From the Smoky Mountains to Atlanta

Today was the day we had to leave the Smokys with a heavy heart. During our first visit, we never thought we would be able to come back so soon. Therefore, we will definitely set up camp here again soon. We packed up our things scattered all over the house, loaded the car, and took some final photos. Since we arrived here, time seemed to fly by faster than at the beginning of our vacation. For one last time, we went down the narrow path in the wooded mountains until we reached the paved road. We passed some places that we had visited the day before by train, and eventually the mountains around us noticeably shrank until we were surrounded only by flat land. Instead, we saw many homes decorated in Halloween style along the way. We unexpectedly passed by Bigun's Barbecue, but the line was too long for us to stop there. Before heading to Atlanta, we made a slightly longer stop in Canton to meet Debbie, an old acquaintance of Steffi's dad. 60 years ago, Debbie had stayed with Steffi's father's family for several months as part of a language exchange program. They have been in regular contact through letters since then. She also introduced us to her current partner named Mike. Both of them lived in a really nice area where beautiful properties are lined up one after another. As a conclusion of our stay, we had a meal together at a golf club, kindly invited by Debbie. The farewell was also warm-hearted as we continued our journey to Atlanta in the early evening. It was already getting dark when we arrived in Atlanta. Eventually, we found our centrally located hotel. We parked our car in a nearby parking garage and entered our relatively tiny room. It was quite a contrast considering that in the morning we still had our own multi-story house...

Best regards,

Steffi and Stefan