The Great Smokies with my friends

This blog has been co-authored by father & daughter (Srini & Pavitra), so it projects 2 perspectives (one during the planning phase & second for the trip).

7 families (close friends from the same community): 8 couples: 11 kids from toddler to teens: 2 15-seater vans: Off we go to The Great Smokies: Nov 2019

The Planning day: 

Great plans are always made in a jiffy. one fine Saturday, me & my wife (Poorna) were having our coffee sitting in our balcony which was the starting place of all big trip dreams. This time it started with Las Vegas then drifted to SFO & then finally pinned to the Smokies; thanks to one of the families in our group who had already made their bookings to go there.

Around 9.30 am, we called up 2 of our closest friends to come over to our place to finish the trip planning; this happens with the confidence that others who have not been involved in the planning exercise will just jump in to agree.

Around lunch time we had already finalized the places to see, Shan & Poorna were very good at articulating the detailed plan for all our trips. Abhishek, our deal master, who is unbeatable at looking up the best deals; be it flights, hotels or houses on Airbnb; got us the flight tickets @ a whopping $100 per person for to & fro. (Austin-Atlanta-Austin). The day ended with booking flight tickets (Spirit Airlines) for all the families including those who were not in for planning & booking two 15-seater vans for travelling from Atlanta to Gatlinburg & back.

Planning extended: 

Then comes the booking for house to accommodate this group of 27, all of us did our bit to search for the best houses in Gatlinburg & finally booked the house (Name of the house). Since we were to reach Atlanta around 9.30 pm, we decided to take a hotel en route (Hotel @ Duluth) to Gatlinburg so that we could skip the traffic next morning to our destination. For our return journey we booked our hotel near airport since our return flight was early morning. We had a patron for inspirock in our group who used to diligently add the complete trip plan to inspirock even though he himself wouldn't refer it once added in inspirock :)The detailed day wise plan was chalked out including what to eat & where to eat. Only thing now left was...that's right.... implementation!!

Oct 30th: 

Since our flight was around 6 pm from Austin, we had to leave Katy at least by 2 pm to reach airport on time which meant all the families had to pick their kids up from school. Kids were picked up early from school, although it was an epic embarrassment when our creative reasons didn't fly through for early dismissal. 

We drove to Austin & parked at the airport, flew to Atlanta & took our rental vans. It was raining like crazy on our way from Atlanta to hotel, we finally reached our hotel around 11.30 pm. This hotel was not so great but was fine for a few hours of sleep. 

Oct 31st: We grabbed our breakfast at the hotel & started our journey to Gatlinburg, a 6 hours’ drive. We took a stop at Walmart to grab some essentials for our stay. Then after 2.5-3 hours of drive we stopped for lunch.

This was our last trip before we left the country for good, so this journey was very important to me. These last few days to spend time with my extended family and my best friend was something I held dear to my heart, which is why I was so excited. Our flight was scheduled to depart for Atlanta in the evening, and the plan was to pick me, Garima, our siblings, and all the other kids whose families were travelling with us up from school, so that we could enjoy a nice lunch, do some final packing and still have enough time to drive to our airport at Austin.

     When I woke up that day, I just couldn’t control my excitement. Garima and I both were the types of people whose world revolved around travelling and exploring new places. I walked into school knowing it was going to be my last day at McMeans Junior High. I said goodbye to all my favorite teachers and even the ones that were not-so-favorite. we were supposed to be picked up before lunch and when it was around time, my mom texted me that they were going to pick us up a little later. I pleaded to my mom to pick us up quickly because I couldn’t stand knowing that we were going to the Smokies and I was rotting at school. I kept on texting her until she told me that they had left to pick us up. I breathed a sigh of relief and texted Garima. Skipping school for a trip was not allowed at my school, and the absence was marked as unexcused, so our parents had to come up with creative reasons to avoid the cons of an unexcused absence. Right after my mom and Shan uncle (Garima’s dad) got us out saying that we had to go to a religious function at Austin, my social studies teacher came out and literally shouted " Have a great trip at Smokies!!"  This was a total bummer because the administrator heard it and Garima probably had to face the consequences once she came back.

       Next, we picked up all the little kids from Exley Elementary (including our siblings), and we all went home to eat lunch and finish up packing. We reached the airport and soon boarded the flight. I got goosebumps even just thinking about the fact that we were on our way to THE SMOKIES!!!!! Soon enough, we reached the Atlanta airport. We all waited patiently till the dads got our rental cars from the parking lot. We had to drive all the way to Smokies which was in Tennessee, and we couldn’t cover that distance before nightfall since it was already pretty late, so we decided to take a stop at a hotel en route. We rested and left for The Smokies. On the way, we stopped at a local Georgia State Park. We walked through bright red and yellow colored trees giving way to an open natural balcony which overlooked a beautiful stream.  

     

After sightseeing around a bit, we started driving and only stopped again for lunch. Every time we went on a trip, we tried to look for places out in the open where lunch would be most enjoyed in the midst of nature. We found a place exactly like that where there was a bench with room for about 10 people. It was covered by a roof, and on one side of the spot, there were luscious trees colored in bright fall colors. If we were to descend a bit further, we would arrive at a creek. The resonance of the flowing water was indeed very calming, and it was surprising we could even hear the water considering there was a road with cars just on the other side.

 It was Halloween, so we could see the local shops decorating for the festival. Even though the weather was chilly, rainy, and sort of dull, I felt relaxed. After lunch, we took a lot of pictures by the Creekside, then left for our next hotel, which was actually in the format of a bungalow. We reached late at night, and all of us were tired, but as soon as we entered the house, all the kids’ energy seemed to revive. We all were kids who got excited at every little thing, but the house was truly magnificent. There was a basement, a floor at ground level, and a loft, in which people could still sleep. All the kids ran up and we all decided right that instant that the kids would be sleeping in the loft. We later checked out all the rooms, and the parents decided their sleeping arrangements while us kids decided ours. After dinner, we made use of the limited supply of make-up that we had and tried to paint our faces into something creepy for the sake of a Halloween party. We took pictures in our “scary” attire and had a lot of fun.

           It was a brand-new day, and we only had a rough idea of how we were going to spend the day. Before leaving for the trip, we had bought customized shirts for our whole group which had the word “F.R.I.E.N.D.S.” printed on it.

We all got ready, and took a lot of pictures in our matching t-shirts. First, we just decided to enjoy a drive in the magnificent fall of the Smokies. While driving, we came upon a clearing close to the road surrounded by trees covered with fluffy, gorgeous snow. We stopped for a while and enjoyed the scenery while taking pictures. Shortly after, we reached the city of Gatlinburg. After inquiring a little, we heard Ober Gatlinburg, a skiing company, was worth trying out. We found out they offered a lot more activities, and decided to take the Aerial Tramway, which was a tram suspended by cords, which took people to the top of the mountain. We bought the tickets and waited in line to board the tram. Once we were all boarded, the tram took off in the air. It was scary knowing that the tram was only hanging from an extremely long cord stretched from the city to the mountain, but I forgot all about that fear when I looked at the vast expanse of the fall trees below me. There were mountains with red and yellow trees covering nearly every inch of it! It was the most beautiful view I’d ever seen. We reached the top of the mountain, where there was a carnival going on. There was music, stalls, and it was freezing. We roamed around a bit, then took a chairlift, a bench designed for two people, to the peak of the mountain. The chairlift was open, which was nice, because the tram wasn’t, so we would be able to see the view clearly. I decided to ride with Garima, and everybody else decided their partners as well.

My dad boarded the chair ahead of us with Garima’s dad, and we waited for the next chair, as we saw them rise into the air. We sat down, and the chair took off. As we ascended, the view of the glamorous trees blessed our eyes. It was freezingly cold, the sun was shining, and the trees were glimmering as if telling us to enjoy every moment of life. To this day, it was the most wonderful feeling of the world that I will never forget. We reached the extreme top of the mountain, and we were greeted by a band that was playing calm and soft music, which added even more to the memory. We took pictures with the landscape, and it was extremely cold, since we were even higher, so the kids started begging to go back down. We soon left, and spent a little more time at the carnival. When it was nearly dusk, we took the tram, and returned to the city. It was already dark when we returned, and I could see the dazzling lights of Gatlinburg in the distance. We roamed the streets and had a lot of fun. It was cold, and all the kids were hungry, so the adults split into two groups. One stayed back at the wine tasting shop, and the other group took us kids to get food. We reached a Pizza Hut, but the waitress said we weren’t allowed to eat inside the restaurant. We grabbed our pizza and we found a table right outside. We set our pizza down, and we ate the piping hot pizza while shivering in the cold of the city. It was by far the best pizza I had ever eaten in my life!  We roamed a bit more and went back to enjoy our last night at our house. On the last day, we left for the Clingman’s Dome. On the way, we came to a glimmering, clear-as-glass stream. Bright yellow leaves hung over the stream. We stopped for a while and took a whole lot of photos. As soon as I got out of the car at the base of the Clingmans Dome, I was greeted by the chilliest winds. It was already cold, but the winds made it even worse. We were at the base, so we had to walk uphill a bit to actually get to the dome. As we kept ascending, the trees around us increased, decreasing the numbing cold. The dome was a sort of structure in which you had to climb some stairs to reach a circular gallery so high, you could see almost all of the mountains in Smokies. It was truly breath-taking. This was our last destination, after which, we had to start our drive back to Atlanta. We reached late at night, and stayed at an airport hotel. It was finally time to go back home. We reached safely, and drove back to Houston from the airport. I had to leave for India just the next day, so we finished up our packing, and rested. While in my bed, I thought about all the good memories I got to share with Garima, my family, and my friends. Even though it was a huge change, I was extremely happy that I’d at least gotten a chance to enjoy the best 2 years of my life. The next morning, we cried, we laughed, and we said goodbye.      

x