Where is Dolly Parton's house at Dollywood?

That was one of the questions Emmie asked me about our visit to Dollywood. She also asked why only Dolly Parton sings on the speakers? and why Dolly Parton named her theme park Dollywood. I had no answers to give her. I attempted to explain the one about music but apparently, it wasn't coming out right because Emmie seemed to think Dolly Parton should share the microphone and let some one else sing too. Emmie now thinks Dolly Parton doesn't share like she should. LOL

Well, our trip was great. Emmie thought it took too long to drive through the mountains. Of course, half the driving time was in the mountains because, well...Pigeon Forge is in the Great Smokey Mountains.

We left home about 8:15am and got to Pigeon Forge at 12:15. We stopped once for gas, potty break, lottery ticket and snack. Emmie's new favorite snack is BBQ flavor sun flower seeds. We had lunch before going to the camp ground. We got there at 1:00pm and signed in. I went to see our "designated site and it was the worse site they had. I guess if it was winter and you needed the sun to beat down on the tent for warmth it would have been a great site. However since the temps were going to be in the mid 90's I thought a more shady was in order. We went back up to the office and asked if we could move to a more shady site and had one in mind. As it turned out, we were allowed to move to the one I wanted which was ALL shade. I even had shade to park the car.

Our site backed up to a shallow creek which made me wish I hadn't taken Emmie's fishing pole out of the trunk. She could have had a lot of fun "fishing" in that creek. One of the guys in the site next to us had a fishing pole which he had pulled out and caught a few "baby fish". As it turned out every evening and morning we were greeted by a flock of ducks. The first night and Sunday morning we fed the ducks all the hot dog buns that were supposed to be for our dinner Sunday night. I think in total at one point I counted more than 30 ducks. There were full grown ducks, teen age ducks and wee little baby ducks. Fortunately, there was a grocery store right up the street and we were able to stock up some duck food... I mean hot dog buns for our hot dogs.

By the time I got the tent set up and we uploaded the car, it was about 2:00pm. Emmie and I took a stroll through the grounds looking at all of the ammenities. They had two swimming pools one of which included a 1 ft deep baby pool which worked out great. She was ready to blow off Dollywood and just hang out in the pool. I was able to convince her to go to Dollywood by promising to go swimming after we went to Dollywood.

I wasn't sure what time it was when we got off the tram at the gate of Dollywood but when we arrived it was 3:03pm. Perfect timing. After 3:00pm and you get the next day free. So it could not have worked out better.

We went in and hit most of the rides she could ride. She loved the Flying Elephants but her most favorite was the wild rapids. The big round ride that seats six people and goes through a river where you get splashed, sprayed and completely soaked. I wasn't sure how she would take it but it was by far her most favorite. As a matter of fact on Sunday we went on it first thing when we got there and it was the last thing she wanted to ride before we left. She rode the Farris Wheel but wasn't impressed because it wasn't fast. She loved the Veggie Tales Roller Coaster. We went on that thing three times the first day and four times the second. Most of the "baby rides" that didn't require me riding with her were not her cup of tea. She rode them but did so without enthusiasm.

As for the non-ride things to do, Emmie loved the Beaver Creek. I think the pictures say it all. It was hot and she was able to cool down between white water rafting rides by going for a "swim".

Since the camp grounds didn't have a bath tub, we used the pool as Emmie's bath tub. Both nights after returning to the camp ground we jumped in the pool. Emmie started off in the "baby pool" and when she was feeling brave would climb down the steps into the big pool. She used a floaty and had a blast. She learned she can stand on tippy toes and touch the bottom of the pool without holding on the sides. She also learned to hang on to the side of the pool and kick with her feet. I took a friends advice and bought her a pair of googles which did wonders with getting her to put her face in the water. She did get a few nose fulls of water though but each time she would cough it out and say "I'm ok." more to convince herself than me I think. She even held my hands and let me pull her on the float ring around the pool. By the end of the second night she was jumping off the side of the deep pool for me to catch her. However, I did not let her get her face splashed too much. I think it would have all been over if I had let her go under and she would never trust me to catch her again.

The only negative thing about the entire trip was sleeping in the tent the first night. I was having trouble falling asleep. Emmie was asleep at 10:00pm. I kept waking up for one thing or another. I finally fell asleep sometime after 12:45am. About 3:00am I woke up to some dog barking it's head off. Apparently, it woke one of the guys in the tent next to ours up too. Then at 5:55am (yes, I checked the time) some of the people in the RV on the other side of us had gotten up and were talking as if every one should be up because they were up. I heard 4 different voices before they started up the Harley motercycle at 6:08am. It was so loud, it even woke Emmie up. It might as well have been in the tent with us. Sort of freaked Emmie out a bit. Neither of us went back to sleep at that point. She did insist we lay in bed until the sun woke up. For that I am grateful. Sunday night was uneventful though.

We had a great time in Pigeon Forge and Emmie now wants to go camping every weekend. I guess we will get good use of the camping gear I bought. I was worried a bit as the weather channel predicted rain, and thunder storms both Saturday and Sunday. Early last week it was 30% chance on Saturday and 40% chance on Sunday. Friday afternoon it was 40% both days. As you can see from the photos we had mostly sunny skies both days. I would like to plan a week vacation up there next spring. She would love it and there is so much to do. We have not even begun to explore the Smokies and we didn't go to Gatlinburg at all. More fun for next spring I guess.