For one of our summer activities, we decided to take the kids to see Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We have had this on our list of things to do but planning a vacation can be so overwhelming. When you have kids, especially one with Autism, it’s imperative to be as prepared as possible before going anywhere! I got started and here are the steps I took that made a huge difference for us. I researched, created a Guide, checked the weather, packed and then packed for the kids!
1. Research the location. I used Facebook to do most of my research by searching “Gatlingburg, Tennessee” to see what other people experienced. I used their raves to make a list of things to do, places to go and to eat when we were there.
As usual, there were a lot of things to do, and some color-coded index cards kept me organized. Green was for the places of interest in Pigeon Forge, blue for Gatlinburg, and orange and purple for the restaurants depending on which city they were in. Last, pink was for the scenic areas that I wanted to visit.
On the back of each card was some information about the place that was important to know. Each was labeled either “PF” for Pigeon Forge or “G” for Gatlinburg. For most places, the hours of operation were important in case we needed to be there first thing when they opened, or if they opened late and we couldn’t get there early. The distance from the hotel, or another place, was important to note for planning the order of things we did. I also found it helpful to include prices for activities so I wouldn’t have to look them back up later.
Some places had multiple things to check out, like the Gatlinburg Skylift which had the Tulip Tower, the SkyBridge and the SkyTrail. Or there were other things to know, like the distance to a waterfall which made a couple of them doable for our kiddos as they were less than 1 mile to get to. Estimated times to complete an activity was noted as it played a big role as to when activities could be fit in. One of the drives we had in mind could take 2-4 hours to complete, and when paired with a waterfall and a swimming stop, that was a whole half a days worth of fun!
2. Create a Guide. One important step in preparation for our trip, was creating a “GUIDE” in the Maps app on my phone. I did not even know that was a thing! As I was researching places on the computer, I was checking my apps map to see the location, hours, it’s relation to other places on my list, etc. Restaurants usually list the type of restaurant, pictures, a few reviews, and an estimate of cost, $$$. I saw the “Guide” button and after checking it out, I realized it was perfect! It’s basically a group or list of places.
A Guide is created by clicking the “Guides” button under the pictures of the place being viewed, and then selecting the “Guide” to add to, or the “+” to create a new Guide.
View the guide by pulling the handle in the map up, to see the “My Guides” section. Every place I added to my Guide was marked on the map. This was super helpful when we had to change plans on the fly and needed to see what was nearby or find a place on our list quickly.
3. Check the weather! One of the final things I checked was the weather. This I did a few days before we were planning to leave as it can be unpredictable and can change even the day of! I saw it was going to be raining all of the days we were there but it was supposed to be scattered thunderstorms, usually in the afternoon, which would be good for our scenic drives. The weather would be warmer, but not too hot if we were outside in the morning or the evening and when it was hottest, we could plan water activities.
4. Packing us up. Having a good idea of what we would be doing, and what to expect, I started packing. It looked like I was overpacking for 2 adults, 2 young kids for only 4 days. But I fully expected to not have fully dried swimsuits after one use so I packed two sets. There was a long sleeve shirt and pair of pants for the horseback ride and ATV adventure and another for if it got cool in the evening or in the mountains. I took 4 pairs of shoes per person! 1 pair of tennis shoes for walking at the activities, 1 pair of tennis shoes that could get wet and dirty for the ATV, water shoes for the river, and crocs or sandals for anything in between, including the drive there and back. The boys had 2 sets of pajamas because they are little and you never know! It really did look like a lot of stuff, but we used 90% of what I took.
There were other miscellaneous things I took just in case. Some of these things included the in-between seat mount for the iPad, multiple chargers to use in the car and the hotel. A portable battery pack is a must when you have young kids who will be on their devices for long periods of time. Masks and a spray bottle of alcohol were also packed because of COVID. Wet wipes came in real handy for cleaning hands, especially for snacking. We each had a hat for the sun. Ponchos from our SeaWorld trips came in handy when it rained. I also packed several bags, including a couple trash bags to keep the pillows and blankets stored cleanly until they were needed on the way back. Plastic bags were great for wet shoes or wet swim clothes until they could be aired out and washed. The therapressure brush always goes wherever Juanito goes as it can help calm him down. And finally, we have a GoPro camera that is great for taking pictures when we are in the water or when we can’t use our hands.
The only other things we took was a bag of beach towels, a small cooler for drinks and snacks, and a smaller backpack to carry things in when we went walking on our activities. Oh, and a small stroller, because Juanito does not handle walking long periods of time very well. The only thing we didn’t use the whole trip, was the therapressure brush, as Juanito did so well!
5. Packing for the Kids. When you travel with kids, for long periods of times, you must be prepared! and I don’t mean snacks, cuz even we adults like snacks on a road trip! Since our trip was expected to take 9-10hrs, they each had a pillow and a blanket for sleeping. We drove through the night on the way up, so that worked really well. And they each had a backpack of activities to keep them busy and entertained.
Each of the boys had their own backpack with their own activities which included books to read, some paper for drawing, and a pencil case of markers, pencils and crayons. They also had a pair of headphones, plushies, a travel tic tac toe game, and a couple of favorite toys. Their iPads also had a couple of movies downloaded for those times when internet service was unavailable.
Armed with all the information I could find, I had an intinerary for each day we would be there. Activities and places close together for the first morning, followed by a scenic drive that allowed us to rest our feet without being bored. We had more places to visit the next morning, followed by another scenic drive perfect for resting while we visited some falls only a quick walk from the car. We had plans for outdoor activities and then another scenic drive with some swimming along the way to cool off with for our 3rd day. And I had filler activities in and places to eat at already marked for day’s activity as needed.
As with all things, even the best laid plans can go awry. We were delayed on our way there and the route the GPS took us, took us right by Clingman’s Dome. I had originally anticipated driving an hour to get there from our hotel, so the fact we were right there, and we hadn’t even made it to the hotel yet, and the kids had slept all night… made it easy for us to stop and check it off our list.
On our second day, when it rained and the Skylift was shut down temporarily due to weather, my cards made it easy to rearrange our itinerary. We stopped by the Gatlingburg Space Needle (almost right across the street) and picked up some subs for a picnic lunch before heading off on our scenic drive. We drove to Cade’s Cove and were able to stop on the way to see Cataract falls and swim at Metcalf Bottoms.
Everything happens for a reason so we got the best views at the Gatlinburg Skylift Park and having the restaurants listed in my guide, we were able to have dinner at a good restaurant without having to scramble at the last minute in a place we were unfamiliar with.
I will definitely take this approach to our next vacation as it made changing plans much easier and less stressful.
Check out my next post to see how our trip turned out!
