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Life On The Road
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Tennessee
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 Our last stop. The end of the road. We've been to Chattanooga before, but we really like it, so we decided to stop on the way home. We made it back in Tennessee, finishing our trip just in time to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. We had planned to "See Rock City " and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time we were there. So, we exchanged those outdoor activities for indoor ones, including the Creative Discovery Museum, which is Chattanooga's children's museum. The kids beg to go to the children's museums and this one was really fun. A great way to spend a rainy day. We also explored the Tennessee Aquarium, one of the best in the country. There are 2 buildings, the River Journey and the Ocean Journey, which divide the wildlife into freshwater and saltwater animals. When you enter you ride a very long escalator to the top of the "ecosystem". Then you begin making your way from the surface deeper and deeper into the water. As you spiral down the fish get bigger, more colorful, and stranger. It's really impressive. The kids even got to feed stingrays!
Packing up to leave was bittersweet. We were anxious to see our friends and family, but knew that our once-in-a-lifetime journey was coming to a close. Beyond that, we had no idea what we were going to do next. Three months later, we still have no idea and no job. I remain certain that God has a plan for us. He has given us some things to think about, but for now...it's one day at a time.
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Georgia
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 Atlanta. There is so much to do. We stayed for a week and barely scratched the surface. For starters, we stayed at the Stone Mountain park campground during the Stone Mountain Christmas celebration. We had lots of fun watching live Christmas shows, the 4-D Polar Express Movie, drinking hot chocolate and riding the Christmas Carol Train. Later, we visited Centennial Olympic Park for some ice skating. It was the first time the boys had ever been, and they came away with a few bruises, but smiles on their faces. For dinner we sampled a burger from the Varsity and heard the famous "What'll you have?".
Along with the fun and games we hit a few history highlights. First, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. We toured the museum and Dr. King's boyhood home, then the boys completed the Jr. Ranger program. The next day we visited the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum. In the Cyclorama is the largest painting in the world, depicting the Battle of Atlanta. It was painted by German artists in 1885-86, covers more than 15,000 square feet and weighs more than 10,000 pounds! There was a 3-dimensional foreground added to the painting in 1936 that really brings it to life. To view the painting, you sit on a rotating platform that slowly turns you around. It's really stunning, and the story told by the tour guide as you make the journey really adds to the painting. If you look closely you'll find a soldier that looks like Clark Gable and amazingly only one African American. It's very unique and definitely worth seeing.
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South Carolina
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 We left Georgia and made our way north to Charleston, South Carolina. We had already seen several major Civil War battlefields and the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL, so we knew a little bit about the Civil War, but Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, is where it all began. We had to see it.
We visited the Fort Sumter National Monument at Fort Moultrie . This fort is no longer in use and has been restored to show how it looked through every phase of history that it was in service. You see how it looked when it guarded the harbor from submarines during WWII all the way back to when it was first built from Palmetto logs in 1776, plus all the different types of artillery used. It's a great tour. Just off the coast you can see Fort Sumter, and during the tour you get a great explanation of what happened at the start of the Civil War. We completed the tour, then went back to the museum to complete the Jr. Ranger program. Very worthwhile.
According to the handy little map on our RV window, South Carolina is the 39th state on our tour! Wow. It's hard to believe it's almost over. What an amazing blessing this trip has been.
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Georgia
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 Downtown Savannah, Georgia is beautiful. It is everything that comes to mind when you think of southern charm. Lots of big shade trees surrounding inviting squares throughout the city (24 of them, in fact) that make you want to sit a while. This place is full of history - the original capital of Georgia, birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts), home of the First African Baptist Church (stop on the Underground Railroad), and the final stop of "Sherman's March to the Sea" during the Civil War. Because of the incredible amount of history and beauty here we decided to take a Civil War walking tour.
I wish I could tell you it was great, but it wasn't. The tour guide was dull. Really dull. And she spoke way over our boys' heads. They didn't understand anything she was saying. To tell the truth, I didn't understand half of what she said (she was from overseas and had a heavy accent). I was so disappointed. Maybe if we had taken a different tour it would have been better. Oh well. You can't always pick a winner.
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Florida
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 We followed I10 from Houston, along the Gulf Coast, all the way to Jacksonville, Florida. We had come full circle - from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and back to the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the timing of our trip kept us from really enjoying the beaches. It was too chilly most of the time, and early December in Florida is nice, but again, too chilly for swimming. Instead we settled for searching for seashells, exploring beautiful St. Augustine, and visiting with our favorite former neighbors.
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