Friday Funny

 

(And now that song is stuck in my head!)

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Photo Wednesday

 We saw this cool barn on our way home.  It was in Indiana. I rarely see round barns, so I snapped this as we drove by. Later I noticed the shingle work with the cow and chicken, and also the flowers.  That took some planning!

Adding this: My friend Debby at My Shasta Home found this article about this barn.

Annual shopping trip

Some of you will remember that every November, my sisters, Terri and Cheri, and I go out for a big Christmas shopping trip. Last weekend was our day to do that this year. As our kids are all grown, the shopping isn't the same as it was when they were kids, the gifts we buy are not the big toys that take up lots of space and fill the car anymore.  And we buy more online than we used to, so our day isn't as long as it used to be. But, we still enjoy doing it and spending the time together.

This year we met up around 10 to start the day.

We always have lots of fun and laughter!  I don't even know what we were laughing about here, but I love this photo.

I forgot to take any more pictures after this.  We did lots of shopping and then went out for supper.

Here we are checking into our hotel.  We always bring our packages in so we can sort them and then check things off our lists.

Here's Terri going over her list. She didn't spend the night because she had to be up at 5 the next morning for work.

Here's the breakfast area of the hotel we were at.  I thought the Christmas lights outside were pretty.

The next morning, Cheri and I stopped a few more places to pick up things we missed and were home shortly after noon.

And now, my shopping is pretty well done!
We had fun and accomplished a lot!

Sweet blog friends!

 I'm overdue at sharing this, due to my vacation, so forgive me!

I have to show you the sweet package I got from my friend Catherine at My Home and Garden. Catherine sent this package with goodies for us, and some fun things for Cassie all the way from France!

There was a beautiful little scrapbook and handmade gift tags along with lots of french treats that we are still eating

Then there was a gift bag for Cassie.  We had her open it when she came trick or treating (I told you this was late!), so that's why she's in costume in these pictures.

Looking at a painting kit

Showing me some sticker books

She was very excited and Heather says she's enjoying them.

Since you saw Cassie in her Tigger suit, here is Connor being a Tiger.

And here's a pic Laura sent of the other two.  They wanted to show me a potato they got while out trick or treating.  :)

And now, one more blog friend who sent me something sweet.

My friend Carrie at Northwoods Scrapbook sent this yummy basket as a congratulations on retiring.

It had the most beautiful caramel apples in it, along with chocolate covered pretzels, toffee, chocolates and caramels. I shared one of the apples with Alaina and Ruby and you should have seen their eyes when they saw it!  Anyway, it's all good and we'll be eating for some time.

Thanks to both of them, and also to the rest of you who sent cards and notes to congratulate me. Our blogging community really is a thoughtful group and a blessing!

Taking in a little history

Bob and I are history lovers and have always been interested in Civil War history. Since we knew we were going to be near Chatanooga, we planned a day to stop and see Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain.
Chickamauga was the second deadliest battle in the Civil War after Gettysburg.  This National Battlefield is set up very well with markers and a map you can follow to see what happened in different areas.

We started in the Park Visitor Center where we watched a video that reviewed the events of this battle.

Then we got in our car and drove to the different stops. There are many monuments commemorating the men who fought and died here.  

I think the split rail fences that were prevalent in those times are so picturesque.

This tiny cabin was home to a family of 9, but when the battle broke out, the family took refuge in a ravine and the cabin was used as a hospital.

The inside of the cabin.

This monument was dedicated to men from Michigan who fought in this battle.

" But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or to detract. The world will little note what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

Abraham Lincoln

Our next stop was at the top of Lookout Mountain, which meant driving up another curving mountain road.

Look at this view of Chatanooga when we got to the top!

This site was the continuation of the battle at Chickamauga. The Union army fought their way up this mountain as clouds were covering it.  It's hard to imagine.

We really enjoyed our day reviewing all this history.  Excuse our squinting - it was brighter that the photo shows!

Our last stop of the day was our hotel.  I had seen good reviews for this old hotel and we decided to stay there inside of our usual chain hotels.  It was a fabulous place!  It's the Read Hotel in Chatanooga and it totally exceeded our expectations.  It was opened in 1872 and has had some famous guests; Al Capone, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill...  It looks like a place you would stay in the roaring twenties and if you are ever in Chatanooga, you should stay there!

The Read Hotel

Overlooking the lobby

A telephone room

One of the staircases

A Billiards room

Even the elevator was classy!

Our room

Look at the bathroom!

The view from our room at night.  We were on the 9th floor.

The next morning we started our 2 day drive home.
We drove 2005 miles and were in 10 states including Michigan. We enjoyed some beautiful cities, had some crazy adventures and saw God's hand in His creation.  We met some really nice people and connected with friends.  It was a wonderful trip, but it's always good to be home again!

Back to Georgia

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to drive back to Georgia.  We had some short hikes planned for the northern part of the state, where I had found some pretty places to see.

After about 2 1/2 hours we made it to Georgia!

We were using the mapping feature on the car, and were a bit concerned when it had us follow this road, but we carried on.

There wasn't much on the road.

I did like this barn though!

After driving on curvy mountain roads, we arrived here.  There was actually a parking area, but this path we were supposed to walk was a bit intimidating.  

Things got worse, there wasn't much of a path and there were tree roots everywhere!  The site I had found this on said it was a "short, easy hike".  But it wasn't!  

However, it was worth it when we got to the end.  This is Minnehaha Falls, a beautiful sight!

Time to head off on the next part of the day.

We drove on the Richard Russell Scenic Drive.  It had nice, paved, 2 lane roads!  And even though many leaves were gone, the views were pretty.

There were no restaurants or places to stop, so at one point we pulled into a scenic drive and had this little treat from the wedding we were at the night before.  It was perfect!

Another pretty spot; but the name of this area is Hogpen Gap.  :)

Soon it was time to get off the scenic drive and head for our next spot, another waterfall.

Once again, we were trusting our mapping app.  It did get us to the last falls, right?  But here we were again, on a dirt, 2 track path in the mountains, praying we didn't meet anyone else.

We were doing ok, until we got to this spot.  It wanted us to cross over, although the path we were on looked even worse on the other side.  So we gave up, Bob managed to get the car turned around and we went back down that crazy road.

We found some flatter land, and this nice scene of grazing cows, which this farmers daughter always appreciates.

Next stop was a swinging bridge.  Guess what?  It involved more twisty mountain roads!  We knew we were on a right track though, there were lots of other cars going through.

It took us 15 minutes to drive 3 1/2 miles through this.  The road was very rutted and was constantly turning.

When we got to where we could park, it was another "short, easy hike" that was not short or easy, but long and hilly.

We made it!  This is the swinging bridge of Toccoa.  It looks solid in this photo, but it really was a swinging bridge.  I made it halfway across and decided that was enough for me.

This is the Toccoa River that the bridge goes across.

This was the end of our adventures for the day.  Some parts were just a little too adventuresome, but we sure will have memories!
Tomorrow we are on to Chattanooga!