October 1, 2009 1:26 p.m.

We returned from our camping vacation in the South, and I have decided to simply leave you with short, delicate, literary sketches of our trip. I learned from last year that it is too cumbersome to attempt an exhaustive description of the experience. Those of you who read last year's account will probably agree [insert mischievous grin here].

You may recall that our weather forecast upon departure was not good. In fact, we did dodge raindrops throughout almost all of the trip, but amazingly, it did not really interfere much with our plans. We were still able to do and to see almost everything that we had planned to. This, despite a historically wet and "floody" September in much of the South.

Quick summary of trip: Three nights at a KOA in west Florida while visiting my in-laws. Then a night stop at a campground in Gadsden, Alabama where we dined at a recommended restaurant - Top O' the River. Next, a couple of nights at a KOA near Chattanooga taking in some sights there. Next, three nights stay at the Fall Cre*k F*lls Inn, one of the prettiest state parks in Tennessee. Then a couple of nights at a campground in Pigeon Forge to visit a well known theme park in that location. Finally, we made a stopover at a KOA near Savannah, Georgia before returning home.

We camped in four states and drove through five states. All camping nights were spent quite comfortably in our 23 mpg diesel van.

Whenever we are on the road, we always try to stop at Cr*cker Barr*l. It is always consistent, always good. Food is good with plenty of variety, service is always good. We have never had a bad server at a Cr*cker Barr*l. We probably stopped at six different Cr*cker Barrels on this vacation. I remember living up north as a kid, and the only time I ever saw one of these restaurants was on the highway signs whenever my parents took us south of New Jersey. We never stopped there because we never knew they were restaurants. The signs say: Cr*cker Barrel Old Country Store, so we thought they were stores! Sigh.. All those wasted years.
Hand sanitizer was our best friend during this trip. We went through a bunch of the stuff. I used it obsessively, and tried to get my family to do the same. Since we were in theme parks and museums, the children were forever touching surfaces touched by lots of folks. Unfortunately, as of this afternoon, Little Son reports a fever of 102. I cannot remember the last time he has had a fever. I am going to have to watch him closely. Baby Girl is starting to sneeze now, too. Right now, I have them both sequestered in their rooms reading library books. I hope they don't get too sick. I am always thinking about H1N1 these days.

Now is the part where I scatter some photos with captions and comments.


Before we left, Little Son came up with a nifty invention to solve that awful problem of being hot and thirsty while hiking.

Here we are somewhere on I-10. The children have gotten to be excellent travelers over the years.

There were those days when it was too wet to play mini-golf, but not too wet to do a puzzle. Like I said, we had our fair share (or maybe more than fair) of rain, but it didn't really get in our way. Just slowed us down a bit, so we could keep the trip somewhat relaxing.


Here we are eating fried seafood at Top O' the River. Baby Girl thought it was the "funnest restaurant". Maybe it was because we could see turtles in the lake just outside the window.


Here is Little Son and Baby Girl just outside the entrance of the Ruby Falls attraction. We never did get in to see Ruby Falls, though. It was closed due to flash flooding.

We did get some decent reading accomplished at night when it was too wet to stay outside at a campsite. Baby Girl read all of Little House in the Big Woods. Little Son completely read Redwall. Breezy Point Mom finished When the Heart Cries, by Cindy Woodsmall, (a novel set in an Amish community) and Self-Reliant Man read portions of The Ultimate History of BMW by Andrew Noakes.


This was the view from the top of the Incline Railway on Lookout Mountain.... moments before the clouds rolled into view. I have to say that the uppermost portion of that railway was a little scary for me (steep!).
Wow! The sun is out! Making the best use of it by playing tether ball!

A truly great attraction was the Tennessee Aquarium. And yes, they had a wonderful butterfly exhibit. Who knew?

I was surprised and impressed by their amazing jellyfish exhibits.


We answered the call to "See Rock City!" We had a good time there, too.


Like I said earlier, Fall Creek Falls was a beautiful state park. I highly recommend it to anybody visiting eastern Tennessee. I'd like to go back there some time.
There were a few too many of these types of swinging bridges, though. They gave me the creeps.


The Cane Creek Cascades were cool and pleasant, and we found we wanted to spend a lot of time there. See the swinging bridge above the cascades?

During the hikes, Baby Girl got in plenty of climbing up rocks. She loves to climb.


And this is the theme park we visited in Pigeon Forge. In case you hadn't already guessed. We were blessed with beautiful weather on the only day we had in our schedule to see this park! The day before, the rain had been torrential.


As an aside, we discovered why, when you camp at a place called "Creekside" RV park, it isn't always so great to have a creekside site. Especially when there are flash floods. In four hours, the creek had become a rushing river, and then a rushing lake! We checked in the hour the flash flood warning was announced, and fortunately were able to change our site assignment to a high and dry site. Within a few hours we discovered why we needed a different site.


Here are Little Son and Self-Reliant Man at the top of the ferris wheel.


This was the exact smile that was on Baby Girl's face throughout every ride. Our kids spend about one day every two years at some theme park, so it is a big deal to them. This park was very nice.Unexpected surprises.... baby and adult swans born and bred at the KOA in Savannah. Little Son was trying to snap some pictures of them with his camera.


A vacation well done! Baby Girl and Little Son finally relax and sleep during the final legs of the trip. And yes, Bear Blanket is always on hand where Baby Girl is concerned.

And finally, I wish I had a picture of this one, but I couldn't get one. A sign, in front of a Baptist church outside of Pikeville, Tennessee. It read: