We made our yearly Christmas lights pilgrimage to Dollywood yesterday. It was cold and windy, but we dressed warmly and kept ducking into shops and theaters to keep warm.

We arrived before 11:00 a.m. (Parking lot C. They were using lot G by the time we left around 7 p.m.)There were hundreds of Christmas trees, maybe even thousands. There is a leafless tree at the entrance with five trunks that stand about 60 feet high and extend out about 35 feet from the center. Every trunk, branch, and twig was covered with tiny red lights. That alone was worth staying until after dark.

They put on one of the best light shows I have seen. They call it Carol or Sernade of the Trees, or something like that, and it envolves all kinds of special lighting effects, all computer controlled. Last night the prelude to the show was the International Space Station, with the shuttle docked, passing across the sky. It was at about magnitude -1 or maybe even -1.5 . It was the brightest satellite I have ever seen, even including the Echo I and II satellites in the early 60's. Then the colored lights, vapors, and music started. Good show.

The food, as usual, was good, and the Pines Theatre Christmas show, mostly new, was great. I have watched the 1950's show in that theatre for years and it is always a flawless performance.

We even rode the Wilderness Adventure ride again. That's one of those Imax-with-moving-seats things.
It's corny, but fun.

I'm going again next year.
Howard