For several months we've been looking forward to a mini-family reunion in Gatlinburg that was scheduled to begin in September on Friday the 13th. Plans were made. I told my bridge partner that I would be on the road on Friday and wouldn't be available for our usual Friday morning game. We told everyone we were leaving Friday morning. The day before we were planning to leave, Nancy was on the phone with her sister Elaine, and Elaine told her they were leaving from Michigan on Friday also. But then I heard Nancy say something about Elaine and Karl taking 2 days to arrive. So were we going to be there a day before everyone else? Long story short: there is no Friday-the-13th in September. The 13th was Saturday. We had the right date but the wrong day, and we almost ended up in Gatlinburg a day early! Without reservations, which are hard to come by on such short notice.

When we did finally arrive on Saturday, we ran smack dab into the middle of a classic car convention. It took 90 minutes to drive 3 miles through Pigeon Forge. There were thousands of people lining the streets and old cars all over the place. But we made it, and by evening all the family members had arrived safely.

So this week we saw a couple shows, shopped the many outlet stores in Pigeon Forge, and visited the aquarium and the local shops in Gatlinburg. Yesterday we played a couple rounds of miniature-golf. While walking around the town on Tuesday, however, we passed a small park where they were apparently getting set up for the Fall Foliage Festival. We paused for the picture above. Left to right are Orville and Becky (Nancy and Elaine's cousin from PA), Karl and Elaine (Nancy's sister), Nancy and me. Once again, at what has become an annual event, we had a good time and enjoyed everyone's company. We're all headed back home today.