All Girls Weekend - day 1

Day 1
I got up at normal time however dropped Angela off at school rather than have her ride the bus. A perk of mommy being home for the morning.

We drove to Tanger and had brunch at the Denny's there and mom and Linda did some shoe shopping/exchanges.

Then on the road again! We made great time to Chattanooga and chose to go ahead and start our adventures.

I had read that the incline railway was closed for maintenance however when we got here it was open. BONUS! We started there. It was IMPRESSIVE.


Us in the beginning. Nice recliner chairs. The walk in and such was awkward. But we understand why. The top is a 72% grade!!


Looking up the track. There are two cars and they are at either end of the HUGE cable so as one car comes up, the other is going down. They pass in the middle.


Going UP


And at or near the top!! look through the front window. Those seats that were recliner-ish now are almost dumping you put the front. Really impressive!!


Checking the views


Ok I need to photoshop this and the next together for the full effect!





Going down!!

Then off to Rock City. Very interesting if not a bit hoaky in spots BUT they had all the water off because they were erecting Christmas lights throughout the area. But still - fun places to wander through.








Walking through the needles eye


Yes, I had to walk through sideways pretty much the whole way through.





And some really cool swings on ewe went to the pavilion area and made our way to Lovers Leap


I really think this waterfall is faked. I don't recall seeing a stream down below the fall and there was a nice rocked in pond at the bottom.
Oh well it was pretty!


The official overlook to the states. This has proven false as the curvature of the earth prevents it but you can see quite a LONG distance from up there!!


There are spots of red in the leaves. Apparently this is just not a heavily red area of growth because on the drive up the hill there are tons of beautiful RED leaves over the road.

That being done we headed to the hotel to settle in.


It was as advertised with a cute little balcony and a wonderful river view. I want to get coffee and enjoy this in the morning.





The rest of the room is fairly normal.


And did I mention we are right next to the aquarium. Hum. Maybe we should go there too? I do LOVE this aquarium. This is where we would come to when we first moved here. It's only 3 to 4 hours north and such a great one!

Epiphany

This is my midlife crisis. I have been looking for something to do... a Masters? Will it pay, will it not pay? Am I willing to commit to something like that? What do I want to be when I grow up??
Doesn't that have ALL the hallmarks of a midlife crisis? Yep!
So there you have it folks, I'm going through my midlife crisis. Maybe I should just buy a convertible and be done with it? LOL. Oh, wait, I bought a vacation house instead. Yep, truly and fully in the middle of my midlife crisis here!!

Halloween Fun at Work

The Erkle twins – they won first prize together… they work in my office.

Clint and I made a good pair for the day J

Cleopatra is my Bosses boss, then me, then Erin our admin and then Harry – my boss.  Fun times!

Denise was Raggedy Anne and won 2^nd (well deserved!)  I don’t even think I showed in the running finance wise *($1 per vote)… but it was fun to participate!

Zombie Run

Zombie Run show time = 9:30
Shuttle into the sight get makeup:


This is pre blood


Note the HUGE blood area around this gal. It's HUGE!! Blood splatter!!


After blood and it's clottie. Urp!!


Full body shot!



Love them!


This is my new bluddy (Hahahaha). We hung out the first 1/2 hour or so on the course the. She moved further in.


There is a drone just below the roof line of the right building. Cool little buzzing thing!


Here they are gathering it to take to the next area.


Zombie passing through.


My cohort in crime for quite a but of the day!


Helicopters were coming in and out all day. Some military. Some civilian. It sure added to the realism!!


More zombies.


Braaaassiiiiiinnnnnnnssss...oh wait, I mean "flaaaaaggggssss". This is about 1/5 if the flags I managed to nab!


Looking towards the entrance into our courtyard and towards the heliport area. They kept flying in and out of there. Guess it's their practice roof.


Co-workers Marie and Alan stopped for a photo-op after the alley I was in ;)


Then the kids came through, they "lost" Jasmine in the first 1/3 of the race.


Cohort eating the kids ;)


Everything I would lean on the wall I would leave a clot or a smear - ewh!

I lasted from 10:00 to 1:00 before giving up and going in search of the subway! I became a tourist zombie ;)


The flooded part of town! Cars and swing sets were all in place. Unsure if the buildings had stuff inside as I wasn't willing to get wet to see.


The bottom car would be submerged in a full reservoir. Cool rescue training area!


Around the corner and I to the "tunnel" training area.


There are Zombies in there!!


Really foggy in spots!!


Back outside and I ran into some beauty queens. ;)


And into the subway!!
I had to leave the 5k area to actually go INTO the trains.....








I had to go into the 10k area to walk through the inside of the subway trains however it was so worth it. VERY creepy and dark!!


I did holler at the resident zombies or NOT scare me as I was simply a tourist and not a runner. They were nice and didn't scare me. Good thing too cause I woulda pee'd!! Yikes!!!


Note the PILE of cups by the water station. Yikes!! So this is about 1/2 way down a LONG building and I asked for a short cut to the finish line. I was told to cut out any side door and walk around the outside.


I walked into the field just to the right of the second clump of bushes.....I didn't note how far I had to go!!!


I'm just 1/2 way there!!! I was the lone zombie in the field from the 2nd (or was it third) year of The Walking Dead. Seriously. I had a limp by this time due to a sore foot and knee...I was a mess!! People when they finally noticed me were freaking :) It was awesome!!


Note the people waiting to get in the roof. Realism! Actually just helicopter rides, but so cool!!





The collapsed building we weren't able to go through...


The rest of the crew!


Me and my "kids" for the day!


Had to laugh at the bodily fluid kit in the front!

We went to lunch/dinner at Zaxsbys (yes, I was in full makeup still). A few knew what was going on. Most just did a discrete double take and stared. Ha!

Then home and into the "decontamination chamber" Aka the shower. I scrubbed and scrubbed while in there and...


I was still infected!!!!


So a few makeup remover sheets and a layer or two of skin and I only have a few freckles that really aren't mine. I can live with that.


The aftermath.... That stuff soaked through everything including shoes. I still have a red toe and a red splotch on my leg as I simply didn't care by that point! Yep, "blood" in my bra, undies and socks. Kinda funny!!