Yes, there are bears!

We stopped by Gatlinburg on our way to Illinois today, just to drop off some things and check on several things. One thing we had heard about was that, apparently, a bear knocked our trash bin down the mountain at All Decked Out.

We didn't realize what a mess he had made. But see for yourself:


Here's a close-up of the metal "bear-proof" container:


And this is where the container used to be - about 100 yards away, at the top of the hill, right on the edge of the road:


If you look carefully, you'll see one of the metal legs still stuck in the ground. Apparently, this broke off in the fight! Hopefully, we'll get it all picked up and put back together in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, BEWARE OF THE BEARS!

A wedding at Smoky Mountain Tower

Who needs a wedding chapel? Not Randy McIlwain and Cheryl Bowden from Alabama. They were married in the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower a week ago today (Saturday, September 4).


Randy and Cheryl were joined for the ceremony by family members who came from Texas and Mississippi.


After the ceremony, everybody gathered for a family picture.

Then, everybody celebrated.


Congratulations, Randy and Cheryl - and thank you for choosing Smoky Mountain Tower to start your life together. May you have many years of blessing and happiness.

Fall colors are coming...

It's been about a week since we were in Gatlinburg. But one of the things we noticed is that fall is coming!

The leaves on the trees just outside the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower are starting to show some signs of changing colors. Take a look:


Here's a little closer view. The dogwood especially is starting to get its red fall hue.


We hope you won't miss the colors this year. From everything I've seen, it's supposed to be a pretty good year for fall colors.

Please check our Web sites for availability (just click on the name to go to our calendar):
Smoky Mountain Tower
All Decked Out

See you in the Smokies!

Wildlife at Smoky Mountain Tower

Yes, there are bears and racoons and other wildlife that show up at Smoky Mountain Tower on occasion. But when we were there last week, our neighbor told us, "The screech owl is back."

Sure enough, he was in a hole in a dead tree just two houses up the road from Smoky Mountain Tower - about 200 feet from our front door. This is the tree:


From the top of the tree, look down to the spot where the first big branch goes off to the left. Just opposite that branch, on the right side of the tree is a dark spot. That's the hole where the owl lives.

Here's a little closer picture. The owl is just below the darkest piece of the tree on the right side of the trunk.


But he's still hard to see. So here's a close-up (yes, he was asleep):


You really need to stay with us at Smoky Mountain Tower. You never know "whooooooooo" you'll see!

Foosball at All Decked Out

As mentioned in our last post, we have successfully moved the Foosball table to All Decked Out. Take a look at the new family/game room layout. You can see the foosball table, the shelves with games, the table for games, the steps coming down from the main floor, the queen sofa-sleeper, and the pool table in the foreground.


Here's a closeup of just the foosball table:


We're still hoping to make the air hockey part of this set available. But I have to find a workable hover puck. Stay tuned!

Game Room Changes at Smoky Mountain Tower

We've made some changes in the Game Room! Since we could never keep the hover puck working for the air hockey game, we had to shut it down.

But we just found a "new" (to us) 7-foot air hockey table in very good shape. It is now installed in the Game Room. Take a look:


Here's a view of the whole table:


We still have to get some new pucks and pushers for the table, but they should be in place by mid-September. The current ones work, but they're ready to be relieved of duth.

What happened to the foosball table? We decided to "share the wealth." So it's going in the family/game room at All Decked Out. When we get it installed, we'll show you some pictures. We're also hoping to find a workable puck for that air hocket game.

Okay - you don't like surveys!

I guess our last post was a "bust." The only person who took our online survey was me! So I won't try that again for awhile.

But now that we're almost completely booked for August, it's time to start filling up the rest of the year. In fact, we're already getting inquiries for 2011. So we are working through some questions and answers for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011. That's my job for today. If you have any thoughts, now's the time to make your voice heard. Just pop me a quick e-mail to Dave@SmokiesRentDirect.com.

Thank you! I really hope to hear from you!