Today's post is a very simple survey. We'll do more of these in the future. But this time, we just want to know how you found us. Here's the survey:


To contact us directly, just write to Dave@SmokiesRentDirect.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Happy (Friday the 13th) Anniversary

Today - Friday, August 13 - is the 21st wedding anniversary of our daughter, Marcia, and her husband, John (Russell). John wrote about their planned celebration in a column that was printed in today's Nashville Tennessean. Here's what he wrote:

"Certainly for more years than I have been alive, Friday the 13^th has held the blame for being the clearing house day for all things, well, evil in the world.

"Some people are so traumatized by the prospect of something bad happening to them on these days, that they purpose to not even get out of bed. As if evil would rather chase you through your day, than to just find you waiting for it in bed, with the covers pulled over your head. Evil might be lazy, but it's not stupid!

"In stark contrast to the rest of the world, my wife and I always look forward to Friday's the 13^th. She and I met on a Friday the 13^th, we got engaged on a Friday the 13^th, and we even got married on the 13^th. It wasn't a Friday though, but that's because my wife-to-be at the time, thought two years was too long to be engaged and didn't want to give me the opportunity to delay things any longer. Sheesh! I even have the number 13 engraved in my wedding band, as a reminder of what good fortune Friday the 13^th has brought to our marriage.

"Over the years we have broken mirrors, stepped on cracks, owned black cats and prayed for patience. None of which has ever brought us any of the associated misfortune.

"Unfortunately, you missed two Friday the 13^th celebrations last year (hiding in bed no doubt), and you only have one chance this year to make things right. So this August 13^th, make plans to change out of your pajamas, get into the world and take one of the many other bed-bound to dinner or something. I promise that you'll be just fine, and you just might make a habit of it.

"My wife and I have both agreed that our ideal Friday the 13^th, would be to have a steerage stateroom on the Titanic II, sailing effortlessly through the Bermuda Triangle, renewing our vows under the arch of an open ladder (properly adorned for such an occasion of course), with my having first seen her in her dress before the ceremony and although she was lovely, she wore nothing old, nothing new, nothing borrowed and nothing blue.

"Our dreams will (sort of) be coming true this year, as we plan to spend Friday the 13^th at the new Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge, TN. If the ship actually sinks this time, it would have to be caused by the museum hitting an icy economic outlook instead of an actual iceberg!"

Their dream did come true, as they were on the "deck" of the Titanic today. We couldn't take pictures inside, but here's a picture of the whole family outside - (from left) Zack, Nathan, Marcia and John.


By the way, we don't usually "do the tourist stuff" when we're here in Gatlinburg - mostly because there's too much work to be done. But we thoroughly enjoyed the Titanic Museum. It's very well done and we learned a lot. So why not come and stay with us - and visit the museum.

God never makes mistakes

Tonight, we arrived at Smoky Mountain Tower to get some things done. I decided to scoot over to All Decked Out for a few minutes before our guests arrived. Imagine my surprise when I found the road blocked and power lines lying all over the place. This is what it looked like:


The problem was that a dead tree fell on the power line down the street, almost a block away. It took out the pole - and the wires - in two directions. Here's the source of the problem:


A close-up reveals that a fair amount of damage has been done to All Decked Out. Take a look:

So why do we say "God never makes mistakes?" Here's why:

• This happened at just the time God knew we would be in Gatlinburg and could take care of the problem.
• We had guests arriving at All Decked Out - but they are friends from our church. So we just brought them over to Smoky Mountain Tower to spend the night.
• Our guests would have been there when the power lines fell, except that God made them get lost!
  
• If this had happened last week or next week, we would have had to pay for our guests to stay in a motel - in addition to what we're already going to have to pay to repair the damage to All Decked Out. Yes, we have to pay, because the electric company says it was an "act of God." They're right! He chose the exact moment for that dead tree to fall - when He knew we would be here to take care of it. There was no wind, no storm - the dead tree just rotted out at that exact moment.
• If this had happened 30 minutes earlier or 30 minutes later, both our guest's car and Mike's brand new car (Mike is a permanent resident across the street from All Decked Out) would have suffered severe damage - none of which would have been covered by the electric company.
  

God does not EVER make mistakes. So we will trust Him to get the electrician we've called to show up tomorrow morning and fix our part of the problem. Then we'll trust Him to get the electric company to come out quickly and reconnect the service. And we'll trust Him to get the cable company out to get all that hooked up. And we'll trust Him to provide the money to pay for the repairs (because it will be less than our insurance deductible). And especially, we will thank Him for making this happen NOW - not last week, not next week, and not when anybody was there who could have gotten hurt.

Last-minute August special

Can you believe that we're already 6 days into August? If you've waited til the last minute to schedule your vacation, now is the time.

We're offering a special 10% off for all remaining August dates at both All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower. That's a savings of $14.90 per night ... well, actually with the tax, it's a savings of $16.80 per night. If you stay a week, that's a savings of over $100!

But there aren't very many nights left. At Smoky Mountain Tower, the last part of the month is open - from August 22 to September 2. At All Decked Out, we're available from August 18 to September 2. Oh yes, we've included those first 2 nights in September in the deal.

You can get all the details - and the all-important coupon code - at our Web sites. Just click on the "Specials" page for full information. See the top of this page for our Web site addresses.

By the way, don't forget to keep voting in the Coke Parks contest. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is BEHIND and we need your help. See our last post for details.

The Park needs your help!

Anybody who has been to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) knows what a wonderful treasure this place is. And it's FREE! In fact, I think it may be one of the very few national parks which don't require an entrance fee.

Now you can help give the Park $100,000!

That's right. Coca-Cola is running a contest to see which park can get the most votes. They will give the winner $100,000. The contest just started a couple of days ago and GSMNP already is in the lead with more than 60,000 votes (as of this moment).

But there's a little park in south Georgia that is giving us a run - literally, for the money! So we need you to vote. Here's how it works:

-Go to http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote. (Just click the link here.)
-Just click on "Vote" opposite "Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
-You'll have to enter a 6-digit code (it's easier if you turn on your Caps Lock)
-Click the red "Submit" button. You'll get a screen that says your vote has been recorded.
-Click "OK" and do it again.

You can vote as many times as you want between now and August 31. So, vote early and often. I've done it while I'm waiting for a computer process to finish - or when I just want to take a break. Besides helping the Park, it's a good exercise to improve your typing skills.

Please help! The Park needs the money and we need the Park!

One more birthday

Today is our grandaughter's birthday. Lindsey is one year away from being able to vote! Next year is the biggie - graduation from high school, etc. So, in honor of Lindsey's birthday, we're going to show you her picture - taken at Gatlinburg. Obviously, not all these are recent. But, like all our family, Lindsey enjoys Gatlinburg. Hopefully, you will, too - and soon!

Before I show you the pictures, I just have to tell you that I put a new "special" on our Web sites today. After a VERY full June and July, we still have some openings at both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out. So we're knocking 10% off the price from now until September 2. We're already getting inquiries, so don't wait too long. I wish I had a dime for all the people we've had to turn away in the last month!

Okay, now here is Lindsey.


Lindsey and the boys - her brother & cousins


Lindsey playing with cousin Nathan's hair

Of course, we've got more pictures, but these are just a couple of more recent ones taken in Gatlinburg. Happy Birthday, Lindsey!

Happy Birthday to Linda

That's right. Linda took advantage of our great birthday deal and booked a 7-night stay at All Decked Out - and saved over $450.00! Thanks to all of you who read our "birthday" post and passed it along. Based on preliminary numbers, it looks like we accomplished our goal of getting more people reading our blog.

Please keep checking back for more information about Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out.