Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad with Mom & Dad and again with Pieter

Pieter had gone to China and Taiwan as a People to People Citizen Ambassador and meanwhile I went to The Netherlands.

After three weeks, Pieter briefly got reunited with me in The Netherlands and did some business for Campbell Soup in Europe that included traveling to England,  Switzerland and Austria... (see post below).
We flew back home on April 20, 1987, to Atlanta, USA, with Mom & Dad in tow for their very first flight and visit with us the coming 4 weeks.
On May 16, I would fly back to The Netherlands with Mom & Dad and did consulting work in Germany for 2 weeks before returning to the USA.
Pieter meanwhile was in Australia and in Christchurch, New Zealand for Campbell.
~ 
But on April 28, while Pieter was working for Campbell Soup, I took Mom & Dad to Atlanta for riding the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad with them.

Mom & Dad are standing in the center in front of the train that we rode around Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain Park Georgia's No 1 tourist attraction:  click the link

Summit Skyride at present time, just click it.
This picture also shows best the Confederate Memorial. You can read more when you click on the pink.

Mom & Dad standing now before the Stone Mountain Rail Road Station and with the Confederate Memorial visible above them as I stepped far enough back.

It is HUGE, the top of the summit is 1,686 feet (514 m) above sea level and 825 feet (251 m) above the surrounding area.
To the right you see Dad pointing out something to Mom...

It was a lovely day!
Was wishing then that Pieter could have joined us...
~

On Saturday, August 8, 1987 the same year, we both went with our friend Griffin to Stone Mountain!

So happy that Pieter got to see it now as well!

So this time Pieter too got to ride the train around Stone Mountain and we hiked the 2.5 km to the summit!

Yep we dared to hike up to the summit!
Pieter wearing his Burberry polo shirt with Ghurka shorts.

What a view!

We made it back down, just in time before a thunder storm!

Pieter in the center, behind that boy...

It sure felt like being on top of the world...

We even stayed for the Laser Show!

Miss those two director chairs that Pieter got from Campbell Soup.
We had them in our front porch and a friend who watered the plants while we were abroad, had used the sprinklers and left them on without removing the chairs; they got ugly rust stains...
At least I got this photo!

Laser Show at Stone Mountain Georgia click for more info...
We spent the night in Atlanta and next day we started with breakfast at 7:30 AM and went to the Cyclorama and to the Zoo in Atlanta... Yes, a city with LOTS to see and do!

Hope you enjoyed these fond memories and thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:
Taking Husband Pieter back to Knoxville, TN in Mom & Dad's Footsteps | previous post
{Part XVI of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Taipei, Taiwan} | previous post by me
{Mom Lived 16 Days Short of Her 91st Birthday} | previous post by me with Mom & Dad's words in guest book

Passing Through Waynesville, NC Where Our Speckie Came From

For the very first time since January of 2010, we drove exactly past Waynesville, North Carolina on our way home from the Smoky Mountains on July 30.

This is our tiny Speckie on January 15, 2010... 
We had picked her up on January 8, and Pieter showed me this photo of her, while I still was in the hospital. Got home on Saturday, January 16.
Got paralyzed the night after we came home with this tiny baby.
A look alike of the missing (kidnapped ?) Mama cat that we lost.
But this was a 2 month kitten so impossible it would be her.
We drove a long distance to go look at her...
Actually, Pieter did all the driving from Atlanta where we spent the night at the hotel before making it to Waynesville, North Carolina.

Pieter said, shall we bring her home, we have come such a long way... and so we did!

Now I was traveling on Great Smoky Mountain Expy 74 and very close to where our Speckie girl came from, see red marker!
She sure came from a beautiful area and also close to Lake Janaluska.

Here we are with the sign from Waynesville to the right...

Lake Janaluska must be to the left here...

Such a beautiful area...

Where was our Speckie girl born? Somewhere in this region...

Roads in the USA are always great!

Bye bye Smoky Mountains...

When we had breakfast that morning in Tennessee, I noticed that we were rather close to my youngest brother who was with his wife and daughter in Iceland on vacation.
ONLY 5,405 km or 3,359 mi away now!

Instead of the usual 7,190 km 

Or usual 4,468 mi

Got home after this total trip of 1075 mi or 1730 km that is including drive up to the Creeper Trail in Virginia and then to Tennessee...

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:

Gatlinburg Sky Lift Park Walking the Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge in the U.S. | previous post by me
Our Cabin Stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee | previous post by me
Our Bike Ride from Whitetop to Damascus - Virginia Creeper Trail | previous post by me

Gatlinburg Sky Lift Park Walking the Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge in the U.S.

After riding our bikes down from Whitetop to Damascus - Virginia Creeper Trail we went to Tennessee for a Cabin Stay.

 On our second day stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake, we drove to Gatlinburg, Tennessee which is only a good hour driving distance.

Yep, a WeFie of both of us as we are climbing to the top of Crockett Mountain to walk one of North America's longest suspension bridges!

Getting way up Crockett Mountain...
Sky Lift Park existed since 1954 but a deadly Wildfire destroyed it in the end of 2016...
It got rebuilt though and since the end of May it is again open to visit the newly constructed Sky Deck with its fabulous Rocky Mountain overlook and restaurant.

Two lines, coming down and going up so they help pull each other...

While I still was studying all this, they unexpected took a photo from us near the Sky Deck!
So we went ahead and purchased it, had it scanned into my iPhone...
Modern Technology!

The entire landscaping looked beautiful!
Behind Pieter you can see the length of the Sky Bridge

GATLINBURG SKYBRIDGE click for info
5' Wide or 1.5 m
140' High or 42.6 m
680' Span or 207 m

A very friendly Indian man took this photo from both of us.

Breathtaking view.
Oh, I'd bought the tickets on the Internet, so we could skip the line!
They put this band around our wrist that is valid all day.

There we go... Entering the on May 17, 2019 opened NEW SKYBRIDGE...
It was close to 14:00 when we started our walk across.

Admiring those sturdy steel cables!

Three THICK steel cables in One Length!
680 feet or 207 meter...

Looking down from SkyBridge down to SkyDeck and GiftShop Restaurant and SkyLift area.

Incredible view of the Smoky Mountains from SkyBridge!

My foot for comparison...

The Glass Bottom in the center part. My foot below and Pieter's feet and silhouette at the top...

Steel anchors fastened to a block of concrete below, for keeping those steel cables tight and to prevent  swinging of the bridge.

For tightening the steel cables on the bridge...

Disturbing to see at the end of the bridge that they had cut out a piece of this table!
They have a canopy to shield against the sun and for seating, and to purchase some water or soft drink if needed.
Remember we were visiting Clingmans Dome in April? That peak is seen to the right.
Panoramic views of the Smoky Mountains are fabulous from up here.

The Great Smoky Mountains stretch along the Tennessee-North Carolina border and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. They are called the Smokies due to the ever-present morning fog and majestic blueish tint. Great Smoky Mountains National Park protects most of the range and was established in 1934. It is America's most visited national park with over 11 million visits each year.

And then it started raining...
We ALL had to walk back to the SkyDeck for danger of lightning and being on an all steel bridge.
So we sat near the restaurant vendor area and here Pieter is getting a nice warm fanning from behind those beverage machines that needed cooling by fan, thus sending the warm air his way!

They started running the SkyLift empty for getting rid of excessive water before letting people sit in them...

There was still a queue of people outside waiting to ride down...
Now around 15:45...

At 16:15 we go down after having purchased also a Smoky Mountain poncho!

Cute Mama Bear and Cubs Statue...

Here we go down at 16:20 and notice that nobody is riding up?
The Park is open from 7:00 till 21:00

Still clouds and fog on the Smoky Mountains

Gatlinburg lies below...

Looking up how it rolls over cable...

A happy Pieter who enjoyed this adventure!

The Gatlinburg Space Needle comes into sight.

Almost back...

The Gatlinburg Space Needle a lot closer now...

Short Relive.cc video including the drive back to our Cabin at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee.

A total of 3.5 hours including the rain interruption and the drive from Gatlinburg to Bean Station, Tennessee was 112.8 km or 70 miles.
We thoroughly enjoyed it, even if the rain did surprise us all!

Workers grab parts from a helicopter to rebuild the Gatlinburg Sky Lift click link
Kudos to the install team that erected those footers, towers, cross arms and sheaves using a helicopter and also for flying in all of its parts!

Hope you enjoyed it too and thanks for your visit and comment.

Related links:
Our Cabin Stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee | previous post by me
Our Bike Ride from Whitetop to Damascus - Virginia Creeper Trail | previous post by me
Gatlinburg SkyLift Construction - Rebuild | After the wildfire destroyed the original one from 1954
Gatlinburg SkyLift - SkyDeck Construction, Part 3 | showing how the DkyDeck got made
SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post where we went to Clingmans Dome together