Gatlinburg Again

After our time in Arkansas and a drive through Tennessee, we ended up back in Sevierville (southeast of Knoxville) although at a different park than we'd visited in May.  While the first park was okay, this park was much better and the back section where we stayed was pretty empty.

It rained nearly the entire time we were there but we found a dry(ish) day and decided to take a drive to Gatlinburg so we could see how the town was decorated.  Remember, we'd been here for Cinco de Mayo.  You can read about it HERE.

The city wasn't too decked out but there were a lot of 'friends' around town that made me smile.

Cookie, anyone?

Mom getting a break.

Twins!

As we walked around I noticed lots of other friends - some were decorated for Christmas.

I have no idea what this guy was doing in a restaurant.

Some of the shops were interesting.  Too bad this sign had the name of the top garage spelled incorrectly.

These could be special ordered so if we had a garage, we could have had one made

Somehow I think with this game, we know who did it every single time.

This is probably a popular attraction in the summer.  But NO WAY would I go up there!

They claim this provides the best views in Gatlinburg

When you get to the top, you can walk across the SkyBridge, the longest cable bridge in North America.  See the people up there?

NO THANK YOU!

It turned out there were more Christmas decorations than we'd seen when we first got there.

Since we never made it back to the Moonshine store the last time we were there, we made a point of stopping there on the way back.  Not just Moonshine but Vodka!

Dale Jr. and Amy Earnhardt

We loved listening to the music even though we didn't hear any Christmas music.

And there it was - the Moonshine Cherries!

Yes, we bought a jar this time

By now it was starting to rain so we decided to hit the road and get back to our trailer.  Santa wished us a Merry Christmas on the way out of town.

Thanksgiving - and Buc-ee's

We spent 9 days over Thanksgiving in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  You may remember we'd been there before and we really liked the park so we went back.  We stayed in the same site and it was just as nice as we remembered.  It was over the weekend of the Arkansas-Ole Miss football game so it was pretty crowded.  It was a bit of a surprise that Arkansas won and it has now been announced that Arkansas will be playing Kansas in the Liberty Bowl on December 28.

It wasn't practical to cook a turkey so we made a trip to Honey Baked Ham to get a few slices of ham.  But the "main event" was a big pan of my grandmother's stuffing recipe - I wish I'd asked at some point where she got the recipe.  My mother always used her mother-in-law's recipe as we were growing up and now it has become a tradition in our family.  

How many generations have made this?  Is it stuffing when it's not cooked in the bird?

A few days later we headed east.  And made a fun stop along the way!

I had never heard of Buc-ee's before I became part of the "RV-ing" world and people would get excited when they were near a Buc-ee's.  So here it was right along the highway - time to check it out.

The little guy welcomed us.

Buc-ee's states that since their inception in 1982, they have been committed to providing a clean, friendly, and in stock experience for customers.  Regardless of which location you visit, if the store is big or small, the mission remains the same.  The cleanest restrooms in America!  In 2012, Cintas ran a nationwide restroom contest and made it official - the New Braunfels, Texas Buc-ee's won!

No, I didn't take a picture but there were probably 30 immaculate stalls in the women's room plus whatever the men had.  It really was an experience just going to the bathroom.

The size of the store was really incredible - we heard someone call it the WalMart of convenience stores.

It was lunch time and the employees were bustling trying to get pre-made sandwiches, burritos, etc. ready for people to pick up.

You could finish your Christmas shopping in here!

Since we'd left our Christmas decorations in storage, we decided to take home a Buc-ee's souvenir to add to the little display we had in our trailer.

It makes a nice addition to the couch.

Okay, back to Buc-ee's.  It's a perfect place to fill up.

Can you believe the number of gas pumps?

We were back on the road and finished our trip.  But look what we saw when we got off the exit to the next RV park?

Building above silver car - sign above red truck

Can you see what's coming soon?  Yep - BUC-EE'S!!!!!!  Now we'll have to come back to see the finished product.

Santa Fe - Day 2

We were close to wrapping up our visit in Santa Fe so we decided to go back to the historic district for another visit.  Uh-oh, did Mother Nature have other plans for us?

We decided we'd wait for things to warm up a bit and then we were on our way.

Last fall when we were in Santa Fe we had breakfast at The Burrito Company - there's nothing better than a breakfast burrito!  So we decided we'd eat there even though breakfast hours were over.

Imagine my surprise when I learned they serve breakfast burritos All. Day. Long.  Woo Hoo!

With our tummies full we started checking out some of the shops.  We'd never been in here before but quickly decided it was one of our favorites.

So pretty with the snow

The Rainbow Man has been open since 1945 and carries authentic Native American and Hispanic arts and crafts.  The young man who helped us with our purchase (one of the hot air balloons above) shared some of the history with us as his grandparents were the individuals who originally opened the store.

When you need to be dropped off at a top-secret research facility that does not exist, what address do you give the driver?  For two decades that address was 109 East Palace in Santa Fe.

This unremarkable building served as the first stop for many scientists working on the top secret Manhattan Project in nearby Los Alamos.  Scientists, technicians, and other workers would arrive each day to be ferried to where work on the atomic bomb (and possibly other secret science projects) actually took place.

According to Voices of the Manhattan Project, the primary contact person who greeted arrivals at the site was Dorothy Scarritt McKibbin, who became nearly as vital to the Project as any of the scientists.  She would process each of the arrivals and keep the overwhelming secretarial work in order, essentially making sure that the top-secret trains ran on time.  She stayed in Los Alamos after the Project was dissolved and became a bit of a local celebrity, earning the nickname "The First Lady of Los Alamos".  The building at 109 East Palace ceased acting as a receiving station for Los Alamos in 1963.

Everything was so pretty with the snow.

We stopped at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which is right in the historic plaza.

The door is absolutely beautiful.

And in the courtyard was a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), the first Indian of North America to be promoted a Saint.  The statue was made even more beautiful by the snow.

And then we went on to the Capitol.  By now the snow was starting to melt.

And that was it and it was time to go back "home".  As usual, we loved everything about Santa Fe.