Day 1/Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

After almost 3 hours on the Boeing 737 (I just asked Jacob what kind of plane it was and he knew), we landed in the Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Our friend, Frank, was such a blessing as I simply could not find my receipt slip for our checked bag although we searched through everything as the people in front of us were leaving the plane. He reassured us that it wasn't needed unless our bag didn't arrive. Later on I found the receipt hiding behind the receipt that I had in my billfold for my $10 sandwich.

Frank gave us both hugs as he was headed to Florida somewhere. He blessed us with his big grin and pointed us in the direction of the checked bag area. He made it sound as though it was just around the corner but that's just because Frank is a seasoned traveler. We learned soon that "Baggage Claim" was NOT just around the corner. Actually it was about an hour's foot journey away but sometimes, "Ignorance is bliss."

I actually lost track of how many signs with big arrows we followed that said, "Checked bags." Jacob had a blast on these horizontal escalators, or whatever they're called. It was such a relief not to have to lug all of our stuff on foot all the way. He liked to go ahead of me and then walk towards me with a big grin which said, "Come along now, Mother. Don't you realize that this is all just one, big adventure?" Once again I apologize for the blurry pictures which were caused by someone turning the flash off on my camera. This is one of the good ones. :)

Well, to make a long story short, our ignorance cost us some time and lots of steps. You see, all of those big arrows for "Baggage Claim" kept pointing to a place where people were always gathered. There was lots of noise so it was hard to figure out what was going on. I noticed that there was a subway which kept coming and going and people kept getting on it but nobody ever got off when it came back.

As we walked along, there were more of these little alcoves where people were gathered and there were numbers which meant nothing to me so we kept walking. Finally, after about half a mile of this, we came to a wall and there were no more big arrows pointing to "Baggage Claim." This was when I realized that it was time to sit down and defer to male logic even if it was YOUNGER than I was.

"OK Jacob. I don't get it. What do you think we did wrong?"

Puzzled, Jacob studied the situation and, going back to the little alcove that we had just passed, my son figured out what I had missed. He said, "Oh Mom, look at all of those arrows. They all point to the subway. I think that we have to get on it and it will TAKE US TO BAGGAGE CLAIM." DAH!!!!!!!!!!

He was thrilled and I, being a little bit on the claustrophobic side, got the willies. Never the less, the next time the subway returned, we got on it and I SAT DOWN!!! The sign said that the bench was only for handicapped people; pregnant women; or small children. I added one, "People who have been up since 4:30 AM and have just walked half a mile for nothing." There was hardly anyone on the subway anyway, so I actually took a few moments to relax.

It didn't take long and we were in the huge room where all of the luggage was that had just come in from the planes. We were discouraged when we waiting for all of the luggage to go around on the Delta luggage carousel. However, just then Jacob looked up and saw that there were no less than 7 Delta carousels. When we took the time to check for our flight number, we found the carousel with our checked bag on it--YIPEE!!! That was when we realized that, had we checked the flight numbers as we went walking along, we would have been delivered right to the exact spot where our checked bag was at. WOW--that place is massive but it sure is well planned out. Jacob calls it, "Streamlined," and I think that this is a good word for it.

Well, we found our big suitcase and, after it came around the second time, Jacob got it pulled off of the moving conveyor. Then we were set, except where to go. Frank had told us that the checked baggage department and the rental car center are always right next to each other. We kept looking and looking for something that said, "Rental Car Center" but finally had to ask someone.

"You go through those doors; across the walkway; into the transportation building; and catch the sky train." JACOB WAS ECSTATIC WITH EXCITEMENT--A SUBWAY AND A SKY TRAIN ALL IN ONE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Following the directions, we ended up in the transportation building looking at another loooooong escalator. The only trouble was that now we had our huge suitcase and we could not figure out a way to get that big thing onto the escalator. We were pondering all our different options when a wonderful man came along and said to us, "Right around the corner is an elevator." I swear that he got the biggest grins that anyone has ever gotten and I even blessed him--not the first person that I blessed on my journey.

Once we got into the elevator, it was a quick ride to the top and we found ourselves in a HUGE room with glass windows everywhere. There were only a few people there at the moment but we made our way towards them. Just as we arrived beside the group; the sky train opened up and let out it's passengers. Then we "Hopped" into the sky train and off we went to the rental car center.

The sky train was almost empty so we both got to sit down and take a rest from lugging all of our stuff around all day. On our return trip, this car was so packed with people that we both had to stand and hang on to the handrails but this time we rode in style. :)

Jacob resting a bit as he tried to grasp all of the new things all around him.

Well, the sky train deposited us at the Rental Car Center which was another mammoth building. After the necessary paperwork was signed, the lady told us that we could go through, "Those glass doors" to space #787 and we would find our car.

By this time I was very tired but I felt it best to look for the restrooms as we had a 2 hour drive yet to Tiger. This meant that we had to drag all of our things, including the huge suitcase on wheels, to the other end of the center. Don't ask me why they didn't put the bathrooms on the end of the building where the sky train dropped people off.

It had to be done, so we slowly made our way to the restrooms and rested a little bit while watching the stuff so the other one could use the restrooms. They had said in the airport that we were in ORANGE alert which meant that you must never leave your things unattended unless you didn't mind if they weren't there the next time that you turned around.

After we had recuperated a little, Jacob urged me to "Let's get going, Mom." He knew that I was dreading the drive through Atlanta up to Tiger but putting it off would only make it worse as that would mean trying to find the Inn in the dark.

We made our way back to "Those glass doors" and walked through them. I had hoped that #787 would be close by but, if you were numbering a bunch of spaces, would you put #1 closest to the door or would you put #787 closest to the door? That's right--it was another football field distance further along on our journey until we found IT!!!

Not only did we drag ourselves over to #787, but we drug ourselves over to what would be our wheels for the next week--a 2010 silver-colored Nisson Versa. Never have I been so glad to see a car in all my life and I took a liking to it right away!!!

The first thing that we needed to do was walk around the car and make note of any dents or scratches in the paint, which we did. There were a few on the front side but it was in pretty good shape.

I, on the other hand, was NOT in good shape with 2 hours of driving ahead of me. I asked Jacob to take my picture so that I could remember this moment years from now and so that you all could laugh at me as he did when he snapped this one.

This is what Jacob looked like. Wouldn't it be nice to be young again with a STRONG sense of adventure?

"Well," I said, "we might as well put all of this stuff in the car. It's our wheels now, you know." And so we did--big stuff in the trunk...

and little stuff in the back seat....

And that was when I'd had enough. I crawled in behind the wheel and did cortices. THEN I CALLED ROBERT!!! Of course, I didn't get him but it made me feel better just to know that he was still somewhere on the planet. He was grateful, he told me later, for the update as one does get a little bit edgy when a loved one is flying on an airplane.

I was pretty nervous as I left the parking ramp and began my descent to the road. Jacob helped me watch constantly for where to turn and soon we were at the checkout point to leave the airport. The woman there was an old grump, which didn't help anything, so when she said in a business-like voice, "Have a nice stay in Atlanta," I very coldly said, "We're TRYING to." Jacob chuckled softly, said calmly, "Take a right, Mom," and we were off in search of I 85.

Being I needed Jacob to help me watch constantly for lane changes, I don't have any pictures of this part of our journey. I would like to say, though that I have never driven in such polite company. There were 6 lanes of traffic going one way, in down-town Atlanta, but not once did I feel overwhelmed. Jacob and I were constantly amazed how the drivers would let other drivers switch lanes when necessary. I said to Jacob, "I'm not sure if it's because Southern people really are more laid back than Northern people, or the Lord is just making them all be nice to me today, but this is such a relief." He smiled and relaxed.

Two hours later we arrived at the Tiger Creek Falls Inn in safe condition. Actually, we only got lost once and that was within walking distance of the Inn. At another time I'll explain how the "Off ramps" are built in those forested areas, but when we did the necessary U-turn into oncoming traffic (something I never did get comfortable with) I headed straight into the driveway at hand.

The Inn had a big lighted sign there after all, but when I got to the bottom of the hill, I could see
that I was NOT in the right place. Very calmly I called Gloria at the Inn and she explained how theirs was the next exit to the right. Turning around then, and climbing the huge hill out of the gorgeous estate, we soon were driving into the place that would be our home for the next 6 days.

In under a minute we were entering the REAL entrance to the Inn and we both fell in love with it immediately. As I pulled into space #8, which I knew was our number cabin, we both took a HUGE sigh of relief and I called HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!