Those are the words I said to Steve last year when we celebrated our 24th Anniversary in Auburn Hills. When we celebrate 25 years "we are leaving the state"!! That is exactly what we did!! It took some planning on my part because we weren't sure where to go...we thought about Florida, a cruise, Mexico... ultimately we decide on the Smoky Mountain Area! I know some of you are thinking....Really...that's all the better you can do? With all things considered...Time away from kids, work..., $$, staying in the US....we think we made a pretty good choice! We left bright and early on a Saturday Morning and picked up our rental car and headed South! First stop Mammoth Cave. Neither of us had ever been and crazy as it seems, we were pretty excited to see the caves (or maybe it was the getting away??) First night we stayed in a kind of crappy EconoLodge...but that's okay we made a short walk to Cracker Barrel for dinner....and watched Michigan WIN on a old 27th in TV! In the morn we headed to Mammoth Cave where we had booked 2 tours...the Historic and the New Passage, each tour was $12 per person and lasted 2 hours!
It was a tight squuuueeeeze in....and down down down...no elevators!
action shot of Steve..lol!
met a couple from Michigan that took our picture
some spots are kind of low....
That is actual dust from all of us traipsing through the cave
So, I could have posted more pictures of the inside of the caves...but you know, they all look like rocks...lol!
Like with any picture, it's always more beautiful and fascinating in person!!!!
As we left, we went to see the Mammoth Cave Baptist Church.
Like a typical old church...it was one room, white, wood pews and had a cemetery next door! We stumbled through the cemetery for a few minutes and thought about the people and all the sacrifices they made! It's kind of humbling to think about their life and what they must have endured to make a better life for themselves and their families. Life wasn't easy for them..and we complain about a drippy faucet or a pot hole in the road... they would have loved a drippy faucet!
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We ended that day down in Chattanooga...in a step-better crappy Roadway Inn...We should have expected that, when the rate was $42....lol! Making Memories!
In the Morning, we took the drive up Lookout Mountain to see Ruby Falls & Rock City! This is where I started to have my mini heartaches and my Fear of Heights was in full swing! WHOA baby, is that high...and on a mountain top....who knew..lol!
another action shot of Steve
in the cave..duh!
Here she is....in all her Glory!
::{Ruby Falls}::
Ruby Falls is a 145 foot waterfall inside the cave!
Leo Lambert discovered the waterfalls (a couple years back...lol!..I'm to lazy to look up when that was!) and named the falls after his wife...you guessed it, Ruby!!
It is something to see! It's beautiful! You should stop on your way to Florida (hahaha..everyone passes all the signs and zooms on by!!)
Leo had played in the caves as a child but the cave entrance was closed off ...he and some other nuts were trying to find the cave through another entrance ....they crawled in a 3" foot space with lanterns for 7, yes seven!!! hours before they were able to stand up and it was sometime after that, that they discovered Ruby Falls! They were a little determined...perseverance paid off!
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This is Point Park a park overlooking Chattanooga...where some war was fought and someone watched for someone else...because it was a good lookout area....hahaha!
To me, it was a frightful area! I was sure I was going to fall off the path to my death! Point Park....I will never forget you!
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A short distance away was Rock City ..which is a path through rocks and eventually you make your way to the Lookout point. This picture is kind of blurry but it gives you an idea of the rocks and the path...it was kind of fun to squeeze between the rocks...it's like a Weight Watchers check ....luckly we made it through....I thought I needed to go on a diet but I guess not!! The rocks don't lie!
From this vantage point we could see 7 states...or at least the sign said we could....if the sign had said 12 states I would have believed it!
And this, my friends, is a lookout point for people with no beating heart! What in the world ...who would make something so evil??? That is straight down to Chattanooga on the fast track..if you fell! There is NO support rock under that lookout deck! See those tiny tiny specks up on top of that rock (straight up from the lookout area) !!Yes!! those are people...do you start to get the depth of this place??
The waterfall from the look out deck. This is actually Lovers Leap....it's said that some woman leaped after her man??? (see the sign upper left corner)
This is how I felt most of the time....
Moving on to Smoky Mountains next....
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