Tuesday, October 24, 2006

It's been a while - Trip to Chattanooga

Sigh, I knew I would have difficulty keeping this blog updated frequently...

It's been over a month since I posted; however, not that much has happened. Although I did take a trip to Chattanooga, TN and North Georgia last weekend (October 12-16) with my mom and her friend Reno. That was a bunch of fun. We rented a van and I slept most of the way up on Thursday in the very back seat with my BiPAP and oxygen. It gets boring and tiring riding in the car.

We stopped in Kennesaw, GA to see Reno's son Tim's new townhouse. Very nice, a two-story one car garage building. He hasn't lived there long, so it's still not completely furnished and decorated, but it has a lot of potential. I didn't go upstairs but Mom and Reno said it was surprisingly spacious. We went to McDonald's for dinner, then on to Chattanooga.

Friday we got up and went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Boy is that an amazing place. Two huge buildings (River and Ocean) each with 4 levels, and every fish I've never heard of! I took some pictures of a couple stingray's that were so interesting, black with white spots and one that looked like a cheetah or leopard!


There were cool jellyfish and seahorse exhibits as well. The butterfly exhibit was so cool, they just flew around you. One landed on a guy's head. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take more pictures and video, but I was very tired and uncomfortable in my chair, I had difficulty taking pictures. I plan to go back and either take more myself or get Reno to photograph. We drove south to Lookout Mountain but I became so exhausted (scary tired) we had to go back to the hotel so I could lie down.

Saturday we left Chattanooga and drove around North Georgia, through the Chattahoochee National Forest, to Black Rock Mountain State Park and on to Cleveland Georgia, just south of Helen, GA, a little Bavarian town. I was too tired to go to dinner, so Mom and Reno went to a German restaurant while I rested. We stayed in a Days Inn right across the street from a McDonalds. We were used to staying in Marriott hotels, and this hotel DID NOT live up to our standards. We could hear everyone walking by the door and the people above us sounded like they were jumping up and down and throwing furniture. Reno banged on their door and they shut up.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Sunday we drove north a bit to Anna Ruby Falls, in Unicoi State Park. It was so beautiful. Reno pushed me up this extremely steep path (0.4 mile) so I could witness the beauty myself. I could never have gotten up there myself. I still can't believe he was able to do that. The twin falls were so lovely. It was cold, but I could stand it long enough to drink in the surroundings, and feel a part of nature.

Anna Ruby Falls, Georgia
We got some video, and a few pictures. We left and headed to Suwannee, GA, which is ten minutes from my best friend Patsy, and I had dinner with her, her husband and her little girl Abby at Olive Garden. It was nice to spend time with them. Abby is getting so big.

Monday was the trip home, and I slept the whole way. I took the next day off from work to rest up from the trip. Which was a good idea, since I had an appointment with my doctor I had forgotten about! Thank goodness they left a message on my answering machine! I was still pretty tired from the trip, so my O2 levels were low and my heartrate and blood pressure were high from the exertion of coming in from the car to the doctor's office. So he recommended I try wearing oxygen during the day. I have been resistant for a while now, but to get him off my back I agreed, since I can control how much I wear it and when they deliver it. Only when I desperately need it...