Fall Creek Falls State Park

Tuesday morning we woke up early and packed the car with swimming suits and picnic lunches and headed off on about a 3 hour drive to a Tennessee state park near Chattanooga. I just found it on the internet a few days ago and showed it to Brian. We really wanted to see it before we left Tennessee and it was so worth it. I would highly recommend this place to anyone in the area.

We hiked about 3.5 miles with the kids up to all the overlooks and through the forest to the falls. As you can see, it rained. Not a light sprinkle, a good old God-fearing lightening and thunder downpour. We were soaked in a matter of seconds. It probably heightened the excitement of our adventure, in all truthfulness. We were able to prove our adventuring superiority by trekking through thick mud with water pouring down our faces. That only lasted about 30 minutes and the rest of the time, while overcast, was nice.

After a picnic by one of the waterfalls, we hiked to the base of another waterfall and played in the water. . . okay, the kids and Brian played in the water. Without direct sunlight I would have died of hypothermia in the river water, so I just took pictures. I'll swim next time we go!

The last stop in the park was a little swimming hole called George Hole. Oakley and Gwynyth cliff jumped with a bunch of teenagers. The little kids "cliff jumped" from a three foot cement slab. The girls had a great time. Once again, Diamond complained and wanted to go home. There was a cable bridge over the river that had a giant red sign reading: NO JUMPING FROM THE BRIDGE, right beneath which was a hole cut out where people blatantly disregarded the sign and did just that. My husband led the way for our delinquent children to jump into the waters. It took some major coaxing to finally get Chloe to go. (Oakley and Gwynyth are fearless.) Giselle jumped in from the cement slab and yelled, "Chloe, please come get me." Chloe, the ever-benevolent big sister was thus, desperate to save her baby sister and jumped in. Giselle was just fine, but she clapped for Chloe. Sophia also jumped off the bridge twice. She hesitated when she got on the other side of the rail and was looking down. I said, "Nevermind, Sophia, I don't want you to do it. I don't think it will be good for you." Immediately, she jumped. Hmmm. . . what does that say about her personality?

We had a wonderful time as a family and added yet another adventure to our repertoire.