Day 3: Fort Meade to Chattanooga

Our morning started early to say the least. Dad woke us up at 4:30 and we were dressed and on the road by 5 a.m. We took some short cut to the Florida turnpike and Dad was pretty excited cause we saved 30 minutes! We were in Gainesville when I woke up at 7:30!! A little while later we stopped at a rest stop in south Georgia. I snatched the keys and drove the rest of the way to Chattanooga with Austin as my co-pilot. We arrived at our KOA in Chattanooga at 2:30. Dad wishes we would have planned to go further but we had a fun afternoon.

After we checked in at the KOA and put our bags in our "Kozy Kabin" we got back in the car and headed west toward lookout mountain. On our way we saw this train thing that went straight up the side of the mountain, so naturally we turned around and went back to check it out. It was such a cool trip up that mountain. Sheikra's 200 foot drop doesn't have anything on this 2,000-plus foot drop. On the way up it felt like we would never reach the top and once we got to the top the train stopped at a 45 degree angle and we had to climb up the stairs to get out at the back of the train. By this time I was so ready to get off that train and on to solid ground. As soon as I climbed off the train I realized I had left my ticket on the train and I would be stranded if I didn't go back and get it. At this point the last thing I wanted to do was get back on that train that was dangling from the top of the mountain, but it was a must. After I got my ticket we went up a few stairs to get to the roof of the train station. From that height the view was amazing. After we took a few pictures and looked around we went back and got on the train and took it to the bottom. Even though it was a little nerve racking, honestly a little scary, it was worth it for the view and the experience. It was a great start to our long journey ahead.

Did I mention the cabin where all 5 of us are sleeping is no bigger than our family room? This sure will be a very bonding trip for the 5 of us. Oh... And its 7:45 and we are all in bed and Dad and Austin are almost asleep already! This sure is going to be interesting to say the least.

Funny comments of the day:

Brittany -"Wait... Indiana is a state?"

Austin -"Chat-ta-new-ga!"

Dad -"Whats and Ipod?"

Attractions visited:

Incline Railway at Lookout Mountain.