Tennessee Day 3

So day 3 was our first full day in the mountains. We decided to use this day to go ahead out to Cade's Cove. Lindsay has been asking about riding horses for years! I think the last time we went she was too young. Anyway there was a slight chance of rain, but we decided to go ahead and risk it. It was about an hour's drive from our cabin to Cade's Cove. So I think we got there around 10:30 or so. We went right to the riding stables and got signed up and pretty much jumped on a tour right away. I must admit I was a little nervous. I don't think I have been on a horse since I was a young child! I ended up loving it though! Colby was also nervous, but he loved it as well. We went on about an hour ride through the woods. We saw a bear, a deer, and a coyote! Anyway watching Lindsay she was a complete natural on a horse. I was so glad we could make this dream come true for her! It was about an hour ride. Once we got back to the stables it started to rain! It was perfect timing. We hopped in the car so we could continue our tour of Cade's Cove. There was terrible traffic so it was really slow going. We got out at the first Baptist church and then decided to eat our lunch in the car. We skipped several cabins b/c of the rain. We did hike out to one. There was a lot of bear out! I think we saw 6 total. We really didn't get out the car as much as I would have liked, but between the rain, traffic, and the hour horse ride, we were all kind of tired. We did enjoy the few stops we made though. On the drive back to the cabin we stopped at a place so the kids could get out and wade in the creek. They loved this! They found some river rocks to bring home as souvenirs. Since we spent most of our day outside and we were all pretty spent when we finally got back to the cabin...which was near 5 or so. We decided to order pizza and have a night in. It was nice to chill out and just hang out. We also watched church. Colby also did YouTube and Zoom with the youth. While he did that I read my book and Lindsay and Austin got in the hot tub again. The evenings were about the same every night...the kids would shower and then crawl in bed and watch tv and Austin and I would watch tv downstairs. It was nice and peaceful! It felt good resting up for another busy day ahead!