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Photograph of Robert Bruce Thompson Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary

Week of 10 July 2006

Latest Update: Sunday, 16 July 2006 2:30 p.m.


Monday, 10 July 2006

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Hi, yes I am back. Had a wonderful time. There were a lot of "firsts" for me on this trip of which I cannot wait to share with you. Hopefully Bob will have time to sort some of my pictures for me to post later this week. He is terribly busy with the new book deadline.

I finished the Anne Perry and started and finished another Kate Shugak while on the trip. Very surprising ending for this one, Hunter's Moon. She most definitely left me hanging and anxious to read the next one.

I stopped at the gym on the way home for Metabolic Effect class, fixed a light dinner, and mowed the lawn. We are in the middle of watching the first episode of a new season of Monarch of the Glen.

As it is getting rather late I will sign off for tonight. More about my trip tomorrow night.


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Tuesday, 11 July 2006

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Thanks to Bob for putting my pictures up for you to share. We had a very busy and exciting three days in Chattanooga, TN.

The bus picked us up here in Winston at 7 am. We arrived in Chattanooga at 3:45, about a half hour later than we were supposed to due to some traffic slow down.



   


We spent the afternoon touring the Tennessee Aquarium. The main building houses five floors of fish including one floor of various species of sea horses. The other floors contained huge tanks of fish from all over the world with each floor representing a specific geographical location.




   


The second and smaller building was two floors. The top floor was more open with ponds and natural habitat areas.



   

These large guys in the first picture were actually in a large pond in the middle of the floor where you could pet the fish. And of course, the butterfly house was terrific. After we toured the two buildings we went across the street to the IMAX theater where I saw my first 3D movie. From there we went to our hotel to check in and grab some dinner.

The next morning we made our first stop at Ruby Falls, on Lookout Mountain. The main entrance looks like a castle.


   


Of the dozens of pictures I took I tried to post the ones that showed the various beautiful rock formations.

   

The walk to the end of the cave and Ruby Falls was well lit making picture taking easier. This is the other entrance sign which I took a picture of from the top observation deck after we toured the cave.


   

Our next stop was Rock City. We walked a trail which wound around and through the rocks in the mountain to very top where you can see seven states, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Unfortunately it was too hazy to see much beyond the Tennessee, and Georgia line. A picture of mom and dad at the top. If you check out the link to the trail you can see pictures. I took some but they really did not turn out all that well.

After lunch at Rock City we went on to the Incline Railway. This is the third attraction of the Lookout Mountain package but overall sort of disappointing. We waited for about 45 minutes in line to get on the train which goes down this steep mountain. As one car goes down it pulls the other one up on the same track, switching about midway down. At the end of the track you can get off to do some shopping at some of the little shops or get something to eat. Unfortunately the lines were so long we had to stay on the train and just ride back up to the top.



   

On our way home Sunday morning we made one last stop at the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN. This cave was not as well lit making it very hard to get  pictures but was equally as interesting. At the end of the cave are several natural aquifers and a large underground lake. Once we hiked the mile down to the lake we boarded large flat bottom boats for a ride on the lake itself.

If you are ever in that area of the country I highly recommend spending a few days in the Chattanooga area and seeing some of the sights. The aquarium is located on the river front and in the downtown area proving a lot of things to see and do.


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Wednesday, 12 July 2006

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No update.



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Thursday, 13 July 2006

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Last night it went straight to the gym from work, ate dinner, watered the front yard plants, walked with Stephanie and finally crashed on the couch until last time out for the dogs.

Tonight Bob and I went to the library and dinner at the Chinese restaurant. Paul met us for dinner then he brought him home while I went on to the grocery store. Lots of chores left to do so I best get busy. We had a pretty good thunder storm while we ate dinner but it seems to have passed on through. At least we had a little rain to soak the grass and plants. Things are really starting to get dry with the heat. It was almost 100 today between the actual temperature along with the humidity.

I am reading the next to the latest Lee Kelley dog mystery, Twas the Bite Before Christmas. Jack, dog trainer and kennel owner in Maine and his finance Jamie who is the local county medical examiner are investigating the murder of a wealthy family's maid. In addition to finding the killer they are also investigating the comings and goings a strange man called the professor and some very mysterious lights that go off and on in the house.



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Friday, 14 July 2006

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Yippee Skippie it's Friday. We had another thunderstorm roll through just as I got home. We had 1.13 inches of rain in about half an hour. Lightning and thunder popping all over the place. One loud boom hit very close causing me to almost levitate off the sofa. I had just stuck my fork in my bowl of salad when I jumped. Luckily I only flipped a little over the side of my bowl but I came close to tossing my bowl.

Before the storm came through it was 90 degrees with the heat index in the mid 90's but has now dropped down to 73. More of the same is expected for tomorrow. There appears to still be some bad weather in the area so I best not walk tonight.

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Saturday, 15 July 2006

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The weekly house cleaning chores are completed. It took most of the morning to get stuff put away from my trip last weekend as well as the general clutter that accumulated over the week. After I finished inside I headed for the outside. After picking up numerous limbs and small sticks blown down from last nights storm I did some weeding in the natural areas then mowed. It was hot and muggy already at 11:00 am.  Right now we have a temperature of 90 degrees with a heat index of 95.

I shall spend this afternoon cleaning and filing stuff off my desk, writing checks, etc. in between hand shots for Bob.

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Sunday, 16 July 2006

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Golf this morning. Not nearly as warm as it was yesterday. We had a really nice breeze most of the morning as well.  Today is to top out only in the high 80's or low 90's but will get progressively hotter each day of next week.

We are still building the SOHO system this afternoon. I will be available for pictures as needed. Between building sessions I will watch the race and/or the golf and read the paper.

Last night I finished the Lee Kelley. I will pull something else from my TBR shelf.



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