Fall break, day 4

Here's the last batch of pictures from our trip.

Hooray for a great vacation!

Fall break, day 3

Day 3 pictures here.

Today was a visit to the Tennessee Aquarium -- I was impressed that they had so many types of marine animals that I had never seen before, or even known existed. Ever seen a turtle whose neck is almost as long as its whole body? Or a fish that looks sort-of like a feather standing on end, but that swims sideways? Or a crab the size of a car tire? Me either!

The big surprise of the day was lunch -- some "Mongolian" place called "Genghis Grill". You have to pick out all your own ingredients (including raw meat!) then they grill it for you. But I'm terrible at picking out ingredients to make something taste good, that's why I let others cook for me when I have the choice. Somehow, though, my pick turned out awesome and I left feeling terrific. Kyla and the kids loved theirs too.

Another great vacation day.

Fall break, day 2

Somehow I managed to narrow down 239 pictures down to 36, but a little too many for a blog entry -- so check them out here.

This morning when we left the Choo Choo (which is in downtown Chattanooga), we consulted the TomTom as to how long it would take to get to Lookout Mountain -- the response? 8 minutes. Huh? We can't even see any mountains from here! Sure enough, though -- that's about how long it took. Pretty tight grouping of fun for one day. I drove longer trying to find a binky at 10:30 pm tonight than we did driving to Rock City, Incline Railway, and Ruby Falls!

Tonight we went for dinner to "Mojo Burrito" -- the food was okay, I guess, but I got a kick out of the name. Sure, I know what they were going for, but obviously these people aren't Spanish speakers. The Spanish verb "mojar" means "to wet", so "mojo burrito" means "I wet burrito". I guess mine was a little soggy.

Some great quotes:

McKinley: "Dad, how much is this?"

Me: "13 dollars."

McKinley, realizing she'd asked the wrong question: "Is that a lot?"

That made some old folks in the gift shop crack up laughing.

Kendy, who had just found a cheeseburger hat: "Mom, I'm in a cheeseburger!"

If anybody could do it, sweet girl, you could.

Some girl standing by a slide to Kendy: "Hey little girl, you stay by the blue slide while I climb up on top."

Kendy, who probably didn't understand 2 words of what that girl had said: "O-kaaay. Wa-duh-wa-duh go over 'dere!"

I love these kids, they say the funniest things.

Great times, fun day.

Fall break, day 1

We heard that Chattanooga is a great getaway for Huntsvillians (villians? Huntsvillers? Huntsvillites? Huntsvillicans???) -- so here we are!

We're staying at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, which in most ways seems like an impressive 4-star-ish facility from the 1970s. It's a little run-down now, but still has enough character to be interesting.

And now for the part you've all been waiting for!

	At a rest stop about 20 miles outside of Chattanooga (sorry for the terrible lighting)
	See how happy we are when we're ignoring Kendy? =)
	She found the river, and was so excited to show it to us.
	At the Chattanooga Choo Choo caboose (sitting out in the middle of the parking lot)
	The crew.
	A real crowd of drifters.
	Those cars are actually guest rooms (but we didn't land one, unfortunately).
	Sign overhead at night.

More tomorrow!