Chattanooga doo doo

The "trained naturalist." He is probably thinking "Why do they keep letting little kids on this boat? Are we that strapped for cash?"

Daddy and the girl face eachother down

Dark green kudzu grows unchecked near the shore of the Tennessee river. It seems impervious to the cold temperatures.

An oxymoron

Development on the banks of the river

The Tennessee aquarium in Chattanooga

The woman in the above photo is not a drug overdose. She is still breathing, but barely. This poor tired soul is the personification of the boat ride we took yesterday down the Tennessee River gorge in Chattanooga.

The worst part about taking a trip is waiting for it to start. Finally, after 15 minutes of holding down, cajoling, and bribing the 2-year-old, we were on our way.

Our first stop was to the sewage unloading dock, where the trained naturalist who narrated our cruise explained that the previous passengers had unloaded a bit too much themselves.

Ten more minutes of painful waiting, this time worrying that the little girl would make a break for the rear (no pun intended) of the boat and get caught up in the pumping hose while the toilets were being emptied.

Finally, we were on our way. We cruised for about 10 minutes, came to an abrupt stop, and tarried along for the next 2 hours looking at trees and hills.

Now, for those of you who follow or who have even taken a cursory glance at my blog, you know how much I am enamored by trees. However, the two-year-old does not yet share my views on nature.

The trained naturalist was quite well-informed. Unfortunately, I didn't catch a single sentence of the spiel, and he spoke for the entire 2 hours. Every so often I would hear "eagle," "old tale," "mermaid," or something along the lines of what you would expect to hear on a cruise like that.

Caught a few good photos in-between struggling with the girl to keep her from flinging herself overboard.

This is what family memories are made of.