Mom and Dad are Busting Loose!!
After a million hugs and kisses to our two wonderful kids yesterday, Brad and I hit the road to Maggie Valley, NC. Allow me to backup and give you a little history....hubby and I have been married almost 12 years. the first 4 years were filled with getting married, going through 4 deployments, buying a house, moving, getting a new job (for me), and becoming acquainted with each other (hello, whirlwind romance!!). Our honeymoon was spent traveling around the East Coast to meet each other's families.
Brad finally came off sea duty, and Serenity was born in 2010. Then Strider was born in 2011, and the first 2 1/2 years of his life were taking him through 3 open heart surgeries, and doing our best to keep him healthy and alive. With the exception of a weekend trip to OBX for our 10th Anniversary, all of our vacations and weekend getaways have been visiting family. And while we love visiting family, it seemed Brad and I were overdue to have a relaxing getaway, just the two of us, without the responsibilites of kids, pets, jobs, the house, etc... So let's just say that we were STRONGLY encouraged by family and friends to get the heck out of Dodge, and I swear I heard a little collective "Amen!" in the air as our car left the driveway yesterday. Ha!
When planning this trip, I asked Brad what his idea of a vacation was, and he mentioned a log cabin. And for me, Asheville, and Western NC were unexplored, so I kept my search to that area. Through some great reviews, I found Misty Creek Log Cabins in Maggie Valley. It was central to the area, rustic, reasonable, and it had internet connection....boom, done! For us, getting away, also meant staying virtually connected to our kids. I can't go a week without reassuring them that Mom and Dad are okay (and thinking of them), and knowing that they're okay. That's just the way we roll.
Before the trip, I joked that A.) I was most likely going to go stir-crazy with "nothing" to do, and B.) Brad and I would be lucky if we were still talking to each other by the end of the week. LOL. I packed magazines, my Kindle, a grown-up coloring book, and.......two boxes of old family photos to sort through.(yeah, I know) Brad saw the boxes, and said "You're bringing "work" to do??". I said, "Well, it's not work, it's a PROJECT."....like that's supposed to make it sound better. The boxes came with us. I figured worse-case scenario, the boxes get to go on a nice, long ride to the cool mountains and back, even if they don't make it out of the car. I also had the audacity to ask Brad if he wanted to bring the papers to do our taxes, while we were away. I know. I KNOW. I'm the worst. Relaxing does not come easy to me. I'm all about checking off that never-ending "to do" list. My Type-A mantra..."Get it done, and one less thing to worry about, right?". For the record, the taxes stayed firmly at home.
Brad and I had an auspicious start to the trip yesterday, as were gently arguing about not putting in our destination into the GPS yet, as we're rolling down the driveway. I told Brad, "Smile and wave at the kids, honey. Smile and wave.". The rest of the 7.5 hour-trip was uneventful, if not somewhat boring, because 90% of it is the same route we take to visit Brad's grandmother. It felt more like "the usual", than going on an adventure. LOL. However, the difference was there were no "Are we there yet?", or "I have to go the bathroom!" (for the 12th time), or "The dog threw up!". When Brad and I stopped for lunch on this trip, we ate our food and left. Just....like....that. Whoa....(**mind blown**)When you're a family of 5, and traveling with two dogs, then you can imagine the pomp and circumstance involved in stopping and starting at any point during a car trip. The term "wrangling a herd of cats" comes to mind.
As Hubby and I drew closer to our destination, I started exclaiming about the mountains and snapping ridiculous photos through the bug-splattered windshield. You would think I'd never seen mountains before, but if you grew up in New England like I did, then you would know the whole region is a pretty rocky, hilly, and mountain-y place to live (except where it flattens out at the Cape). I guess I just missed the mountains. I moved to the South 14 years ago, and have lived in the flattest places you can get. LOL. As we got super close to where the cabin was located, the car's GPS decided to play games...."Turn here. Hahaha, just kidding!". Brad was getting understadnably frustrated, as we had to backtrack twice because we had no idea where we were supposed to turn. I checked Google Maps on my phone, and it gave an entirely different, yet equally confusing, set of directions. Not cool, Google Maps. Not cool. We went up a maze of itty, bitty streets and finally found our charming little log cabin.
And so starts our adventure! More to come tomorrow!
Brad finally came off sea duty, and Serenity was born in 2010. Then Strider was born in 2011, and the first 2 1/2 years of his life were taking him through 3 open heart surgeries, and doing our best to keep him healthy and alive. With the exception of a weekend trip to OBX for our 10th Anniversary, all of our vacations and weekend getaways have been visiting family. And while we love visiting family, it seemed Brad and I were overdue to have a relaxing getaway, just the two of us, without the responsibilites of kids, pets, jobs, the house, etc... So let's just say that we were STRONGLY encouraged by family and friends to get the heck out of Dodge, and I swear I heard a little collective "Amen!" in the air as our car left the driveway yesterday. Ha!
When planning this trip, I asked Brad what his idea of a vacation was, and he mentioned a log cabin. And for me, Asheville, and Western NC were unexplored, so I kept my search to that area. Through some great reviews, I found Misty Creek Log Cabins in Maggie Valley. It was central to the area, rustic, reasonable, and it had internet connection....boom, done! For us, getting away, also meant staying virtually connected to our kids. I can't go a week without reassuring them that Mom and Dad are okay (and thinking of them), and knowing that they're okay. That's just the way we roll.
Brad and I had an auspicious start to the trip yesterday, as were gently arguing about not putting in our destination into the GPS yet, as we're rolling down the driveway. I told Brad, "Smile and wave at the kids, honey. Smile and wave.". The rest of the 7.5 hour-trip was uneventful, if not somewhat boring, because 90% of it is the same route we take to visit Brad's grandmother. It felt more like "the usual", than going on an adventure. LOL. However, the difference was there were no "Are we there yet?", or "I have to go the bathroom!" (for the 12th time), or "The dog threw up!". When Brad and I stopped for lunch on this trip, we ate our food and left. Just....like....that. Whoa....(**mind blown**)When you're a family of 5, and traveling with two dogs, then you can imagine the pomp and circumstance involved in stopping and starting at any point during a car trip. The term "wrangling a herd of cats" comes to mind.
As Hubby and I drew closer to our destination, I started exclaiming about the mountains and snapping ridiculous photos through the bug-splattered windshield. You would think I'd never seen mountains before, but if you grew up in New England like I did, then you would know the whole region is a pretty rocky, hilly, and mountain-y place to live (except where it flattens out at the Cape). I guess I just missed the mountains. I moved to the South 14 years ago, and have lived in the flattest places you can get. LOL. As we got super close to where the cabin was located, the car's GPS decided to play games...."Turn here. Hahaha, just kidding!". Brad was getting understadnably frustrated, as we had to backtrack twice because we had no idea where we were supposed to turn. I checked Google Maps on my phone, and it gave an entirely different, yet equally confusing, set of directions. Not cool, Google Maps. Not cool. We went up a maze of itty, bitty streets and finally found our charming little log cabin.
And so starts our adventure! More to come tomorrow!
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