anolefan

I haven’t read all the replies in detail, but I know that my activity on here has all but been eliminated. Life has been extremely busy for our household and my time spent on forums has decreased as well. I still lurk a bit, but not nearly as much as when the kids were all so much younger. As for camping at The Fort, we are here as I type this for our annual trip, but that is the only time we are able to get here anymore. We used to visit 4-6 times a year [emoji25]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow, I knew what this report was going to be about by reading the title. You have such a special bond with your girls that all you are doing now is entering into a new journey. Remember that the foundation you have set, with the emphasis on family time, will all come back to you many times over once they have their own families down the road. Then the Fort trips will be especially cool :) We just took our oldest boy to his junior high open house last week and I was already getting sappy just walking him around the school. I'm amazed at how our children have grown in the short time from our

Made it! Bragging rights for me, but even more for you as the Gators ran it right down our throats Saturday. Looking forward to another great report!

Happy Thanksgiving Fiends! I have been really busy with work and baseball lately and have been slacking on updating this report. First, I need to brag a little. DS10 and his baseball team have been together for just over a year and won their very first baseball tournament over the past weekend. Up until this championship they have been runners up 3 times over the past year, but just could not get over the hump. This tournament was probably the best baseball they have ever played. They put together a 5-0 record over 2 days and outscored their opponents 51-11! It was awesome to watch their

Thank you for reading along! Thanks KFK! I appreciate you following along and commenting. Thanks for replying to that, I've been swamped lately. Roaring Fork is wonderful and you would most definitely enjoy it.

We left off driving through Roaring Fork Motor Trail and stopping off at Jim Bales Place. Just down the road from Bales Place was Ephraim Bales Place, Jim Bales' older brother: Ephraim owned 70 acres here in which he farmed 30 and used the other 40 for construction materials since it was naturally wooded. Here are some shots of the cabin and the property: I've seen this shot done on here with much greater success, but figured it was worth a try: I'm not really digging my result. When my wife saw this picture on the computer she asked why I took it. I thought it looked neat, lol: Down by t

Well played on the USC hat comment. You can't go wrong with a trip to this area. Thanks! It really is a neat drive. I actually enjoy it more than Cades Cove since there it is usually less crowded. Thank you! Thanks! Have you ever camped in this area? I'm not sure if I have seen any pictures on the other campgrounds thread or not. Unfortunately we did not go to Cades Cove. It was actually the only thing I wanted to make sure we did because it has been a while since visiting there, but we had to pick up my birthday cake that my wife ordered from a local bakery between 2pm-5pm Saturday,

Great updates! I'm sorry you had to deal with the news of your father being ill, but glad things worked out. You are very talented with a camera. I admit, I laughed at the Woody sketch, only because an effort by me would be 100 times worse.

Awesome report! I LOL at the trading card scenario. Is that the first time that the twins refused a photo opportunity? They must have been even more nerdy than you described :) I can't believe how busy your days are. I don't last more than a couple of hours at any theme park, much less on a day trip. My hat goes off to you, maybe you should come up with a TCDRMOG award for yourself.

Definitely and when you travel with a group and split it up three ways they are even better. You get a lot for those prices.

It is now mid morning Saturday and everyone is up and ready to go. We had plans to meet my brother in Pigeon Forge at noon for lunch so we decided to hit Roaring Fork Auto Trail. For those who are not familiar with this trail, here is a link with some information about it. I highly recommend doing this if you visit Gatlinburg. The trail is located just shy of the GSMNP entrance at stoplight #8. Seeing how we had the kids and we were on a tight schedule, we didn't get to stop at all of the cabin areas, or get all the information that goes along with each stop, but we did get some pretty go

Thanks! I totally agree about Gatlinburg, and the reason we enjoy it so much also. Roaring Fork is always a must do for us when we visit. In fact, when we stay for longer periods, I will get up early and drive it myself so I can take my time and get lots of photos. When the kids get older we will try some of the hikes located along the drive.

Loving this report! I'm not fully caught up yet, but had to comment on the wonderful VIP visit, awesome. I love the behind the scenes photos! Very cool indeed!

Loving all the pictures, and the GG looked like a wonderful time! Can't wait for more.

Thanks Kim! It is a great place to hang my FSU hat on :). We have had raccoon encounters camping at Fort Desoto, down past St Petersburg, Fl and they can definitely be a nuisance. Nana always comes through with activities to keep the kids busy. They love when she visits. She also brings lots of food goodies as well, which I love. Thanks, and that is a good suggestion. I write my reports a little differently in that I prepare everything as I write them. I find that having the photo webpage open and looking at the pictures helps me put my thoughts together easier. I will try this in the

I'm in as well. Looking forward to your updates!

Sorry you were ill. Great report and I agree about the Wet Willie's comment. I have bad memories of that place when I was younger.

Great pictures! Nice job on the hidden Mickey too. Unfortunate that someone felt the need to throw trash there though

Great updates! It has been over a year since we had passes, so this report is really making me want to visit again.

Unbelievable! I just finished an update and with a phantom click it all went away! I'll try this again. We left off enjoying a nice steak and reading the boys trip highlights from the first day. I was up early Saturday and enjoyed my coffee while taking in the views from the deck out back: You may get a little tired of pictures from out back because I took a lot of them, I really enjoyed looking out at the mountain :) It didn't take long for me to retreat back inside to the warmth of the cabin as it was just a little bit chilly outside: After everyone was up and getting ready for the day I

Thanks! I encourage them to document their trips as I think it will be really neat to read as they get older. DS7's was really neat as well, he had drawn pictures as well. On the trip up the weather was pretty mild on the top of the mountain, about 43 degrees. The way back however was very cold. It's funny how much they enjoyed it, I bet that would get old if we had to deal with it every year :) At least it would for me anyway. Thank you for reading! Thanks! We used Jackson Mountain Homes. We have used them for years and have been happy with their cabin listings and service. Christmas

I forgot to ad one thing in Friday's update. Each day our boys were documenting their trip. DS7 was writing in his journal and DS10 was documenting on his iPod. I couldn't get quality photos of the handwritten entries, but here is what I got from DS10's iPod. Pretty cool: I'm off to work and hope to continue on later this evening.

It was a great cabin and we were definitely not roughing it. We would stay there again should we return. Thanks! I love that picture too. I LOL at the Phineas and Ferb after I took the photo. Thanks! I know 40 is not really that big of a deal. I just remember when I was a kid how "old" I thought 40 was. That first cabin is what we drove by to get up to the community where our "real" cabin was located. Thanks! My mom told me she heard that 3' of snow had fallen there. Crazy. LOL at the road screw up. I bet that happens a lot from all the rookies traveling through the area. I thoug

Love the details on all the rocks! Really amazing that they are able to pull that off. Also, great job on the 20,000 Leagues shot. No way would I ever spot that. I'm too busy watching the kids when we are in line for rides to enjoy any of the details.

We are now about to head down Newfound Gap Road to Gatlinburg. But of course we had to stop just one more time so the kids could get out, and so I could try and get some good shots of the mountain streams. Taking pictures of snow for inexperienced photographers is tough. It played havoc with the white balance so I had to try and touch up the majority of photos in the computer. Here is a great spot we let the kids get out and climb up a little and slide down. DS10 hit his butt on a rock (no injury), and DD got her foot stuck in the snow and had a meltdown. This would be our last stop befo