Thursday morning began with a little more sight seeing around Gatlinburg. Of course there always has to be a picture with a huge black bear carved with a chain saw!
And of course the huge chair. Mallory always gets a kick out of the fact that my feet don't touch the ground or even come close!
There was a museum of salt and pepper shakers that we had to go in. I don't remember how many sets of salt and pepper shakers they had on display but it had to be in the well into the thousands. It really was amazing. They also had some for sale as you came out of the museum and I bought a couple sets and so did Mallory and Lynda Ann. Seriously, how could you not buy some?!
And then to top it off they had the United States in Salt and Pepper Shakers. Oh my gosh!!!
After we left the museum we headed for Sevierville where they had a petting zoo. All three of us were excited and looking forward to petting and feeding some zebras, ostrich, goats, reindeer, llamas, camels, etc. As we entered the zoo area there was a huge goose right in the middle of the driveway. We had to go around him.
Annie feeding the deer.
Mallory feeding the deer from the outside of the fence. You could go in with them but they would get very aggressive wanting the food you had in the cup. They weren't mean just very pushy.
Mallory feeding the zebra mule.
All of the animals were very tame and very friendly.
This little tiny baby goat was premature and only weighed 1 pound. But seems to be surviving and gaining weight.
This is when I found out that deer and I don't do well together. I am so allergic to them but didn't know it until I got out of the pen. And then it was too late!!
You can see that they just literally swarm you when you are in the pen with them.
I was having a great time until I notice that my hands were starting to itch really bad.
My eyes started to swell and the hives started on my hands, arms and legs. I could barely see out of my eyes. It was horrible. Annie got me on Benadryl immediately. It took almost the whole rest of the trip for the swelling in my face to go down. I lived on Benadryl and allergy tablets for the next two days.
But even with that mishap, we had a fabulous time and mostly enjoyed the petting zoo. At least now I know that Bambi and I cannot be close friends!
After the zoo, we headed to Franklin where we checked into our hotel for a short time to relax before going sight seeing.
We had dinner at a fun little place in Franklin and then wandered up and down the Main Street. It was closing time so there weren't many places open but we had fun just browsing. One of the places we found that looked very interesting was the Tin Cottage. We for sure put that on our list to visit the next day. If you look close you can see that my face is still all puffy and swollen.
We then went over to see the Franklin Temple where Mallory spent a lot of her time on her mission. She loves this temple. It's small but beautiful.
Friday morning we toured more of Franklin and bought lots of souvenirs.
I can see why Mallory loved Tennessee and everything about it. She especially loved the people. The one thing we all noticed was the completely different mission Mallory had compared to the area that Abby served in. Franklin is very wealthy and everything pristine. Los Angeles on the other hand is the opposite of rich and not nearly as clean. But I would guess that maybe the Latino people and area where Abby served were very humble for what they had and that they were in America.
Friday evening found us in a horrific rain storm. We had to sit in the care for a little while because you couldn't even see the street to drive. The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was blowing the rain sideways.
We also had a chance to have dinner with Jeffrey's sister, Shannon, and her husband. They wanted to eat at Jefferson's. The food was delicious and it was fun for me to get acquainted with Shannon and hear about her being adopted. Like Annie, she has quite a story of finding her biological family. Didn't turn out much better than Lynda Ann's experience.
We also visited the Tennessee Nashville Mission offices.
By the end of the day we were ready for a good nights sleep. Saturday morning was a planned meeting with a sweet elderly sister that Mallory help convert to the gospel and has continued to keep in contact with her since she has been home from her mission. Now there is also a story to this that connects Neal to the family as well. I'll do my best to accurately put the genealogy together. Inga is the sister that Mallory got so close to on her mission. Inga's son married a girl from Utah named Katie. Katie's father is Doug Miner. Doug and Neal were friends from grade school on and Doug is part of the study group that was formed in high school. Doug used to live in Salt Lake and has since moved to Tennessee where he lives with Katie, her husband and Inga in Inga's home. Mallory and Neal didn't connect the two until a few years after Mallory returned from her mission. I'm not sure how that conversation went or how it all came together but somehow Mallory and Neal put two and two together and realized that Doug lived with Inga. Crazy! What a coincidence!!!
Me, Katie and Doug Miner.
Mallory and Inga. She is from Germany and was there during the war. Has some stories that she says she will never share. Too ugly.
Gary, Katie's husband, Mallory, Inga, me and Lynda Ann
We had such a wonderful visit with them and it was so fun to get to meet Inga. Mallory loves her so much.
After our visit, we headed to the airport, turned in the rental car and waited to board our plane for home. What an amazing and fun filled trip. Lynda Ann is such a great trip planner. I think we experienced and saw everything we could have possibly fit in while we were there. Tennessee is a beautiful place and such a fun area to see and experience. Thanks to Mallory for serving her mission there and to Annie for planning this amazing graduation trip and to both of them for inviting me along!!
Yup. Drove to the airport in the rain.
I had to put this in because I just loved how they slaughtered my name. That is why I usually say Susan because they can't mess that name up!
As Mallory said, "I left my heart in Tennessee!"
