| Hope and a Future Continued |
Le Grand Finale!LAST DAYS IN CHATTANOOGA -- Well, two weeks in Chattanooga have come to an end. Its been a great time, packed with memories and fun. Here’s a short recap of some of the things we did the last few days we were there.
CHICKAMAUGA BATTLEFIELD. Believe it or not, as many times as we have traveled in the south, as much time as we have spent here, we had never visited a Civil War battlefield until now. The Chickamauga battle was one of the worst battles that took place during the war, over 35,000 men died during the few days of the campaign just outside of Chattanooga. We bought the narrative CD in the visitor’s center, and then followed the map through the grounds as the narrator described what happened, and where it happened. It was really an amazing way to relive history. It was sobering to realize what had happened there.
 LULA LAKE LAND TRUST – On top of Lookout Mountain is a piece of property that used to be private, before the owner formed a land trust of it for people to come and enjoy. Lula Lake is in the middle of the property, and its amazing to think that this was once somebody’s back yard. The trust is open 2 weekends a month, and if you’re ever in Chattanooga, make some calls to find out if you’re there on the right weekend to visit this place. Here’s just one picture of just one of the amazing waterfalls on the property
 Here’s another shot of a corner of Lula Lake. Note the waterfall in the background.
 DOWNTOWN CHATTANOOGA. We just had to go downtown one more time. Here are Rachel and Kirsten enjoying one of the water fountains in the park on the north side of the Tennessee River.
 Unfortunately while they were playing, they caused a very slight leak in the fountain. Here they are, trying to stop the small amount of water leakage they caused by playing.
 What trip to a park would be complete without the obligatory visit to the local carousel?
 We stopped by the Chattanooga Children’s Museum.
Here is Eva posing for an African travel brochure.
 BACK AT THE RANCH…
One evening we took over the gymnasium at Covenant College, just our families. We set up some ping pong tables and had a tournament to the death. Note KC on the right. Any idea who ended up winning the tournament?...
 ON THE ROAD TOWARDS NORTH CAROLINA.
A funny thing happened on the way to Hendersonville. We stopped by and visited some old friends from California who had moved to Knoxville. For those of you in SoCal who remember the Adams, here’s a picture of Jon and LizAnne (by the way, Jon is a head pastor of one of the perimeter churches in Atlanta. He was the one who actually married Jennifer and me 20 years ago)…
 … and here’s good ol’ Neal and Joye. These two are responsible for many blessings in our family’s life, too many to tell you here. But suffice it to say that little things done – acts of hospitality, simple acts of concern and self-sacrifice for the good of others – does indeed bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. Thank you, Neal and Joye!!
 HENDERSONVILLE.
The day after we arrived, guess what we did in Hendersonville? We went to the annual apple festival. Hendersonville is an area known for growing apples, and we were treated to the best of the best. We had apple smoothies (see picture below), apple tarts, apple turnovers, caramel apples, fried apples, fresh apples, dried apples (sounding a little like Bubba gump shrimp).
 At the festival was a particular sheriff’s car. Heyne, I REALLY, REALLY want to see you drive something like this as your main mode of transportation. Just a few miles away from Hendersonville is Mt. Pilot, and the area made famous by Andy Griffith.
 Here we are, posing with a REALLY great imposter of an American legend. That’s Grandma Eva, for those of you who don’t know.
 US PRO CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Allow me to diverge here for a moment, for most of you readers. The annual US Pro Cycling Championships are held each year in Greenville South Carolina. Those who know our family know that we are pro cycling freaks (it’s the only sport that I now follow, after having dropped our cable TV 3 years ago, and all of the regular sports that typically come with TV). We got to see two races, one to decide the US Time Trail champion, and the other, the US Road Racing Champion. Look across the street from the rider, and you’ll see our humble family cheering on this rider. See Jennifer reclining on the roadside. No, she’s not homeless.
 I took this picture on the next day, just before the Road Racing championship. These are the girls with Bobby Julich. Bobby is one of only 4 Americans who Have stood on the podium at the Tour de France – in 1998 he was 3rd. Rachel and Lindsey both got several famous riders to sign a hat (for Rachel) and a shirt (for Lindsey)
 Here’s a shot in front of the “broom wagon”. The broom wagon is the very last vehicle that trails a group of riders on a road race. They basically sweep up the fallen stars, the guys who have utterly cracked on the brutal climbs and are begging to be relieved.
 PICNIC WITH THE SWIGERS
We spent the day with the Swigers in the park downtown in Greenville. Here’s Nick jumping over brother Scott…
 … and here we all are together
 We will post again soon. Marion – you’re next!!
5:39 PM - Sep. 6, 2007 - post comment
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