Rabon Family visit

We were excited to welcome our daughter Donna, her husband Jon, and children Jessica and Chris to Pigeon Forge. They stayed at a two bedroom park model at the same campground as us so it was very convenient. We spent one day together at Dollywood.

Chris, Donna, Jessica, Jon

They decided ahead of time which attractions and rides they wanted to do, and we made our way around the park. Of course we rode River Battle where I work. Dan passed on the ride and took the pictures. Jessica, Chris and Jon were on one side.

Donna and I were on the other side with two other people.

Fortunately it was early in the day and we didn't get too soaked. The longest wait we had was on Fire Chaser, the new ride that just opened this year. It's advertised as "Zero to Hero in 1.1 Seconds."

We enjoyed learning about all the birds at the "Wings of America" show.

We managed to ride all the water attractions in the park. In addition to the Mountain Slidewinder and Daredevil Falls where Dan works, we rode the River Rampage where I did get totally drenched. The boat cruised down the river splashing  us all.

At the end of the ride while we were waiting to get off, I ended up under a waterfall! Yikes!!!!

Throughout the day we enjoyed other rides,(Lumberjack Lift, Thunderhead, Blazing Fury, Lemon Twist, Scrambler), shows, and foods, and ended the night watching Dollywood's Fireworks.

The next day we ventured off to The Forbidden Caverns, "The Greatest Attraction Under the Smokies."

The guide took us through the caves describing what we saw and telling us about the history of them. Surprisingly Tennessee has the most caves in the US. There are too many pictures to share, but here are a few.

The stalagmites and stalactites grow about one inch in 100 years!

People used one underground pond as a wishing well.

There was a clear stream flowing through one area.

At another location we marveled at the remains of a still used during prohibition.

We were amazed at all the beauty under the ground. Special lighting effects added to the experience.

We were not allowed to touch anything as we went along, but at the end they had some rocks that we could touch.

We were impressed by the uniqueness of the formations that we were able to see on the tour.

In contrast to the caverns we spent the evening at the Dixie Stampede dinner attraction, "The Smokies Most Fun Place to Eat!"

The food was delicious and plentiful and the show was entertaining. We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, but we could take one before it started.

The competition between the north and south continued throughout the evening. We witnessed horseback riding at its finest along with music and a comedian who had us laughing a lot. We were sitting on and cheering for the north side but somehow the south won.

Since we had to work on Saturday the kids spent the day at Dollywood's Splash Country, a large waterpark.  After a breakfast together on Sunday they headed back to Myrtle Beach. The time went by much too quickly......