Road Trip Day 8 - Canoeing the Santa Fe River

On Saturday morning we got up and headed out to do our Sante Fe River canoeing. It was a 5 mile canoe trip down the river. They told me it was a very calm river and it would be okay to bring tiny kids, and they were right. It was perfect. We were a little worried that the weather would not cooperate again because it was grey and cloudy, but it actually turned out to be perfect. It was really warm (probably around 80), but because of the cloud cover it was not too hot.

At first we thought Kylee would be able to hold Colby so I could paddle our canoe, but he was too grumpy for her (probably not loving the life jacket), so I had to hold him instead. For a while Kylee held onto Andy's canoe and he just paddled all of us, and then we let go and Kylee paddled our canoe for a bit.

A short time into our trip Colby fell asleep so I was able to help paddle a little bit while I held him on my lap. Skyler and Ally also took turns helping Andy paddle their canoe. They did more harm than good (they kept paddling backwards) but Andy was a good sport and told them they were doing great, and just used his paddle to keep his canoe pointing in the right direction.

The canoe guy told us that we would likely see hundreds of turtles because the Sante Fe River area is a huge turtle habitat, and he was right. I think we saw around 200ish. If you look close you'll see 8-9 just on this one log. There was another log that had around 11 turtles on it. We also saw an alligator on a log that was about 4 feet long.

While we were canoeing we passed by Ginnie Spring State Park. It's where this natural spring of super clear blue water comes up, and then eventually it runs into the Santa Fe river, which is the dark brownish/yellow color. Because the river is running one direction and the spring runs into it from another direction, it doesn't mix. We could have stopped to swim there, but there were a MILLION people, Colby was asleep, and we weren't sure how long it would take us to canoe 5 miles. Someday we'd love to go back!

 After canoeing we stopped at Costa Vida for lunch again, and then Andy ordered ANOTHER meal to bring home and eat for dinner. Gotta get our fill while we have the chance!

After lunch Skyler fell asleep pretty fast, and didn't wake up for the whole 4 hour drive home. Ally kept insisting she wasn't tired, but then she finally crashed, too.

A few years ago Grandpa Bruce got us started on collecting squished pennies from the places that we go. On this trip we added these 6. Finding the machine at Smoky Mountain National park was quite the ordeal! I had to ask at three different visitors centers before we finally found it at the general store out near Cade's Cove. The kids LOVE looking for these machines and getting their pennies, and Andy and I love that it's such a cheap souvenir! 

Last time we went to Rocky Mountain National Park grandpa even found us this squished penny book to put our pennies in.

Our book is getting pretty full! 

Overall we had a super fun trip, and it was worth all the effort it took to plan it all, cook and freeze meals to take camping, and pack all the stuff. Once Andy is done with school we plan to make trips like this more often. Our kids loved EVERYTHING, and these are the kinds of things they'll remember most when they grow up, I think. Fun times together as a family.

Road Trip Day 7 - Rock City and Incline Railroad

On Friday morning we got up and went to Rock City on Lookout Mountain first thing, because I'd read online that if you go later it can get really crowded and really hot. Going right when they opened was perfect, because we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. There were some great views of the Chattanooga valley from up there.

The kids loved all the skinny passageways you got to walk through.

Skyler was a little nervous that there might actually BE goblins in the underpass...

There was a suspension bridge that the kids were not at all scared to cross.

...and s tone bridge that people could use if they didn't want to go on the suspension bridge. I took this photo of Andy, Colby and Ally from on the suspension bridge. Then Ally decided she wanted to go on the "swinging" bridge, so they came back and went across.

This picture scares me a little because I didn't notice that Colby was being carried higher than the cable handrail. What if someone swung the bridge and Andy lost his balance!?!?

They had a lookout point where you could see 7 states, and they had a flag on display from each of those states, plus this little map to show you which direction to look, and how far away the state was. We were pretty close to the Tennessee/Georgia border here, but were actually in Georgia.

I made the picture below huge so you can read the sign. This was called "Fat Man Squeeze." We weren't sure Colby would make it...and it was a bit of a close call...but they managed. It really was pretty narrow. Like maybe 18 inches wide, max. We were thinking they should put some kind of warning so that people who actually really might not fit would know ahead of time!

Here's Ally and Skyler headed down into Fat Man Squeeze.

The kids thought the "rainbow hall" was really awesome, too.

We went through a cave portion of the trail that had these little fairy tale displays. Ally kept saying "OOh, mom! I love this one!" and then "Ooh, mom! I love this one, too!" Pretty much she just loved all of them. 

Some parts of the cave were fairly dark, but since we'd already done the Ruby Falls cave the day before, the kids were not scared at all. 

After Rock City we had tickets for the incline railway. It's pretty short - just about a mile long, but it goes straight up the side of Lookout Mountain. Near the top it reaches a 72% incline. Looking at it from the bottom station, I was having second thoughts about actually riding it. It looks like it is going straight up. But...the kids (especially Skyler) LOVE trains, and we already had tickets, so off we went.

It starts off not too steep. It pulls you up backwards, so this is a picture out the back window of the train (in front of us) as we got started.

As you go further up, it gets more and more steep. These pictures with my camera held straight out in front of my stomach, facing forward, but those windows are on the ROOF of the train.

 

Once you reach the top you have some really nice views of the valley again. 

Just down the street from the top station is a National Historical Military Park the tells all about the Civil War battles that were fought on Lookout Mountain and in the surrounding area. It was interesting, and sad to read about how many lives were lost in that one place.

 

This is a memorial they put up to honor those men.

 

After the military park we rode the train back down. While we were waiting to board, the driver was telling us about how the system works, and how the emergency brakes work if something were to happen to the cable. Skyler's mind was totally boggled, and he kept asking and asking questions about it.

It's hard to get a good picture of just how steep this track was. I really wanted to believe the guy when he assured us that there is NO WAY the train could ever go plummeting down the mountain out of control...but I'm still not sure I'm convinced.

 After we finished the train we began our long trek back to Florida. We had just under 6 hours to drive back down to the hotel we stayed in on our first night. Andy needed to study, so on all these long drives he had me login to his anesthesia study website and read him flashcards and practice test questions. Some of those words are pretty much impossible to pronounce and it is MIND NUMBING to try to understand it all. But...we muddled through and I may be just a bit smarter myself now. Maybe.