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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been too long since we've posted, but we want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this years:

-We're thankful to have made it back from Thailand safely - and to have traveled through South Korea before the trouble started there (although we can say first-hand that security was very tight!).

-We're thankful for YOU who have stayed with us at Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out this year. We've had more than 100 families who stayed at our Gatlinburg cabins in 2010.

-We're thankful for God's protection on you while you were there. Even though we've had a few difficulties, we're glad to report that we haven't had any serious mishaps.

-We're thankful for Ingrid and her family, who have done such a great job of cleaning both cabins, watching over everything, and never missing a beat - even when we've had some last-minute reservations.

-We're thankful for Darren and Joyce and Mark, who have been so helpful when we needed maintenance work done.

-We're thankful for the honor we received at Smoky Mountain Tower from TripAdvisor, to be named one of America's Best Vacation Rental Home Views.

-We're thankful for our neighbors at both cabins, who have kept an eye on things for us.

-We're thankful for Angie, our daughter, who has backed us up on reservations, phone calls and a myriad of other details - especially when we've been traveling. It's not easy for her, with her two boys (ages 4 and 9 months), but she has always been there when we needed her. She also does a lot of work on the design and maintenance of our Web sites, for which we are also very thankful.

I'm sure there are more reasons to be thankful, but those are our top ones. Thank YOU again for staying with us, and we look forward to having you return in 2011.

Something different - from Thailand

Greetings from half-way around the world. I'm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a series of meetings, including a Board meeting. Our daughter, Kathy, came with me (Phyllis is in Chicago, staying with Kathy's two children).

Even though I'm almost 8,700 miles away from Gatlinburg, I'm still working on our cabins there. We have just lowered the price - again - for the few remaining dates we have available. The discount is now 20% off the regular price of $149.00 per night (plus tax). That's a savings of almost $30 per night!

This is probably as low as we will go. So if you want to vacation in Gatlinburg in 2010, now is the time to make your reservation. You can get all the details at our Web sites. Be sure to visit the "Specials" pages to get full information.

Now, let me also tell you a little about Thailand. We're in the north part of the country, very close to the "Golden Triangle" - where Thailand, Laos and Burma (now Myanmar) come together. We actually took a little trip into the "mountains" a few days ago. We visited an elephant camp and took an elephant ride. Here's just one pictures to show you how it looks:


We don't offer elephant rides in Gatlinburg (yet). But we have just about everything else. So we hope you'll come and stay with us.

We'll be back in the States late this week and will resume our Gatlinburg reports as soon as we can.

Christmas in Gatlinburg

Can you believe it? Both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out are available for Christmas! We have guests coming to Smoky Mountain Tower on December 26 and to All Decked Out on December 27, but you can spend Christmas Day at either cabin.

We plan to decorate for Christmas in early December. Nothing fancy - just a few things to make it look like Christmas. Here are some pictures showing what we did last year.


The big lighted wreath greets you when you arrive at Smoky Mountain Tower.


Our "Noel" tapestry in the kitchen/eating area.


We put the Christmas tree in the sunroom.


At All Decked Out, we put the Christmas tree in the main room, just inside the front door.


And we decorated the "bear."


Our family has enjoyed Christmas in Gatlinburg in the past.

As you can see, it was pretty chaotic. But we had a great time. And we hope YOU will bring your family to Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out for Christmas this year!