Sunday, December 28, 2008

Thank God for Random Road Trips


So I got out of bed Friday morning after Christmas and starting thinking about what I was gonna get accomplished for the day. Hubby had been on edge lately but was beginning to lighten up, finally. I was feeling pretty good about the day when hubby got up and said that he wanted to take me shopping at a huge mall in Chattanooga. Well, I though that was a GREAT idea, especially since I had to buy my own Christmas present just so I would have something to unwrap on Christmas morning! Besides, what girl DOESN'T love to go shopping?! So we set out for Chattanooga. We stopped in Trenton, GA for a meal at Randy's, home of the 48 ounce burger.

I only had a 5 ounce one, but it was delicious. Then we headed on to Chattanooga. We almost had a wreck on the interstate when some vehicles up ahead of us started putting on their brakes. I thought that there must be a wreck up ahead of us that we couldn't see yet. But it turned out that there was no wreck...just stupid people who couldn't drive. We recovered from that little incident and made it to the Hamilton Mall in Chattanooga. It was pretty packed since it was the day after Christmas. We found refuge from the crowds in Barnes and Noble. Oh! How I love bookstores! We made our way to Starbucks inside the bookstore. I had a toasted marshmallow mocha latte. We perused the bookstore while sipping our lattes. I could have spent all day in there! I ended up buying a book on organizing since that is what I am going to be working on in the upcoming week. We walked around the mall some more and then decided it was time to be moving on. It was beginning to get dark, and I dreaded the long ride back home. I mentioned that it would be nice to just find a place to stay the night and then head back home in the morning. After wandering around for a few minutes, we decided to head on to Gatlinburg. Talk about a long ride!! But, I knew it would be nice. We arrived in Pigeon Forge first. They are in the midst of Winterfest, and the Christmas lights were beautiful! We drove through Pigeon Forge. It is more of the entertainment/amusement rides of the two cities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We wanted to find a hotel in downtown Gatliburg so that we could just get up and walk down the street in the morning. We had no such luck. We opted for a stay at the Sydney James on Airport road. We got a room with a fireplace (that we could never get to work) and a jacuzzi. Also, it had a balcony on the back and a creek running right below. It was a nice room. The next morning we got up and went into Gatlinburg. We had instructions from our oldest son to go to the Mountain Mall and purchase some good pipe tobacco. So, that became our mission. We had to wait a while until they actually opened, but we made our purchase and decided to go back to Pigeon Forge for brunch. We went to the Golden Corral and ate. Then we started home. Hubby had seen a Bass Pro Shop on the way in, so we stopped by there. We had never been to one, so it was a welcomed delight. It was huge, 2 stories. There were live, enormous fish in a large aquarium, a shooting range, and anything you would ever need for your outdoor adventures. Hubby Kevin bought a Bass Pro t-shirt before leaving. We then made our way back home. Although it is always nice to be back home from a trip, there is also a type of depressed feeling that comes with it. I don't know exactly why. I guess it's just the fact that you can get away from it all for a time, but eventually, you have to come back to reality and the stuff of life. But I certainly did enjoy my unexpected random road trip.

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