The Smokey Mountain National Park

We decided on Saturday that we would do some of the auto tour of the park. We were going to go back into Gatlinburg for breakfast, but the traffic was crazy. We ended up stoping at a little pancake place with a waterfall outside. It was great and the kids were easily entertained.

Then, we headed to the park. We decided to do the tour that went to the highest peak. It was actually the shortest drive (only an hour or so). The other one was a 4 hour drive, and with driving back to Nashville later on that afternoon, we decided to keep to the shortest one.

We made it to the top where we got out to have our pictures made. The view was beautiful and there was snow on the ground and the trees were covered in snow. I was so excited that the kids got to see and touch some snow! The wind was so cold that I took the keys and went back to the car with Maggie while Shane took the boys to have a look around.

We got back in the car and I buckled Maggie in. Then, Shane and the boys came back. Shane was trying to get in the car, but the doors were locked. So, I jumped out, unlocked the car, and shut my door. BUT actually I must have hit "lock" instead of "unlock". So, poor Maggie, was locked in the car along with our keys.

It was so cold. Noah's ears even turned red!!! Some really nice people let us use their phone to call the ranger (our phone was in the car). They waited with us too until the ranger came, and they even offered us their car to sit in to keep warm! The ranger came and they were able to get the car unlocked within 30 minutes or so. Maggie was fine. She was pretty annoyed with us, and I'm sure she kept wondering why we were standing outside the car looking at her.

What an experience!