When traveling we always try and explore new places to find the hole in the wall place that is absolutely amazing. Well not only was this our second trip to the Gatlinburg area but also our second Trip to Jayell Ranch. Our second visit was even better than the first.
I’ll share a brief story as to how we ended up in Gatlinburg a second year in a row and why visiting Jayell Ranch a second time was an absolute must. My daughter is 6 years old and an adventure junkie. Last year was her first introduction to zip lining and it took place at Jayell Ranch. She zipped all 6 lines and must say she was the happiest little girl. Well, guess what, One of my daughters must do’s this year was zip lining. Our goal was to visit North Carolina and have a new experience at a new place. Well, unfortunately, North Carolina has restrictions for zip lining and my young daughter met none of them. She was under age and way underweight. After lots of research, the family decision was made to take another trip back to Tennessee because there were zip line courses she could do.
So to continue the trend trying new things we decided to try a new zip line company. I will tell you my daughter was very disappointed. The zip lines we tried were very short and not fast at all. After completing the course my daughter told me it was time to go on some real zip lines. She recommended heading back to Jayell Ranch because they were the best. So off to Jayell Ranch we went.
After arriving on site we headed to the sign-up desk to pick out our adventure package and sign our waivers. Jayell Ranch has Horseback Riding, ATV Tours, and of course Zip Lining. We opted for the ATV and Zip lining package. The exact same adventure package we completed the year before. After sign up we headed to the office and paid for our personalized adventure package. Because we were a returning visitor they knocked an additional 10% off our package. More on that another time.
The office staff advised that we head on over to the zip line platform and get placed in line to complete the zip line course. They were a little busier than normal and wanted to make sure all guests were served in order. So off to the platform we went. The tour guides took our name and gave us a number so we knew where we were in line. We got lucky number 7. I’ve always been told that anything good is always going to have a wait time. Our wait lasted about 45 minutes but was well worth it.
Our little girl flew on all six zip lines that spanned a total of almost 2 miles. She flew high and fast with the biggest smile. She was once again in her thrill zone. It took us almost two hours to complete all the zip lines. The best Line on the course is the last line on the tour. You fly fast and right through an old barn, very cool. When we returned to the zip line station my daughter said Daddy now that is a zip line tour and like I told you it’s worth the wait.
It did not take long for my daughter to pull at me and remind me that we needed to head over to the ATV tour. So off we go to our next adventure for the day. Check out tomorrow’s story for details.
