Evans Escapades in Four States

We were rolling out of Atlanta by 8AM

which is awful, awful  early for us,

with an overnight stop planned in Montgomery for. . .you guessed it!

The Alabama State House. . .very nice

and then on to the River View RV Park in Vidalia. . .

right across the Mississippi River from Natchez. .

.

but. . .it seems as though we’ve entered the rain belt. . .

now truly. . .that is not a complaint, because after the drought of the past few years,

this entire area can really, really use some rain. . .

but it does sort of put a “damper” on sightseeing. . .if ya know what I mean?

   

a driving tour won’t be so bad. . .you know you’ve truly arrived in the South

when the spanish moss is dripping from all the oak trees. . .so beautiful. . .

a view of the Mississippi River from Bluff Park

the American Queen Paddle Wheeler was in port on her way from New Orleans to St Louis. . .

the Isle of Capri Casino is in the background. . .

back in the day, when I used to read 4” thick novels about southern plantation days,

I remember reading stories and descriptions about the sordid, Under the Hill area of Natchez. . .

no self respecting citizen would ever be found down there. . .

it seems pretty innocuous these days. . .not much there at all.

Fire destroyed several of the original buildings, and I believe

I read they have been trying to revive the area with tourist shops. . .

didn’t seem to me to be much going on. . .but then again,

we have arrived when tourist season is winding down. . .

  

The Natchez Trace Parkway begins in Natchez. . .so I wanted to see that.

Our intention in 2011 had been to start at the beginning of The Trace,

and explore most of it. . .due to the severe flooding of the river that spring,

we rerouted our trip. . .so when we return for the Annual Spring Pilgrimage

of the Natchez Mansions. . . perhaps we can  explore more of The Trace then. . .

a lady at the Visitor Center highly recommended the lunch buffet at the Historic Eola Hotel. . .

and boy was she right on the money. . .delicious. . .the best cornbread dressing I have ever had. . .it had shrimp in it. . .delicious. . .

and all the southern eats to go along with it. . .including Sweet Tea. . .life is good!

Friday, Nov 1

on to the next destination. . .we’ve made it through Georgia, Alabama, and into Louisiana

in less than a week’s time. . .coming up today. . .TEXAS! 

close enough to see some of the kinfolk. . .Uncle John and cousins
Karen, Lynn, and Justin with their grandaughter Cara. . .

  

thanks for driving over from Shreveport for a visit. . .loved getting our hugs!

it surely was great that Justin had a basketball game scheduled in Longview,

Saturday, Nov 2

Our longtime friends, the Clarks, have built a new house in Longview. . .

so of course we needed to see that. . .I was so excited to see them

and to visit, that I forgot to take a single picture. . .just crazy. . .

Sunday, Nov 3

Sunday gave us the opportunity to see on of our “adopted” girls. . .

Tamara and a couple of other girls stayed with us during their

Bible College summer break way back in the day. . .goodness. . .

since we’ve seen her last, she’s become Mommy to four precious angels. . .

so wonderful to have lunch with her and Michael, and the rest of the family!

Monday, Nov 4

Monday and Tuesday brings us to Granbury

to see our precious Aunt Barbara. . .

she belongs to Dave really, but I claim her as my very own. . .

She came over to see our “castle” and have chicken tortilla soup. . .

what a wonderful afternoon. . .

We’ll see her again today before we head out in the morning for Austin. . .

Mr Jaden (our newest great nephew) was scheduled to put in an appearance

on Nov 4th. . .but he’s decided to take his time. . .so perhaps today, Nov 5th. . .

We were planning to see him at home. . .but if he keeps up this

lollygaggin’ around, we may visit him in the hospital on Thursday. . .

either way, it will be great to get our hands on him. . .

and to see his Mommy and Daddy of course. . .

and Grandpa, and Grandma, and the other Grandma. . .

and all Jaden’s aunts and uncles

. . .see. . .

family reunion. . .one way or the other.

See you in Austin. . .

Janice and Dave

more pics

Natchez Album

Alabama State House Album

Evans Escapades in Atlanta and at Stone Mountain Park

With a wee bit of a jog on our way home

we could stop over in Atlanta

and meet our newest great nephew. . . Mr Jonah Grey. . .

is he adorable or what?

we even babysat the little angelic being,

so Mommy and Daddy could go celebrate Daddy’s birthday. . .

If all goes as planned, they will be transferring back

to Houston soon, so I can get my hands on the little man often. . .

fingers crossed!

of course being this close we wanted to see the Stone Mountain Carving. . .

President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee

and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

the carving doesn’t appear that large, but apparently it actually covers three acres,

and is larger than Mount Rushmore. . .didn’t compute in my mind,

but those are the facts according to what I read about it. . .

and then here is an article that disputes it. . .so I find that info interesting also. . .

regardless of it’s actual size. . .according to our

SkyRide Pilot, dinners for twelve are served up there. . .

I would love to see some pics of that happening. . .

on a clear day, the Atlanta Skyline would be awesome. . .this was the best we could do

there was a little bit of wind up there, so Uncle Dave shared his Tilley with Jonah. . .

gotta LOVE that face. . .

but nothing beat spending the day with our niece Tiffany

and her beautiful little family. . .come home soon Tiff. . .

We have a brief stopover in Natchez. . .

then on to Texas, where the newest of the new great nephews. . .

Jaden Carl is expected to put in an appearance on Monday. . .

and with nephew Aaron's little man Jensen

expected in March. . .

our great nephew total will be six. . .

with one little instant great niece as a bonus. . .

what a lot of fun. . .

we are blessed indeed!

we love sharing our brothers and sisters grands,

since ours have all grown up on us. . .

til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades in Atlanta

We were excited to head to Atlanta on Wednesday for two reasons. . .

#1. . .to meet the newest of our great nephews. . .

and to see his Mommy, Tiffany (Dave’s niece) and hubby, Nathan. . .

and

#2. . .there’s a huge Cummins Repair Shop,

where we were hoping to have a repair done to our coach battery’s wiring harness. . .

but alas. . .the shop is slammed from the Good Sam’s Rally that just finished up,

and couldn’t possibly work us in until NEXT Wednesday. . .

we’ll continue limping along to Texas. . .every time the coach won’t start,

Dave pulls the battery tray out. . .it fires right up, and away we go.

It’s not a problem when it happens on travel day morning. . .we just deal and move on. . .

but once. . .when it happened at a busy, busy truck stop. . .with lines everywhere. . .

well. . .that was not fun. . .we know the batteries themselves are fine. . .

Dave’s done a couple of post repairs. . .so we’ll see. . .

Jones’ RV Park in Norcross is nothing fancy. . .but more than adequate. . .

$30 for 50A FHU. . .or $165 for a week. . .easily accessible from I-85. . .

and easily accessible to where the new great is. . .ahhh. . .almost within reach!

I’ll be getting my hands on him very, very soon. . .

with the coach repair on hold. . .and the little angel’s Mommy and Daddy at work,

what shall we do with ourselves?  Hmmmm. . .driving range. . .that will work. . .

if only I could hit the ball on the course as well as I hit it at the range. . .that would be so great!

and then, of course Atlanta just happens to be the Capitol of Georgia. . .

boy, did I ever manage to get a horrible picture. . .yikes!

another one of those that are hard to photograph. . .so, it is what it is. . .

the funny thing is. . .I googled Georgia State House pics

and sadly. . .the pro’s pics aren’t much better. . .

this is one of those instances where the “drive by” shot from the freeway is almost the better one. . .too funny!

We are off to see the little man. . .so guess whose pics will be next. . .yes indeed!

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades at Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain

As I said before. . .Ruby Falls in Chattanooga TN

was on our radar, because I read about it on our

friends, Margery and Paul’s Blog. . .

now. . .had I done my due diligence as I usually do,

and gone back to reread the post, I would have realized

that the falls was at the end of a 1100 feet deep CAVE. . .

anyone who’s read our stuff very long,

knows that after Mammoth Cave in Kentucky

I told Dave I was done with caves. . .period. . .

well maybe I will repeat Carlsbad. . .but that’s it. . .

soooo. . .here we are to see Ruby Falls. . .hello. . .

I’m pretty much feeling like a dummy. . .

’cause evidently I REALLY was not paying ANY attention. . .

Margery and Paul’s blogpost clearly indicates that it’s IN A CAVE. . .

as do the pages where you buy the tickets. . .

but oh no. . .I didn’t register any of that part of the story. . .

I just wanted to see the falls. . .and they were glorious!

the story our EXCELLENT guide told us is

that they don’t actually know where the falls originate,

although many studies have been done. . .intriguing huh?

it was WELL WORTH IT!   Highly recommend. . .

and on the way back out. . .my favorite formation. . .steak and potatoes. . .

Now, I highly recommend checking out

Paul and Margery’s story of Ruby Falls

because. . .they used a flash. . .

so their pics are much clearer. . .

I didn’t want Dave to use a flash. . .

‘cause I wanted to have that same sensation

of claustrophobia every time I looked at them,

that I had when I was experiencing it. . .what can I say?

and for our last experience in Chattanooga. . .

the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. . .

eh. . .if you’ve never done one before. . .

and just feel the need. . .go ahead. . .

but nothing all that exciting,

other than it being at a 72* grade

which all RV’ers understand is crazy grade status. . .

the views from the top weren’t any better, if as good

as the views from the lookout at Ruby Falls. . .

and you could easily drive there yourself if you wanted to see the battlefields. . .

just my opinion you understand. . .

but all in all. . .Rock City and Ruby Falls were well worth the adventure!

see you in Atlanta next,

Janice and Dave

Ruby Falls – Lookout Mountain Incline Railway – ALBUM

Travel Bug: Chattanooga - Ruby Falls - Rock City and More

Evans Escapades in Chattanooga

Three different Camping World Stores have public RV Parks. . .who knew?

The one in Chattanooga is great. . .

we paid $22.50 per night with our Good Sam Discount

very pleased!

One added note about the RV Park -

 as stated in the reviews. . .on Friday nites the races fired up, 
and the roar was very evident for about three hours. . .
tolerable, but definitely there! 

Our main objective for a stop in Chattanooga

was to see Ruby Falls. . .which our friends Margery and Paul

had visited last year and written about on their blog. . .

so. . .when I began to do my research,

I found we could do a combo ticket for

Rock City, Ruby Falls, and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. . .fabulous!

First UP. . .Rock City. . .

a sort of botanical garden, all native plants. . .

but designed in amongst these massive boulders. . .

the majesty of it does not translate to pics. . .

I recommend you go and experience it for yourself. . .

rock bridges. . .swinging bridges. . .my fave. . .NOT!

but nowhere near as terrifying as the Royal Gorge Bridge. . .

our view of Lover’s Leap. . .

the Post Card view of Lover’s Leap. . .

and the view from the top. . .

from which you could supposedly see seven states. . .

I find any view from any pinnacle to be fascinating,

so we enjoyed it very much. . .

What a great way to spend a couple of hours. . .

Next up. . .Ruby Falls. . .see you there!

Janice and Dave

Rock City TN – ALBUM

Margery and Paul's Rock City Story and Pics