The storm is over ... and so is the year!

The Gatlinburg Christmas Snowstorm finally ended, with snowfall somewhere between 11 and 15 inches. I can tell you I shoveled more snow in 3 days than I've shoveled in 20 years! But when the sun finally came out, it was beautiful. Take a look:


All Decked Out was truly "all decked out" with snow.


This is the main floor deck, looking off into the woods behind All Decked Out.


But the prettiest sight was the trees, with all the snow clinging to them.

These pictures were taken Monday afternoon. We actually couldn't leave until Tuesday afternoon, because the roads were still bad. I would have taken more pictures, but we were just too busy getting packed up so our guests (who were supposed to be able to get in Monday night) could arrive Tuesday afternoon.

Now the storm is just a memory. And 2010 is about to be the same. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who stayed with us in 2010. As we talk with other owners, it's clear to us that we have the VERY BEST guests! So we hope you will come back to stay with us at Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out in 2011. Please keep watching here for some changes we intend to make - especially at All Decked Out. I'll give you just one little hint of something we got installed on this trip ... air hockey!

And here's one more bit of advice. Make your reservations quickly. Between our two cabins, we already have more than 70 nights booked in 2011. And we're getting inquiries every day. You will especially be glad if you make your reservations before February (hint, hint).

Whatever your plans, we trust that you have a blessed and prosperous New Year. We'll look forward to seeing you soon!

"The Worst Storm Ever..."

That's what our next door neighbor called this snowstorm - and he has lived up here for more than 15 years. In our area of Chalet Village North, it just stopped snowing - after more than 36 straight hours of snow. I just measured our deck railing - take a look:


That's almost 11 inches - and that's after we cleaned the railing off yesterday afternoon, when it was about 4 inches! If that's true, we have almost 15 inches!

Here's a view of All Decked Out this morning (yes, those white dots are snowflakes):

This afternoon, we walked up to Smoky Mountain Tower to clean it because we had guests arriving today and Ingrid could not get up the mountain. Turned out that our guests couldn't get up either, but it's ready for them when they can. Standing in front of Smoky Mountain Tower is our "cleaning crew" - Kathy, Lindsey, Kyle and Phyllis.


While there, I grabbed a quick picture of the "view" toward Ober Gatlinburg.


Uhhhh - it seems the view is "temporarily unavailable." But it will be back when the weather warms up. Meanwhile, we're stuck - guests can't get up and we can't get down. Kathy and the kids may make it out tomorrow afternoon if it clears up. But I think Phyllis and I may be here for another day or two. And I'm not sure how we'll take care of our guests, who have been so understanding. Stay tuned.......