Blue Haze and Painted Bulldogs

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First off, it's been a long time since the last blog, and it's not really Cody's fault, but he's going to get blamed anyway. So be it, I apologize. Second, this will be the last blog, since the trip is now over, and has been for a month.

We had a beautiful drive through Tennessee, ending up in Pigeon Forge. We stayed at a hotel room (SOOO nice) and left early the next morning after our FREE pancake breakfast!! As we drove through the Great Smokies, some of the trees were just beginning to change color into bright reds and oranges. The rolling hills were really pretty, covered in trees and the blue haze they were named for. We drove up to the center of the park, which was at the border between Tennessee and North Carolina and right on the Appalachian Trail. After getting a look at the spot where FDR dedicated the park, we took a stroll along the AT, not quite making it the 1970 miles to reach the northern end of the AT in Maine.

After leaving the park we drove through North Carolina and into Georgia, arriving in Athens in the afternoon. Athens was a neat college town, where they had painted bulldogs all over town. We stayed the night in Athens, leaving the next morning to drive a small portion of the Antebellum Trail. We saw a few old plantation houses. We continued our drive down through Georgia, and into Florida, where we stayed with Nickey's grandparents for a few days. While there, I got to go with Nickey's Grandpa Linscott while his Civil War buddies practiced firing their mortar for an upcoming competition.

*sigh* Our trip has finally come to an end. We had an awesome time, loving every (well, almost every) minute of it. We traveled 14,500 miles(!), made it to 26 states, and spent three entire months with just each other as company, much of it in a Chrysler Pacifica. After all of that, we are still talking, still happy, and we still enjoy being together. Who would have thought!

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