Outdoor Adventures | 2015 edition

When Daniel and I were first married we spent a lot of time in the woods together, logging a lot of miles. Over the years we have added paddling and biking to our adventures. We continue to attempt to get out at least once a month and do the things we love. Here is a quick recap of the outdoor adventures we went on last year:

January

Hike to Rainbow Lake | Signal Mountain, TN

March

Green Gorge Trail | Signal Mountain, TN

April

Paddling North Chick | Hixson, TN

June

Green Gorge – Isaac's First Hike | Signal Mountain, TN

September

Lula Lake Land Trust | Lookout Mountain, GA

Neighborhood Bike Ride – Isaac's First | Signal Mountain, TN

Stringer's Ridge (me time) | Chattanooga, TN

October

Stringer's Ridge | Chattanooga, TN

 

Prentice Cooper | Signal Mountain, TN

November

Guys Hike North Chick | Soddy Daisy, TN

I didn't write a post about this, but Daniel and a couple of his friends did this hike. It's on my list for us to do when the weather warms up.

December

Laurel Falls | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

Christmas Eve Neighborhood Bike Ride | Signal Mountain, TN

I'm looking forward to trying more new trails in 2016, and just spending as much time outside with my guys.

Hike to Laurel Falls (GSMNP)

 

The weekend before Christmas found us in Gatlinburg celebrating our anniversary as a family. As part of that trip, we took our boys hiking on the Laurel Falls trail, located about 4 miles past Sugarlands (toward Cades Cove) in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

 

The hike is paved and *only* about 1 mile point-to-point, but it isn't without challenges. The very first thing we noticed at the trailhead were signs that warned that the use of strollers was dangerous and not recommended. Since our Bob Revolution stroller is more like an all terrain vehicle for children than a typical stroller, we decided to press on.

We knew the trail was mostly uphill, so we initially planned on pushing Isaac with the back up plan to push Jack and carry Isaac in an Ergo. Jack lasted about 5 minutes before he said his feet hurt. So we shuffled the boys around and I carried Isaac while Daniel pushed Jack.

Other signs warned to hang on to your kids because of the steep drop offs and cliffs you encounter on the trail. Truthfully I felt better having Jack strapped in our stroller than running along it!

On the upper part of the trail Jack kept telling Daniel that he was making him nervous and that they were too close to the edge.

We made it to the falls in about half-an-hour. The temperature was chilly, so we were glad that Jack was bundled up under blankets and Isaac was snuggled close to me for extra warmth. The boys did great (except at the waterfall when Jack decided he didn't want any pictures taken!).

On the way back, I moved Isaac to my back instead of my chest so that I would have a better sense of balance on the way down. Carrying him on my back is so much easier than my chest. He is such a big guy!!!

We thought Isaac might fall asleep on the return trip, but he was so excited to be on my back that he just chattered the entire way down. I think he enjoyed being able to see more from this new position. 

Laurel Falls is a great hike for kids, though don't plan on a stroller unless you have a Bob Revolution that you are comfortable pushing up and then down a hill. Jack could have hiked the trail if we had started earlier in the day and it wasn't quite so cold. It is just over 1 mile each way, but it does gain some elevation. The best part is that this trail delivers on views of mountains as well as an 80-ft waterfall at the end. The worst part was that there were quite a few people on the trail, even though it was a cold winter day.

We had a great hike and are looking forward to more hikes this coming year. One of my goals for 2016 is to get back into the habit of regularly spending time outside as a family. Having little kids makes that hard, but not impossible, and I hope that this year will find us sharing our love of the outdoors with our boys on a more regular basis.

Breakfast in Gatlinburg...

If you know me, you know I love to cook. But more than cooking, I really enjoy eating out. Especially on vacation. And especially for breakfast. It has become a bit of a tradition that we try as many local breakfast places as we can when we are traveling, and we stuck to this tradition on our recent trip to the mountains.

Log Cabin Pancake House
Daniel's family has been visiting Gatlinburg and going to the Log Cabin Pancake House since before Daniel was born which means for our family, no trip to this area is complete without a stop for pancakes and waffes. I say "this area" because we have driven out of our way to get breakfast here when hiking in the general vicinity.

 

Log Cabin was our very first food stop on this trip and it was exactly how we remembered. This was our boy's first visit to this long-standing Gatlinburg establishment and Isaac had a biscuit (on the house) and Jack tried Blueberry Kids Pancakes while Daniel got his usual Chocolate Chip Belgian Waffles and I had my usual Caribbean Pancakes with a coffee. Thumbs up from everyone.

We have officially passed on a long-standing tradition of eating at the Log Cabin Pancake House to a new generation.

Currently Log Cabin is ranked #6 on Trip Advisor's Best Places to Eat in Gatlinburg and has a rating of 4.0 on Zomato (formally Urbanspoon).
 

Crockett's Breakfast Camp

Our second day in the mountains included a stop at Crockett's Breakfast Camp. oh.my.word. This may be the best (and biggest) breakfast I have ever had. We lucked out with our timing, because we only had to wait for 30 minutes on a Saturday the week before Christmas. Off season is the best time to visit popular eateries like this.

 

Daniel tried the Jake's Creek Skillet while I had the Black Bear Camp Skillet, and Jack got the kid's waffles. Technically this was our lunch with plans to hike afterward and we actually managed to eat almost everything on our plates (we did take the 1-inch pancakes home for later and they were amazing! 

Honestly, for a typical breakfast, I think we could have split a skillet between the four of us. Isaac enjoyed eating bits and pieces from our plates.

If you want an amazing breakfast with great atmosphere, you really need to try Crockett's Breakfast Camp. As a side note, the pancakes are Aretha Frankenstein's from here in Chattanooga! 

 

Crockett's Breakfast Camp is currently ranked #1 on Trip Advisor for this area and has rating of 3.4 on Zomato (seems too low!).

 

Mountain Lodge Restaurant
On our final morning in the mountains, we decided to try the mom-and-pop Mountain Lodge Restaurant. It was located off of the strip and we noticed several local emergency responders parked there. We thought that was a good litmus test for a good local place.

When we arrived, the place was packed, but we snagged one of the last available tables. They get coffee and food to your table at record speeds. For a home-cooked, southern style meal, this place is worth a visit. Trip Advisor ranks this spot as #5 for the area and it scores a 4.2 on Zomato.


Since we couldn't live only on breakfast, I wanted to include the restaurants we tried for dinner as honorable mentions.

Uncle Buck's Grill
Friday night we saw Santa at the Bass Pro Shop in Kodak (just outside of Sevierville), and we decided to eat on site at Uncle Buck's Grill (we didn't think the boys would stay awake long enough to make it to another restaurant). 

This restaurant has a low ranking on Zomato, but we thought it was surprisingly good. Daniel tried the fish and chips, Jack had mini burgers and I had the wild boar burger with fresh chips. Daniel and I shared our dishes and both were excellent (Isaac thought so too, 8 months old and he has already tried wild boar!).
 

Big Daddy's Pizzeria
Saturday night, after an afternoon of hiking, we grabbed a pizza from Big Daddy's Pizzeria in Gatlinburg. We called ahead and they had it ready in about 15 minutes. The pizza is wood fired and had great flavor, though after a strenuous day, I could have used something a little heartier, especially since we were splitting between three of us (thank goodness for my huge lunch from Crockett's that morning!). We actually ate at Big Daddy's in Pidgeon Forge several years ago and really liked it (but then there were only two of us sharing a pizza!).


That wraps up our recent dining experience in Gatlinburg. When looking for new restaurants to try, we have found that Trip Advisor's Top 10 lists come in handy. Typically, if a restaurant makes the Top 10, we will generally have a really good experience. Until next time!

First Hike of the New Year: Sunset Rock

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve as a family this year. We ate at our favorite pizza place on the mountain and then went home and built a fire and let the boys watch a Netflix countdown (which Jack didn't really understand at all) before putting the boys to bed. 

Daniel and I stayed up watching Blacklist and drinking hot chocolate before watching the ball drop on television. We could hear the city of Chattanooga shooting off fireworks in the distance.

On the first day of the year, I was determined that we would do something outside as a family. It was a bit cold, but I really wanted to get outside to do a first hike of the new year (we have done this a few times since getting married and I hope it becomes a yearly tradition). 

When we discussed our plans, Jack whined and said he wanted to go on a bike ride instead. Since we did a bike ride on Christmas Eve, we stuck with the hiking plan.

With young kids we are at a stage where we have to balance our desires with their abilities. Also we don't want something like weather or poor planning to turn them off of the outdoors.

With that in mind, we decided to head over to Lookout Mountain to hike to Sunset Rock. We were hoping to do the full mile from Point Park to Sunset Rock, but since Point Park is a National Park, it was closed for the New Year.

Instead we drove down to the Sunset Rock trailhead and hiked a quarter mile. So it wasn't big mileage, but it did deliver great views. Daniel was even able to point out the mountain we live on to Jack. 

And in all honesty, with the temps in the upper 30s/lower 40s it was the right thing for our boys. Even bundled the boys had frosty cheeks when we finished.

Even though he started out the day complaining about hiking, Jack had a great time exploring the trail, even wanting to get much closer to the edge than we felt comfortable with once we were out at the view (don't worry, we held on to him!).

It's been awhile since Daniel and I have done any climbing or rapelling, and standing on that high cliff made me a bit dizzy. There is a part of me that wonders if I could really lean back over the edge of a cliff and rapell again...

I guess having kids makes you feel a bit differently about risk taking.

Our thirty minutes on the trail was just right for our little family on this cold first day of the new year. 

When we finished we made a pit stop at Starbucks at Rock City to get coffee and hot chocolate to warm ourselves up a bit.

We are looking forward to many more hikes and adventures outside in the days to come!

Word for the Year: Release

Starting in 2010 I decided to choose a word as a sort of mantra for the coming year. I gave up resolutions a long time ago and the idea of choosing a word that would set the tone for the 365 days to come really appealed to me. The words I have chosen over the years have been, for the most part, fairly spot on for how each year progressed:

 
Fortitude {2010} ~ Adaptation {2011} ~ Patience {2012}
Deliberate {2013} ~ Joy {2014} ~ Peace {2015}

During the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about what word would be fitting for the start of 2016 and the kid's book Not Your Typical Dragon kept popping into my head (this is currently one of Jack's favorite books to read at bedtime). 

In the book, Crispin is a little dragon who is not typical. You see he cannot breathe fire. He realizes he doesn't fit in, so he runs away from home. During his stint as a runaway, he meets a knight who tries to help him discover his fire breathing abilities. At one point the knight tells him to relax and think about a calm day at the beach, and then he is supposed to think of 100 shiny knights with 100 pointy swords coming after him. But you see, Crispin is not typical your typical dragon... instead of breathing fire, he breathes beach balls.

All of that to say that there are times when I feel like I have 100 shiny knights with 100 pointy swords (figuratively speaking) coming at me from all directions and I really don't want to be the lady that feels like breathing fire. I don't want to be typical in that way. 

The more I turned this idea over in my head, the more I thought about the word release and the need to let go of the things that get under my skin the most. Little things like never-ending potty training, sleepless nights with a baby, a dog that barks incessantly (seemingly all the time) and also some bigger things that I have allowed to fester for too long. Instead of being frustrated by these things, I just want to let go of them.

So in 2016, I plan to work on feeling less like breathing fire (figuratively speaking) when I am overwhelmed, and shift my focus to releasing the things that I allow to bother me, and also freeing myself by relinquishing any hurts that I have been holding on to. 

More days at the beach with beach balls wouldn't hurt either. 

release
[ri-lees]

verb (used with object), released, releasing.

1. to free from confinement, bondage, obligation, pain, etc.; let go 

2. to free from anything that restrains, fastens, etc. 

3. to allow to be known, issued, done, or exhibited 

4. to give up, relinquish, or surrender

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Books I Read in 2015

My reading list this year is a bit paltry for me, but I still managed to squeeze in some good reads...

1) Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
2) David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
3) Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink – I made it about a quarter of the way through. It was just too heavy of reading, especially when I was in the middle of my own pre-term labor hospital stay. I may try it again later this year.

4) Arena Mode by Blake Northcott
5) Reagan's Ashes by Jim Heskett
6) The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle
7) The Atlantis Plague by A.G. Riddle
8) The Atlantis World by A.G. Riddle
9) Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery
10) Silent Tears: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage by Kay Bratt 

Currently Reading:  
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiousity and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough 
I am really enjoying this book, though I haven't had as much time to devote to it as I would like. My goal is to finish this soon and to improve on my reading habits in 2016. This year was a slow year of reading for me. I have missed reading books and need to get my hands on some actual books – I tend to read more voraciously when I have something besides technology in my hands... 

What books did you read this year that you would recommend? I prefer non-fiction, but enjoy a good sci-fi, dystopia or historical fiction on occasion. 
  
Books I've read over the years: 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |2014