Merry Christmas from All Decked Out

It's Christmas at All Decked Out in Gatlinburg. Two of our three daughters and their families have arrived and Phyllis is busy fixing our traditional Christmas Eve buffet. As you can see, the tree is decorated and the presents are ready to open...



Phyllis has also temporarily hung her Christmas wreath quilt...


We brought decorations from home, especially our collection of Byers Choice carolers. These special statuette represent our whole family - from left, Tim & Angie, Dave & Phyllis, Kathy, and John & Marcia (plus all the kids). We always display the carolers on the mantle and, as you can see, a few of our stockings are "hung by the chimney with care."


One of the beauties of celebrating Christmas in Gatlinburg is the extra things we can do. For example, as I write this, our grandson, Kyle, is enjoying some quiet moments in the hot tub...



We'll try to post more pictures from Christmas Day. It promises to be interesting, because we're
under a winter storm watch and could get up to a foot of snow.

Of course, Christmas is more than just decorations and presents and stockings and relaxing. It's REALLY about the the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Some 2,000 years ago He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He came as the Son of God because I am a sinner and needed Him to be God's perfect sacrifice for my sin. Through His death, I now KNOW that I will spend all eternity in Heaven. That's the true Christmas story! So we hope you also have that assurance and will have a very, very "Merry Christmas!"

The best Christmas present ever!

It's Christmas week. Have you finished your shopping? If not, we've got a suggestion.

How about the gift of a 2011 vacation in the Smokies?! Make a reservation this week at either All Decked Out...



...or Smoky Mountain Tower...

...and we'll give you a Christmas discount!

This is a special offer ONLY available to our blog and Facebook friends. It's not even listed on our Web site! Here's the deal:

Book at least 3 nights between January 2 and May 26 and we'll take 10% off the already-low-price of $129.00 per night. That means you'll only pay $116.10 (plus tax).

That's almost certainly going to be the lowest price you'll pay this year. Because we're pretty sure prices will have to go up in either February or March. When we announce our price increase, we'll give past guests the opportunity to book at the current rate. But YOU have the best choice of dates if you book THIS WEEK. And you get the discount!

To get this special price, enter the coupon code CHRISTmas10 exactly as shown (see instructions below). Remember, you must book at least 3 consecutive nights, and you have to make your reservation by Christmas night. If you have any questions, write to us.

Now, here are the instructions:

-Select your vacation property and go to the Web site:
-All Decked Out - www.SmokiesRentDirect.com/All-Decked-Out
-SmokyMountainTower - www.SmokyMountainTower.com

-Click the "Book Online Now" button on the Web site. This will open a new page at our IVOL reservation site.

-Enter your arrival and departure dates, then click "Review & Book."

-On the page that opens, scroll down to the "Coupon Codes" section. Enter the coupon code shown above. Be sure to enter it exactly as shown - coupon codes are case-sensitive. After entering the code, click "Redeem." You will see that the price has changed to deduct the 10%.

-Now just complete all the information requested, click "Book Online Here" at the bottom of the page, enter your credit card information and make your reservation.

If you have any questions, please contact us immediately. We'll get back to you as quickly as we can (we have some travel planned this week and will be away from the computer at times).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The weather and the VIEW

In my last post, I promised a weather update. We intended to be back in Gatlinburg earlier this week. But God decided otherwise. The roads were too icy on Tuesday for us to get up the mountain, so we just came on home. We're praying for our guests who are arriving today, because there was freezing rain in the area overnight. Please, God, make it warm up so Rachel and her group can get up the mountain. They already switched from Smoky Mountain Tower to All Decked Out on the possibility that the road up to Smoky Mountain Tower will be icy!

Speaking of Smoky Mountain Tower, I promised you the latest pictures of the view. So take a look:


Looking west toward Ober Gatlinburg (the white patch left center just below the top of the mountain is one of their ski runs)



A zoom shot of Ober Gatlinburg.



Here's a panoramic shot showing the whole view. See, we're correct when we say "from Mt. LeConte to Ober Gatlinburg and beyond!" (Click on the picture for a larger view.) And you can also see why TripAdvisor named this view one of their "Best Vacation Rental Views" - the only one they chose in the Smokies!

And here's one more shot, showing the road as it comes up to Smoky Mountain Tower. Yes, there are other houses along the road, some occupied by permanent residents. But there is still plenty of privacy.


Of course, all these were taken last weekend before the snow fell. We expect to be back in Gatlinburg next week, so we'll try to get some "snowy" pictures. Meanwhile, have a wonderful Christmas season!

Smoky Mountain Tower weather

It's Sunday night, December 12. We were at Smoky Mountain Tower Friday night to put up some Christmas decorations - including our small Christmas tree in the Sunroom.




We left Smoky Mountain Tower yesterday afternoon to drive to Lebanon, TN for our grandson's church Christmas program. The plan was to attend the program, then go back to Gatlinburg tomorrow (Monday) and finish the decorating at Smoky Mountain Tower - and to get some decorating done at All Decked Out.

But we may be stuck here in Lebanon for awhile. It's snowing VERY hard and is very slippery and ... wait, it's worse than I thought. Marcia just called (she had taken Nathan to the church) to tell us the program has been canceled! She said it's really coming down and the roads are treacherous.

And take a look at this forecast for Gatlinburg:

JOHNSON-COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SOUTHEAST GREENE-UNICOI- SOUTHEAST CARTER-BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS- SOUTHEAST MONROE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF.MOUNTAIN CITY.CEDAR CREEK.ERWIN.ROAN MOUNTAIN.CADES COVE.GATLINBURG.COKER CREEK

257 PM EST SUN DEC 12 2010

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM EST TUESDAY.

* TIMING: SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. SOME SNOW SHOWERS MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT THROUGH TUES MORNING.

* ACCUMULATIONS: EXPECT TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION BY MON EVENING OF 4 TO 8 INCHES IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS.WITH 8 TO 16 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS.

* WINDS: SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE BETWEEN 15 & 25 MPH SUN NIGHT & MONDAY.WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 30 & 40 MPH AT TIMES. BLOWING & DRIFTING SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP TO BETWEEN 5 BELOW & 15 BELOW ZERO AT TIMES.

* IMPACTS: SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.BLOWING & DRIFTING SNOW.& DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS. ROADS MAY BECOME EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS.& ANYONE OUTDOORS SHOULD PREPARE FOR BITTER COLD CONDITIONS. BLOWING SNOW MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE AT TIMES.

So I don't think we'll be going back to Gatlinburg tomorrow! Why am I writing about this? Because weather CAN be a problem during this time of year. That's why we really encourage our guests to purchase the travel insurance offered by our reservation site, IVacationOnLine. You can get more details through our Web site - www.SmokiesRentDirect.com/travel-insurance.

We'll keep you posted - especially if we ARE able to get back to Gatlinburg in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I took some pictures of the view at Smoky Mountain Tower yesterday and I'll post them in a couple of days. Then you'll see again why TripAdvisor named Smoky Mountain Tower as one of the top 10 vacation rental views in America!

Winter isn't just coming - it's HERE

About a month ago, I posted some information about winter coming to the Smokies. Well, it has arrived! Check out this story from WBIR-TV - http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=146545. They actually closed all the Sevier County schools yesterday, even though they got "a dusting."

If you're coming to Gatlinburg this winter, please be prepared. Here are several things you can do:

1. Check the weather forecast just before you plan to travel. There are a couple of good sites, which you'll find on our Web sites under "Favorite Links." Click here to go to the All Decked Out links page.

2. Bring extra blankets, boots and a good working flashlight. You never know when the snow will hit. It's pretty easy to get to All Decked Out, but there's a very steep hill on the road up to Smoky Mountain Tower. We've arranged to have the road plowed and salted each time it snows, but you never know what will happen. There's actually a back way into Smoky Mountain Tower that requires a short (50-feet) walk through the woods. It's not the best, but it works in an emergency. That's why you need the boots and flashlight!

3. The road up to our cabins is posted, saying chains or 4-wheel drive vehicles are required from December 15 to March 15. I've never seen anyone stopped - but they CAN do it. So plan accordingly.

4. The National Park roads can close on very short notice. If your trip takes you through the Park, please call them just before you get off the Interstate to make sure the road through the Park is open. The number is 1-865-436-1200, ext. 631. This number is in the directions on our Web site, but make sure you have it with you.

We also encourage you to buy the Travel Insurance available on our reservation Web site. It's really cheap (only 7% of your rental cost), and we're told it works for weather situations where you can't get to the cabin. You can find more information on our Web site by clicking here.

As always, please contact us if you have any questions about travel to Gatlinburg this winter. We want you to come and stay with us, but we especially want you to be safe and sound!

Big savings in 2010 at All Decked Out

I've just done something I haven't done in all the 14 years we've owned All Decked Out. I lowered the price for dates around Christmas to less than $120 per night!

Here's the deal. Our Chicago daughter called and asked if we could spend Christmas together at All Decked Out. Sure, we might have booked it. But family is more important. So we said, "Yes!" - and we reserved All Decked Out for US from December 22 to 27.

That leaves us 15 nights still open at All Decked Out for the rest of the year. The normal rate for those nights is $149 for the first 10 and $179 for the last 5. But I decided to just put ALL those nights at $149. But wait (as the informercials say) - there's more. We've been offering discounts on our remaining non-holiday nights since early November. That discount now sits at 20%, which makes the nightly rate only $119.20. So I extended that discount into the holiday nights, too.

That means you can stay at All Decked Out for ANY AVAILABLE NIGHT in 2010 for 20% to 33% off! We've never done that before! Prime time nights are now cheaper than the "off-season" rate (which is $129).

Okay, I know it's "last minute." But some people can make those kinds of arrangements. We're actually still getting inquiries for those nights, so somebody is going to get a really good deal. It could be you!

One more thing. People are starting to book their 2011 vacation. We have almost 60 nights already booked. Of course, the obvious question is, "Are you raising your rates in 2011?" The answer is a definite "maybe." But one thing is for sure: any 2011 nights booked before the end of 2010 are available at the 2010 rates. We'll talk more about this in our next post.

December weather

As we head for the "official" start of Winter, we're keeping a close eye on the weather forecasts in the Smokies. We just found this for December, that comes from the Old Farmers Almanac:

December 2010
1-3: Rainy. Wet snow mixes over higher terrain TN.
4-7: Fair, cold.
8-11: Cold showers, then clearing.
12-15: Rainy.
16-19: Rains clear, then fair, cold, with frosts to Florida.
20-23: Rain showers, then fair, colder.
24-27: Fair, unseasonably cold Yuletide. Frosts down to Gulf Coast.
28-31: Showery, then fair and colder.

It looks pretty good for travel. So come on and join us. We still have dates open in December, which you can find on our Web sites. And we may see you there, because we're hoping to be in Gatlinburg sometime next week - and maybe even around Christmas!