This was a big deal for me, cause it was the first road trip with Laura that would be of a greater distance than 100 miles one way. I love to travel, and she'd never been further south than Kentucky. I keep a tally of the states I've been too, so I was giddy at the chance to add states to her tally this weekend (whether she really cared or not…lol).
Driving through southern Kentucky we hit some major rain. We were looking for a place to pull over and eat, but decided to wait till we got to Tennessee because of the rain. When we got to Tennessee, it was cloudy, but not raining. So we sat to eat, but as we finished the rain we ran from in Kentucky found us. So we hit the road to get out of a heavy wet pummeling yet again. Stopping at a gas station south of Knoxville, we found ourselves facing another storm front head on. This one was more intense with lots of lightning. I got some really cool cloud pics around Riceville before all hell broke loose.
We got into Georgia, and hit my Uncle's house in Woodstock around 6:20pm. Some nervous small talk, some dinner on the grill, and a beer or two, then before you know it the conversations were flowing like water. We had a good time, and talked about a lot of things before they settled off for bed. Laura and I went to a nearby Walmart to buy me some tennis shoes, as I knew I'd want to do some hiking on this trip and my only pair were in disrepair. It's a real challenge to find a pair of 11 1/2 wides at Walmart at 10:00 at night, so I found a pair of 12 wides that fit really well and only cost $15. Not bad. They'd be put to the test the next day.
We woke up early, around 9 or so and wend down for breakfast. Rick & Cheryl had bought a new fridge and were going to stay behind while it was installed, so Laura and I made plans to head up to Stone Mountain and hike up the side. Around 2:00 we were in the car heading to Stone Mountain, and when we got there it was really hot out. Imagine walking up a granite slab that ascends 900 feet up with the Georgia sun beating down on my balding head. I got a mild sunburn, but it was worth it.
After about 30 minutes of tiresome walking, we arrived up on the summit of Stone Mountain. There were tons of people there, which turned me off to it a bit. I like nature, and feel that Stone Mountain should've been turned into a National Monument rather than a tourist trap, but it's too late for that now. There's a cable car lift that takes you to the top, a gift shop with soda machines priced at $3.25-bottle, and a major Amusement Park feel to the whole area. I liked this when i was a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore and would much rather they preserved the mountain and made only minor human accommodations to it to allow access to it's serenity. But it's too late for that. It's already privately owned, and it is what it is. Although, if a petition were to ever circulate requesting that Stone Mountain be turned over to the NPS, I'd sign.
Anyway, there were a ton of people up there. Screaming kids, a church groups of over 100 teens playing a loud game, foreign tourists left and right snapping odd pics….not a serene environment by any stretch of the means. But I still found a few cool photos, then retreated to a far corner of the summit that was relatively uninhabited by tourism.
I laid there with Laura, enjoying the relative peace for a few minutes before a herd of small children bombarded our secluded side of the stone. Noticing we were getting close to time to head back for dinner, we decided to retreat on foot back down the side of the granite tourist magnet. My aunt Cheryl had made dinner reservations at a nice Italian restaurant, and we had to get back in time to meet them.
Dinner was awesome. There's no comparing an amazing Italian dinner to anything of this world if it's done right. The salad vinaigrette was sublime and subtle, the bread rolls kept you diving in for more, and my dinner plate had me diving in until I knew there was no force eating room left in me. I ordered the Tour of Italy, which included Linguine Alfredo, Chicken Parmesan, and Lasagna with Meat Sauce. Laura had her italian favorite, Eggplant Parmesan. I'll need to learn to cook that for her, as I've grown to really like it too.
We retreat back home so that my aunt and uncle can watch the UK game, and Laura and I retreat to our quarters to watch TV in our respective food coma's. But by the time the game was over, Cheryl approached me like a hawk with a spoonful of cinnamon. She'd mentioned the Cinnamon Challenge to me at dinner, and I'd never heard of it, so I ignorantly agreed to try it. Here's the result, for all the world to see.
NEVER TRY THAT. EW.
Anyway, that was the extent of our Atlanta trip, and I had plans to stop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the next day with Laura. But to do this, I had to get up around 5 am to get ready. I was on the road by 6:30 am to get to the park, and this was necessary because after leaving the park we had to drive back to Columbus Ohio. This would equate into 16 hours behind the wheel.
Big things happened at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There will be a separate blog post for that. But here's a hint...
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