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I do have some pictures on Facebook if we are friends there.

We left home Friday July 19 headed for Tennessee (Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area). My cousin William (Billy) arranged for 20-25 of us to stay here:

Without stops it is an 8 hour drive; with stops (bathroom and lunch) it turned into a 9-10 hour drive as I expected.

We get there and hauled our stuff up to our room and settled in for the week. My one uncle was making tuna noodle casserole for dinner. YUCK! I do not eat tuna, never have. Hubby likes it, so he had a plateful. I had some noodles and managed to put any tuna off to the side.

A quick survey of the fridges and my family resulted in a short shopping list so off to Walmart we went. After returning to the cabin, we had a drink and then went to bed as it had been a long day of driving.

Saturday was the actual reunion, and it was held at the cabin where most of us where staying. My one uncle & his 2nd wife were in an RV park not too far away. My dad, older bro/wife and sister/hubby were staying in another cabin about 25 minutes away. SO much food! Then again, we tend to do this every year. It rained off and on but luckily the cabin was big enough and all the decks were covered so no one got wet unless going out to a vehicle.

Sunday everyone kind of did their own thing. A couple of people went hiking, some stayed at the cabin and rested etc. Hubby & I went to Gatlinburg where we wandered the town and did the Sky Bridge:
You ride what is essentially a ski-lift up and then go across the suspended bridge admiring the views. A lot of the area had burned in 2016 with the wildfires. On the one trail was The Tulip Tower. They built a tower around the only surviving/still standing tulip tree from 2016. We bumped into my brother & sister in Gatlinburg as we go onto the ski-lift part, they were getting off of it.

Monday, we went to Dollywood. It was quite warm and humid. My one aunt doesn't deal well with that, so uncle kept trying to get her into air conditioning for a show. They ended up going back to the cabin so she could take a nap before coming back for the fireworks & drone show. For a bit hubby & I wandered the place by ourselves but then hooked up with a couple of cousins and their families. Riding the rides was more fun with a group. The drone show was excellent!

Tuesday, several people went horseback riding. We went to The Island - an amusement park with lots of little shops. Some of them were obviously packed with tourist stuff but there were others that were just cool little shops. Bumped into my sister her hubby & SIL(bro's wife). Hung out with them for a little before they decided to leave. Made our way back to the cabin where my one aunt had made dinner. Basically browned beef with sauce/gravy over egg noodles. It didn't really look appealing so back out we went to find a restaurant. Got back and a bunch of us played a trivia game where the questions were divided up by generations.

Wednesday, some went ziplining and others went to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. And still others went hiking. A large group of people ranging from 83 down to 6 means a lot of different activities.
We ended up back in Gatlinburg and visited the salt & pepper shaker museum. Then we rode a mountain coaster. Hubby rode another one by himself. We had pizza for dinner and then found ourselves at Bleke Shelton's bar - Ole Red for a drink. Back to the cabin where someone was making a batch of pina colada's for the females and a batch of old-fashioneds for the guys. Sat doing a puzzle with aunt and cousin.

Thursday, some went on a cave tour, others disappeared without saying where they were going. We ended up back at The Island for a bit before hitting a tourist store so I could get a shot glass or 2 as souvenirs. It was something my mom had done when we traveled and I continued it. Shot glasses are small, travel well and didn't use to cost much (maybe $2-3). Now they cost anywhere from $6 and up.

Thursday was leftover night at the cabin - trying to eat some of the food so no one had to drag it home or worse yet, throw it out. We managed to make a decent dent into the food. Got some things organized/packed for a quick departure the next morning. Finally got to bed around 9:30 which was the earliest we had gotten to bed all week.

Got up around 6 am Friday, finished packing. Had a cup of coffee, loaded up the car and headed for home. We were the first ones out of the cabin on Friday as many of them were still up & drinking when we went to bed. Everyone has made it home by now except for my uncle from near El Paso. He took a day on his way home to see some old friends. He can't drive for 15 hours at a time anymore and has to stop driving for the day at 7-8 hours (he has some major neck/back issues).

It rained off and on throughout the week, but no day was a washout. It was a fun week and there were no major issues; just some minor disagreements. But with such a large group, you will have those, especially when everyone is staying in one location.