A day with Andy and Nikki

 We spent one day with Andy and Nikki.  They live only 4 hours away and enjoy staying in the area, so they had some good tips on places to go.

We started the day with breakfast at a place that known for their giant cinnamon rolls.

Here it is - about the size of a plate!  We split it into 4 and still didn't eat the whole thing!

We went to the historic district of Pigeon Forge and visited the old mill.  It's still working and they sell the grain the grind here.

Aren't these old windows cool?

We watched them forging knives here.

Then we went on to something Nikki had planned.  She found someone who offered flights in a 1927 Waco biplane over Pigeon Forge.  Bob and Andy have shared a love of aviation and historic planes all of Andy's life, and he now works on Apache helicopters at Fort Campbell. This was a flight of a lifetime for them both.

Bob and Andy ready for their flights.

Bob, looking excited before his flight.

Ready to take off

There he goes!

Andy ready for his flight.

While we were waiting, this huge helicopter landed.  It's a fire fighting helicopter.  You can see the hose laying out it front of it.  It's able to get water out of a lake or river and then spray it over a fire.  There were some forest fires they were fighting in the park.  It was very interesting to see.

After the flight, Andy drove us to see more sights in the park.

An old barn

This is a spot that was burned in the big fires that happened in 2016.

Isn't this a beautiful spot?  I think I could live in one of these old cabins!  However, I don't think they'll be standing for too long.

Andy and Nikki

Another old cabin.

When we got back to the cabin, we grilled hot dogs for supper.

Then the girls talked Grandpa into going into the hot tub with them.  Somehow the temp had gotten turned down and it was a chilly tub!  But they had fun anyway!

Ruby

Alaina.

The end of another fun day!