CHATTANOOGA: AUG. 1-4

The first day in Chattanooga we went mountain biking and went to a really cool lake. The lake was cool because it was a swimming pool also. The next day we went to a lake house and a bunch of people came over and swam in the lake. The next day at about 11:00 we left the lake house. That night we had a dinner at the Sumida's house. They had a swimming pool and they also had three pigs, three cats, one horse and one donkey and a dog! The next morning we left. - Hannah

We stayed at Jimmy's house. The next day we went mountain biking. Then we went swimming, and I completed a one and half flip. That night we went to dinner. The next day we went to Jimmy's lake house after some early morning fishing. I fished some more at the lake house and ended up catching 11 fish that day. The next day we went to dinner at Mark Sumida's house. They have a pool there, so I swam some more. All and all, Chattanooga was fun. - Jackson

Why are the girls paddling boarding away from Jackson?

Thanks, Steve, for taking me fishing!

Fishing from the bike boat

We only get back to Chattanooga every two to three years, so it is usually a blur of seeing people we love and miss.  Jimmy is always so great about letting us crash at his house and hosting a party at his lake house.  We really appreciate his hospitality.  The whole outdoor scene in Chattanooga has matured since we lived there.  People were calling it the Boulder of the southeast.  We went mountain biking on the trails at Raccoon Mountain. It was my first time on them--pretty impressive.  In the old days it was Edward's Point, Stringer's Ridge, Five Points. We dodged broken toilet bowls and baby doll heads on Stringer's Ridge.  I'm pretty sure they've cleaned up the trails since then.
Stan invited us to McCallie to swim.  I haven't been in the lake since I was an employee of the school, so there was something pretty special about jumping off of the tower holding hands with my kids. I wish we had taken a photo of it.  Hannah described it correctly.  It's a giant swimming pool with a natural bottom at the deep end.  It still has a giant tower in the middle with a diving board down low and stairs to the top where you can either go down the slide or jump off. We loved seeing everyone and wish more of our friends from Chattanooga would come visit us in Portland. - Hillary

Bella wants to come on our trip too!

Thank you Jimmy!!