gatlinburg, and only stay a couple of nights in Atlanta before heading home. I called ahead and made reservations at the most desirable campgrounds, and mapquested every step of the way. We knew where we were going to stop to pee before we headed out the door!

Despite all of the incredible planning, and asking advice from friends who had already ventured out into RV-ville, we concluded by the end of this trip that we could no longer call it a vacation. No. It would, at best, be deemed an adventure. It certainly will not go down in the record books as our most relaxing, refreshing getaway. I even contemplated aborting the thing altogether and going home about two days into it! As usual, my favorite part was simply the driving, seeing all of the beautiful places passing by through the window, all the while enjoying easy, unrushed conversation with Curtis, reclining with my pillow, and munching on gingersnaps. But, even that was a little hairier than expected. That huge trailer would rock the van, sometimes seemingly violently, causing some sincere tension!

It was worth all of the effort in the end, though, and we were glad we stuck it out. The Creation Museum was amazing! We've thought about going back with a group, and making it a huge "field trip". And seeing family is always worthwhile. I absolutely love keeping in touch, and keeping the kids involved with and aware of their relatives. Gatlinburg was a disappointment. It was so commercialized. I thought we'd be taken back to a quaint mountain town. Their ads were effective! We did get in all of the serious fun we planned like horse back riding, taking the air tram up to the top of the mountain in Gatlinburg, and visiting the famous "walk-under" aquarium. We grilled out under the breathtaking autumn leaves falling all around the campground, and drove through the Smokies and the Blue Mountain ranges.

We had taken along information on two or three bed and breakfast inns for sale, still considering a dramatic change in vocation and location, in order to move closer to Mimi (Curtis' mother) and more aptly take care of her. Though the inns were so charming, and the geography was very appealing, those thoughts have been dismissed once and for all. Texas is home. DFW is home. Yes, I would thoroughly enjoy four more well rounded seasons, but the relationships here are of a lifetime quality, and the time it would take to reinvent our lives elsewhere is significant. The support system in place here is overwhelmingly strong and true. People are imperfect, friendships can be fickle, and family can surely disappoint, but in the end being able to love and trust people who you know believe in the same Lord and Saviour, and are your eternal brothers and sisters is incomparable. I really do love to travel, but I love coming home even more! It was on this trip, more specifically on the drive home, that we decided to move back into town, closer to all those we love.

Here's the nutshell version of the trip described in a post to a friend on our home school loop asking advice for their trip planned with their newly purchased travel trailer. Very funny and very true...every word!

Tammy,
Curtis and I rented a travel trailer for our October family vacation to Gatlinburg, TN.
First suggestion: Sell the camper!
Second suggestion: Find the closest Embassy Suites to your vacation destination, and
enjoy yourself!!
Otherwise: Pack extra quarters for the laundry mats, they cost way more than we
anticipated.
Never put a pyrex dish directly onto the heating element inside your oven, as it
will explode into a thousand pieces. (Learn the difference between the rack and the actual element.)
Take a guard rail for the top bunk of the kids bed, even if you think they're of age to stay put on a top bunk, as we've proven that a nine year old falling to the floor
at 3:00am in the morning is one of the rudest awakenings possible in this life.
Wear shoes day or night, as you might have to abruptly run through the camper to save the child in distress, and gash your big toe on the floor vent, causing a debate on whether or not to seek local medical care.
Call ahead to each RV park confirming that the park does, in fact, have
public bathroom facilities, as your slide-out might malfunction and block the doorway to your own bathroom, causing everyone who had waited for the last half hour to potty to dance around on one leg, and even implore help from heaven to keep their bladders from spontaneously emptying without consent.
Not that any of this would happen to you, it is still good advice to consider, as our family is living proof that it can happen!

We still laugh over all of the adventure we did NOT sign up for!
Happy vacation!!
Love,
The Parnells