Kid Free Vacation - Gatlinburg 2014

One of my goals that I wanted to accomplish before turning 30 was to take a trip with just Jennifer and myself. I felt like this would be good for us as a couple to get away and enjoy some time with out worrying if we had enough bottles or diapers. For any parents of young children you can understand how difficult it is to actually enjoy getting out and doing things without at least one child having a meltdown. I started having ideas about overnight trips that we could take within a couple hours driving distance. Since the children had been born we had never both been more than a few miles away from where they were. I had a couple ideas in mind - either Gatlinburg, Nashville or Cincinnati. I had thought about making this a total surprise, but since I was unsure what to pack for Jennifer I finally decided to tell her. After talking with my parents (who were going to be our babysitters) I decided that Gatlinburg proved to be the best option. We also decided that instead of just a one night stay we would spend a week in the mountains. Jennifer and I would go down first and then a few days later they would join us. We did a lot of planning and decided that there were a few things that we definitely wanted to try and do on this trip. Jennifer really wanted to do some hiking in the mountains and I had always wanted to go rafting.

This was a picture with the kids before leaving on our kid free getaway. 

Our first adventure of the week was hiking. I was surprised at how much fun this really was. Being out in nature was so peaceful and we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a cool overcast day and perfect weather to hike a mountain.

 A distant view of Rainbow Falls. 

We made it! So nice to finally see Rainbow Falls. It was a 2.7 mile hike up too see this waterfall and it was worth every step. It was a pretty rough terrain, but we both did really well. The worst part was that after making the trek, you had to turn around and head back the same 2.7 miles that you just walked to get back to your car. So we stayed a while to take it all in.

Up close view of the Rainbow Falls. There were signs that said to not go off the path, but so many other people were heading up to get a closer look so we did too.

I was a little more adventurous than Jennifer liked. She kept telling me to come back, but I wanted to see how close I could get to the actual waterfall.

We brought along our remote for our camera because we didn't know if there would be many people out on the trails to take pictures of the 2 of us. 

Grotto Falls was the next hike that we took. This was a much easier hike and only about a mile long trail. Since it was an easier trail there were a lot more people that we met on the hike.

Jennifer and I with Grotto Falls

Picture with us standing underneath the falls.

Again I had to go off the beaten path. Jennifer was a nervous wreck that I was going to fall and not be able to make it back to the car.

Thank goodness for FaceTime! We were able to give the kids a call and see them before it was time for bed. Apparently when the parents are away the grandparents decide to do all kinds of stuff. They went to Chuck E Cheese and had a good time together.

The next day we got up really early and headed out on our next adventure. White water rafting was something that I have always wanted to do and Jennifer said she was up for it. However, right before it was time to leave on the boats Jennifer informed me that she was really scared that she was going to fall out. This statement made me go into protector mode. I was a nervous wreck for the whole trip because I was constantly looking to my left to make sure that Jennifer was beside me. Apparently this made me seem like a very unhappy person. The guide kept giving me a hard time and saying that his goal was to see me crack a smile. I had a great time on the adventure and we actually helped pick up a person that fell out of another boat. 

Another little side trip that we had not really planned was a little trip to a ranch to ride some horses. We rode a couple of miles on a couple of trail horses. Jennifer was not really a fan of her horse. It kept running down hills and then not listening to her different pulls on the reins.

We had a private trail ride. Too bad that Jennifer couldn't join me on the date. This was actually my first time ever riding a horse.

Our guide took this picture of us and added this little clip art to it and then texted it to us. Although it was just a trail ride I still really enjoyed it while remaining terrified all at the same time. I was completely scared that I was going to fall off. I really don't like having an animal with a brain of its own being in complete control.

Really beautiful view as we were driving around. It is truly amazing seeing all that God has made.

I surprised Jennifer with an anniversary dinner to Ruth's Chris. We had to make about an hour drive back to Knoxville, but it was worth it to have an amazing dinner with the love of my life.

I was so glad that we were able to celebrate our 7th anniversary with our first kid free vacation. It was a really exciting couple of days. We enjoyed our first hiking, white water rafting, horse back riding, and go karts. The past 7 years have brought us so many adventures and I can't wait to see what adventures we get into next. Jennifer has brought so much joy in my life and I am so thankful that God placed her in my life. She makes me a better person and I can't imagine my life without her. Thanks for reading and God bless!