A Climb to the Top and Trip Down Below

Thursday morning we made sure we were up in time to enjoy the great breakfast offered at the Fairfield Inn which included freshly made waffles, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit mix and all the usuals including cereal, yogurt, all kinds of sweet rolls, toast, juices, coffee and tea.  The boys had a ginamic (is there such a word?) feast!!!!

We requested a late check out and set out for a trip up Lookout Mountain on the Incline Railway which takes you a mile up on the steepest passenger  railway in the world - a 72.7% grade.  The car you ride in has windows in the ceiling as well as all the way around the sides so you can enjoy the views as you move up the mountain for a fantastic view although again we ran into lots of haze.

Up on top was Point National Military Park where the famous Battle Above the Clouds during the Civil War took place in the late 1863.  It is actually the turning point of the war as it was then from there that Generals Grant and Sherman began their marches South ultimately conquering the South.  We were able to enjoy a ranger talk sharing some of the details of the battles including the great importance of the area because of the 4 railroads that passed through Chattanooga as well as the Tennessee River.

After checking out the Visitor's Center and getting a very needed cold drink, we headed back down to the bottom on the incline railway

and then back to the motel to take a quick cooling shower, pack up and move stuff into the car.  From there we went to Wendys for lunch.  Ken called the repair place and the part had arrived so they told us the motorhome should be ready later in the afternoon.

So we then took advantage of the time remaining for a journey to Ruby Falls which is under Lookout Mountain.

The caverns trip begins with an elevator ride down 260 feet into the ground.  The one hour walk twists and turns, climbs and goes down to a point that is as far below ground as the top of the Empire State Building is above ground.  There we saw the very tall waterfall which was named after the discoverer's wife Ruby.  Along the route we saw the typical cave items such as stalagtites and stalagmites as well as "bacon", straws, pools, and other such stuff.

 It was not the best of cave experiences from that standpoint as over the years people have touched the items "killing them" and many times breaking them but at least some could still be seen.  This definitely is not a "living" cave BUT the waterfall is awesome.

We then returned to Lee Smith to pick up our motorhome which was now fixed.  We paid the bill, climbed into a cool coach since the air was now working and set off for the campground only to have the alternator reading drop very low.  Oh no!!!! Not another problem!  It was too late to go back and turn it in for more work so we continued on and set up for the night.  Then nothing would work!!!!!  Ken spent over an hour trying various combinations that have worked before when we couldn't get circuits to work and nothing would work.  I had the boys put on their bathing suits so they could at least have fun at the pool and just before we were ready to leave everything started up.  No rhyme or reason but we were thrilled!!!!!!!!!

Once the coach was cooled back down I tried cooking a meal and that worked.  Once that was done I tried running the washer and later the dryer and that worked.  Hooray!!!!  We could all have some clean clothes.

Meanwhile the boys enjoyed relaxing with their IPhones playing games and just being quiet.  We finally settled down for the night upset that we'd have to get up early to go in again to have the alternator taken care of but glad everything else was working and we could have a cool night at the campground in our motorhome.  Things are looking up!!