Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 3

 

Day 3 MONDAY

(Me checking out the view of 7 states in the distance)

Last evening around 7:00 pm I got word that thunderstorms were moving in shortly and would be lasting for 24-48 hours.   Crap!  What to do??  I don’t mind sleeping in my tent when it rains, but I had one more day in Chattanooga and I really didn’t want to be packing up a bunch of wet stuff on Tuesday when I headed to the Smoky Mountains.  So I decided to break camp quick and just sleep in the car.  That turned out to be a smart choice and 30 minutes later everything was stowed away and the rain started.   After a good nights sleep I woke up Monday morning and waited for the rain to let up a little, pulled on my raincoat and went outside to fire up my Jetboil.  I heated enough water to make instant oatmeal and 2 cups of coffee for breakfast.  

I laid around in the back of the car until 10:30 just reading and then brushed my teeth, got dressed and headed over to Rock City.  

Rock City is also on Lookout Mountain so I enjoyed driving up the winding roads again.  I had pre-purchased tickets for 1:00 and since I was there early and it wasn’t crowded, they let me in at noon.  What a break!   Plus, the rain stopped so I spent the next hour or two walking thru the gardens and the Fairyland.   The whole place is awesome and I loved it.   Lots of great passageways, nooks and crannies...

 

Mushroom Rock...

I'm not sure if they let you walk on the swing-a-long bridge or not.  The trail to it was closed.  Darn it!

Rock City is sort of a combination of Starved Rock State Park, meets The Botanical Gardens, meets Disney’s “It’s a Small World.”   It was so much fun walking thru the place.  Health precautions were in place and everyone was required to wear masks and try to keep 6 ft. apart which wasn’t a problem since there wasn’t a lot of people there.  The walk way thru Rock City is one way and once you complete the tour you are welcome to go through again for free if you like.   I loved all the rocks and cliffs, waterfalls, cute little passageways, and there were gnomes everywhere.  Soft music is piped in and it was so serene and relaxing.    

Check out this view.  That's an eagle statue, I didn't catch a real one in flight...

One area overlooks a view of 7 states....

Afterwards I went through the gift shops and bought myself a huge slice of chocolate pecan fudge and a gnome.  Plus a Rock City patch for my jacket.   

I stopped and did a quick geocache on my way back to the campground.  Rock City was rocking fun and I highly recommend it!  Once I got back to the campground, I decided to empty and re-organize my car since it looked like I’d be spending another night sleeping in the back.  Rain was forecast to start back up again around dinner time so I quickly heated up some spaghetti with Italian sausage to eat.  Dinner was followed by a shower and then settling in for a quiet evening just reading while rain tapped against the windows.  Ahhhh....this is the life!

Next post:  The Smoky Mountains!!

Check out the Jetboil Sumo cooking system by clicking here.