Day 4

Before I share about our day, I want to post something I learned about myself from yesterday’s adventure.

Yesterday’s hike to Burgess Falls was like Narnia. All the trees coated in snow and ice. I hated to rush the girls on our outing. They wanted to lick, pick, or kick every icicle on the 3/4 mile trail. But, I knew a snow storm was heading in from the west and we still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us. It ended up hitting us while we were still driving. I am grateful for a couple of things.

•I didn’t pass up the opportunity to take the girls on this hike because of my fear of driving in snow.
•Actually driving 20 miles in a snow storm gave me heart palpitations and I freaked out a bit, but navigating the roads, controlling my speed, distance, and systems of my car to work for me, like wipers, heat, and defrost, and quieting the children… and making it to our destination…gave me a new sense of accomplishment that I CAN do hard things! And I CAN do them fearful!

Living the journey is worth it!

My new motto:

“If it’s not stupid, do it!”

What is your motto? Have you done something recently that has changed it? I’d love to hear what life is teaching you and what you are making with it.

NOW… our Day 4

Woke up to this outside the window

Looks like about four inches of snow on the ground.

And ain’t nobody scraping the roads around here.

The kids were happy just to stay in the condo and play Train the Kittens all day, but I wanted them to see the infamous Opryland hotel, so we ventured out into the snow.

Nina is masked up and not pounding too much about having to pause the game for a few hours.

The hotel is pretty spectacular

There are live orchids everywhere!

That’s a change, the kids are only used to seeing dead ones in our house.

And the most gorgeous and variety of palm trees imaginable

Check out this one her size! Yeah

Look at this fountain gazebo covered in Bougainvillea!

The water features are impressive!

Reaching out to touch the water from behind the waterfall.

Here’s just one of the Cascades

Here’s the restaurant where we ate lunch.

They have a delicious salad.

I really enjoyed watching Nina eat her fried chicken.

Here is Becca’s steak sandwich

And good strong southern TRA

Check out the beautiful asparagus ferns behind us

And the skinny trunks of some of these palm tree varieties

The girls got a kick out of the little balconies off every room.

Did you know this hotel has 2,888 guest rooms?

And a boat tour through the atrium.

The 15 minute boat tour cost $50 for the 4 of us. Everything in this hotel is pretty pricey.

Glad we asked for a parking voucher for dining in the hotel… saved $32!

Shocking and uninteresting fact for most people, but a fascinating one for me…There is a chandelier in the lobby that they lower to the floor once a month and the staff spends 5 hours dusting it and raising it back up.

I have never dusted my foyer chandelier (15 years)

Also, one of the trees had to be brought in by helicopter. Pretty impressive.

There is also a 4 D virtual ride that didn’t make me motion sick.

$10/ person per game

3 intensity levels to choose from. Nina and I did the easiest version. Mimi and Becca did the easy and the intermediate game.

We shopped a while and I talked them out of several souvenirs.

We went to the coffee shop for a snack and headed upstairs to watch a movie

Now these are cozy!

We crashed out and take an afternoon nap.

The worlds most expensive nap

Becca did the math and there is $3750 worth of pillows in this room.

Everything in this hotel is opulent

But one of the things I enjoyed most about this hotel….

And it didn’t cost a dime.

But I can’t show a picture because my hands were extremely occupied.

In the giant, wide open parking lot, covered in 4 inches of snow…

We took our 4wD for a few spin outs and didn’t get arrested. 😊

And Nina lost a tooth

That DID cost me a little bit. 😊

But now, the games have been played, dinner is over, the bedtime story has been read, the tooth fairy has visited, the condo is quiet, and all is well in our warm nesting place.