On the Road Again (to Georgia)

Last month, we took another trip down to Georgia to drop mom off at Ginger's (my cousin). Left the house at High Noon--with a couple of stops, we're on our way by 12:30 p.m. Nothing exciting--spent my time reading and working puzzles.
We were getting a full-size rental but they upgraded us to a mini-van. Nice! I never thought I'd drive a mom-mobile again, but Dodge Caravans have come a long way. In fact, when I drove over to the Outlet Mall I had to learn how to work everything.
After dropping off Mom at Ginger's, we headed over to our motel a few miles away. Ginger is doing quite well from her hip replacement, no longer in pain. She had been sick earlier in the day but for something she ate, not the flu--Whew!
We settled into our room and then Cory, Char and I headed for the Outlets, 40 minutes before closing. That gave me enough time to spend my Gap card Carey had given me for my birthday.
We had a pretty good night's sleep and were ready for hot waffles the following morning. It's nice to find a motel that serves a decent breakfast--for FREE! So we loaded up before taking off to our next destination, which was Amicalola Falls. That was the highlight of our trip. I definitely didn't want to leave. While waiting for check-in at the lodge, we went on a short hike. Charley couldn't find his shoes so had to suffer in flip-flops. (he later found his sneakers)
(Wow, I didn't write much while traveling, I hope I can remember a few more things that went on.)
The lodge was beautiful, at the top of the falls overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. We spent some time on the back porch, just taking in the beauty surrounding us. There was also another short hike near the lodge. I could have stayed a week, or longer.
Next we headed to Atlanta to visit the aquarium--it was amazing. I particularly enjoyed seeing the huge manta rays doing somersaults in the water and the whale sharks. (Here's a thought, I think perhaps Jonah was swallowed by a whale shark. The Bible says he was swallowed by a fish, not a whale. A whale shark is a fish and the largest or one of the largest in the ocean. What do you think?) I was excited to touch a shark and a little sting ray.
After the aquarium, we got a bite to eat at Johnny Rocket's and couldn't resist walking through IKEA.
We wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean so began our drive toward Savannah. Since we spent a lot of time in Atlanta, we stopped at a KOA along the way to spend the night at one of the cabins. What a mistake, right next to the freeway, crowded and stuffy, which wasn't good for the allergies. We got there after dark so didn't do much. We decided we didn't want to go through another night like that (we had booked a camping cabin in Savannah as well) so decided to head the other direction.
We ended up in Dahlonega, where we had gone on our first trip to GA. We spent longer visiting the shops in the town square and had a really great time.