Sandi's Stories: A Southern Greeting

Greeting from Georgia! We have officially landed in Atlanta. It seems like we have put a lot of miles behind us and that we have lot ahead of us but we are having fun and seeing some beautiful country. That is what I love about traveling, you get to see how God has decorated other parts of the country. Our vacation officially started Thursday and when I drug out my suitcase Roscoe just jumped right in like he should be packed as well. So I took this opportunity to have a photo shoot. He gets to spend the week with Chara and I know he will be spoiled and probably not want to come back home with me. Ha!

After we dropped Roscoe off at Chara's we then started our vacation with a concert from a country legend, Alan Jackson. He stopped in Springfield at the JQH Arena. I didn't realize until this concert that he has had 34 number one hits in the 20 years he has been performing. That blew me away. It was an awesome concert. I love going to concerts where you know all the songs and can sing along with them. Adam's personal favorite "Country Boy" was a big hit with the crowd. Must be something about driving a 4-wheel drive.

This was us at the concert.

After the concert we headed out on the ole Missouri Highway and traveled through most the night and into the morning until we came to Jonesboro, Arkansas and stopped for the night, or I guess I should say morning. It was about 3:00. We then slept until about 10:00 AM and headed out towards Atlanta. We traveled all day and lost and hour and arrived at 11:00 that night. Early the next morning we went to Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola.

The Aquarium was very cool and had lost of different kinds of fish. It is also home to the World's Largest Aquarium with 8 million gallons of water. There was Beluga Whales, African Penguins, Sea Lions, Sea Otters, and Sharks. The coolest feature was the 3D movie we got to go see. It featured Deepo the fish explaining about how the decisions we make as humans affect the creatures in the sea.

After about an hour of being around a bunch of children dressed as Pirates we decided that we had enough and headed to the World of Coca-Cola. That place is amazing. We had a problem when we arrived. To get inside we had to go thru a metal detector and there was a sign that said no weapons and Adam had his knife on him that he uses on the farm. We weren't sure if we could sneak it in my purse so Adam hid it in some mulch under a tree and when we got out it was still there and we both then could clear security.

There was so much to learn about Coke. This was a two-story building that was full of coke products, memorabilia, and coke bottles designed by other countries that was given to Coke during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Personally I am a Pepsi person, but I loved this place!

We also got to experience our first 4D movie!

It was called the search for the secret formula. What is that secret ingredient inside of Coke that makes it so irresistible. Let me tell you about the 4D movie. You are sitting in a recliner style seat and the movie starts and while the picture is jumping out of the screen you are experiencing real life action with your seat moving and spritz of water in you face and a occasional jab to your back. This was defiantly a movie that you wouldn't fall asleep in. (By the way, the secret ingredient is you, the drinker, you are what makes Coke the product that it is)

At the end of your Coke tour you went to the Taste Tour Room and it was a room of Coke products from all over the World and cups that you could fill and taste and refill and taste and refill and taste and on and on. Some were very good, while others you almost spit out as soon as you tasted it. It funny how people's taste can vary just from country to country with just a sea separating people. This was Adam's favorite part.

After we left the World of Coke we came back to the hotel for a while and then went to Stone Mountain. Being surrounded by so many skyscrapers and traffic it was amazing that there was Stone Mountain just a few minutes from Atlanta sitting amongst trees secluded from hustle and bustle of the city. We rode the SkyRide up to the mountain and the scene was breathtaking.

After the ride back down we hung around until the lazor light show. It was about a half hour show of lazor lights, music, and fireworks. My dad told me to defiantly go see it and it was worth it. It was nice just to be outside and sitting under the stars and watch the light show. Us along with a couple of thousand other people enjoyed it! People brought picnics baskets, crockpots, and even pizza. Everybody was sitting on blankets and lawn chairs.