Georgia on my mind

This begins quite the series of posts about our first family road trip from Florida to Michigan & back with lots of excitement in between.  Last summer Bob & Jeannine came up with the idea & began to plan a family reunion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We decided to add on some extra time around the trip to extend the vacation. It turned into 15 days away from the Sunshine State full of relaxing, exploring, laughing & a little bit of crying from the littlest people in the family : ) 

Many had advised to wake the kids up, stick them in the car in their pj's before the sun is up & get on the road so they could continue sleeping for the beginning of the drive.  We attempted this but while we were loading the car at 5:15 Rob said from the trunk "we have a visitor!" I looked over & Charlotte was standing there in her panties & tank top with bright eyes saying "are we going on our trip?!" She was SO adorable & extremely excited especially when she was strapped into her seat & saw her very own mini TV screen (which we borrowed from the Johnson family).  I tried to stick with the plan of helping everyone fall back asleep but Charlotte was super awake so we pulled out of the driveway watching Winnie the Pooh.  The girls were champs in the car & were happy to play, watch a movie or just stare out the window. They each took a couple naps in our 9 hour drive & we enjoyed some time to chat in the front seats. 

Our original plan was to make it to northern Georgia & camp at Tallulah Gorge State Park. As our departure  date drew near, the chance for rain increased by 50% so we canceled the reservation & booked a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Gainesville, Georgia. Boy were we glad we did! When we drove into Gainesville we  felt like we were in the movie Twister watching a bad storm approach very quickly. We made it into our hotel just before the skies opened up & the rain POURED down. We laughed imagining being in a tent with the girls in downpour. That scenario is pretty easy to imagine since we have experienced it with us & two wet, stinky dogs on more than one occasion : ) We ate dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse then settled in for the night at 7 because that's what you do when you have a grumpy baby Elo that needs to go to sleep ; ) We put her in the corner & wrapped the curtain around her pack n' play. She must not have liked it all that much because she ended up sleeping in our bed for the last 4 hours of sleep : ) First time for all of us to be asleep together in one bed....it was kind of fun!

We took our time the next morning getting packed up & out the door before making the trek from Georgia to Tennessee.  Thankfully Daddy had some little helpers to get the luggage cart downstairs. 

It was only about 3-4 hours but we moseyed along as we like to say in Texas.  We passed the place where our camping reservation had been cancelled & stopped at the overlook to see the gorge. It was really pretty & such a nice place for a quick break from the car. 

We had no idea that someone had walked across the gorge on a tightrope but a week later we made the connection that the guy that walked across Niagara Falls in June was Nik Wallenda, a descendant of Karl Wallenda, the guy who walked over the gorge.  Crazy...that they are related & that they are such dare devils! I read on Wikipedia that Karl Wallenda fell to his death 8 years after walking across Talullah Gorge.

I love the last picture...love those little legs...love how Elo wants to be a big girl like Char...love that I get see them experience the beauty of God's creation.