Embedded Files
A Week With My People
Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg • July 2026
By the middle of July, I had been living in Tennessee for a few months, and I was still missing home and my family more than I knew how to explain sometimes. So getting to spend an entire week in the Smokies with my family was something I really needed.
We stayed around Pigeon Forge and packed a whole lot into that week — Dollywood, Gatlinburg, shopping, walking around, eating, exploring and just being together.
I took an absolutely ridiculous number of pictures, which shouldn't surprise anybody who knows me. Most of the pictures I'm keeping here aren't actually of us, though. They're the things I noticed while we were there — old cars, flowers, little shops, waterfalls, mountains, random old things that caught my attention and apparently needed their own photo shoot.
But behind all of these pictures is something they don't necessarily show:
I had my family around me again.
And at this point in my life, that meant more than any place we could've gone.
A Day at Dollywood
Apparently I will take a picture of anything old, rusty, pretty, or slightly unusual.
Of course, we spent a day at Dollywood, and somehow my camera roll ended up looking less like I'd been to an amusement park and more like I'd wandered through an antique store with a camera.
I loved all the little details everywhere. The old cars, the fire truck, flowers, windmills, old buildings, signs, airplanes and all the random pieces of history tucked in between everything else. Half the fun for me was just walking around and noticing things.
Everybody else could've been looking at the rides and I was probably somewhere taking a picture of an old truck or a flower.
Wandering Around Pigeon Forge
Shopping, waterfalls and whatever else caught my attention.
The rest of the week wasn't all about having somewhere specific to be. There was plenty of just walking around, shopping and seeing what we could find.
And apparently I can turn shopping into exploring too, because I was just as interested in what was around the stores as I was in what was inside them. I found this really pretty waterfall tucked behind some of the shops, wandered through stores looking at all kinds of random things, and took pictures of anything that caught my attention.
That's something I was starting to realize I really enjoyed — I didn't necessarily need some huge attraction or a perfectly planned day. Give me somewhere I've never been and enough time to wander around, and I'll find something interesting.
A Little Wandering of My Own
Gatlinburg • A few things to find and plenty of time to wander.
At some point during the week, I went over to Gatlinburg by myself and spent some time walking around. I did have a couple of things on my list — I wanted to find souvenirs for the kids and get some caramel corn to bring back — but other than that, I didn't really have a plan.
I walked through downtown, wandered down little side streets and back alleyways, went into shops, and stopped whenever something caught my attention. I found this really cool old photo booth tucked back with some of the little shops, and of course I had to take a picture of it.
Looking back, I think this was one of the earlier times I started realizing how much I liked exploring this way. There wasn't anybody telling me where we needed to go next or how long we needed to stay somewhere. If I wanted to turn down some little alley because I saw something interesting, I could.
I was still missing home and my kids terribly during this time, so even on a little afternoon I took for myself, part of what I was doing was looking for things to bring back to them.
But I was also starting to figure out that being by myself didn't always have to mean sitting somewhere feeling lonely.
Sometimes I could just wander.
Chasing the Sunrise
Kuwohi • Great Smoky Mountains National Park
One of the last mornings of the trip, my brother and I got up ridiculously early and left Gatlinburg while it was still dark. We had about an hour drive ahead of us because we wanted to make it to the top of Kuwohi before the sun came up.
Then we still had to walk up to the observation tower.
It was early, it was dark, and that walk up was no joke, but when we finally got there, it was worth every bit of it.
We were standing above the clouds.
The mountains stretched out underneath us in layers, the sky slowly started changing colors, and then the sun began coming up over everything. I'd seen plenty of beautiful sunrises before, but I'd never watched one quite like this.
And getting to experience it with my brother made it even better.
Looking out over those mountains that morning, I remember thinking how unbelievably beautiful it was.
This whole week had given me something I'd been missing badly. I had been surrounded by family again. I'd laughed, explored, wandered around on my own, spent time with people I loved, and for a little while I didn't feel quite so far away from the life I'd left behind.
I knew the trip would end and everybody would go back to their own lives. I knew I'd be going back to mine in Tennessee too, and at that point, that still wasn't always easy for me.
But that morning I wasn't thinking about any of that.
I was standing on top of a mountain with my brother, watching the sun come up above the clouds.
And for that moment, that was enough.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse