Hey Baby!
What an incredible adventure today! You would have SO LOVED this trip today! Just five minutes from the Lost Corral campground is the starting point of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Hiwassee line, which goes from Delano to a place called Copper Hill, which is right on the Georgia/Tennessee border. The first half is mostly passing through the gorgeous Cherokee National Forest along the Hiwassee River, pass dams and finally through a few small towns before arriving at Copper Hill. It includes a rare loop around the top of a mountain, the only railroad loop east of the Mississippi, and only one of four in the country. Apparently they originally built it with switchbacks, but that was unworkable, and they went bankrupt. Then it was bought out and they brought in an engineer who figured out how to loop around the mountain so the tracks actually cross over each other on a trestle. Amazing! The whole thing was narrated with the fascinating history of the area, the ride back included some bluegrass banjo, Copper Hill had an abundance of restaurants for the two hour layover, and plenty of gift shops for those prone to shopping. I had lunch at a ritzy joint called the Waterside, which had a beautiful patio overlooking the river, which changes names at that aforementioned border. In fact, the town is divided in half between TN and GA, there’s an actual blue line crossing the main street, and it goes right through a couple of restaurants and the IGA. Whose sales tax you pay depends on which side of the line the cash register sits. No kidding! Government at it’s worst, wouldn’t you say? Anyway, it was an incredible trip, definitely one for the memory book! I was in one of the first class dome cars, so I got a good view of everything, plus free snacks and beverages, and the whole experience was fantastic. Plus I met a bunch of interesting people as well. It was 6:00 by the time I got back to camp, the horses were fine, I had left them with plenty of hay, but I gave them a couple more flakes, did some cleanup, and am settling down for the evening. Great day! Love you, darlin’! Good night!
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