We’ve made it to Gatlinburg, TN yesterday around 3pm and started unloading our massive amounts of food and stuff for the week. The cabin looks awesome and works pretty well, too, except the temperature control. We just can’t seem to get it to not be freezing downstairs for fear that the 3rd floor will be too hot if we do that.

We’ve got a porch with a grill, porch with a hot tub, full kitchen, pool table, and a 10′ screened home theater with 6 super captain’s chairs for watching movies in full THX rumble mode. I heard felt “Pirates of the Caribbean” last night while I was on the couch upstairs geeking, so I know it’s a good system.

We were going to go hiking after lunch, but it started raining while we were eating, so now it’s way too humid and probably a tad muddy, so everyone spread out to play, geek, and sleep for a while. You can tell what I’m doing. 😉

We love to go on road trips! Even when we were dating, we’d go to Sarasota or Orlando or Daytona Beach for the day. It was no problem for Kristin to put in for a day or two off at Publix (without pay) and we’d just take off because I had lots of time for personal/vacation at my job.

Now, she only gets one week per year, so our time off has been pretty reduced for a while, and we still haven’t been anywhere alone other than just for the weekend for our honeymoon and our one year anniversary. Last year, we spent 10 days in Ohio with my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles for my grandparents’ 60th anniversary celebration. Maybe next year we’ll do something alone because this year is…

One week in the mountains of Tennessee with Kristin’s family, including her mom’s mom from Canada. It’s a combination graduation trip for me (college graduation tradition for her family) and a “last chance” family trip with her sister, who will be staying in California for summers from now on while finishing grad school. We’ve got a big cabin so  there’s no sharing of rooms and losing sleep – should be a relaxing time. I’m going to do my best to have all my work done and paid for before we go so I can unplug, but we’ll have wi-fi just in case.

Here’s my Top 5 list of things to do on vacation:

• Sleep – I don’t get enough of it any other time.
• Read – I don’t have time at home.
• Nothing – I love doing nothing, too.
• Eat – Well, starving isn’t an option, is it?
• Sites, museums, attractions – Got to fit them in, but not be consumed by them.

What do you like to do on vacation?