My Atlanta Bucket List

As soon as we made the decision to move north, Bruce and I started a list of things we wanted to do in or around Atlanta before we left.  On the top of my list?  Hike Stone Mountain first thing in the morning to watch the sunrise.

Earlier in the week, I realized it was now or never - Bruce leaves a week from today!  So our alarms went off at 5:30 this morning, we bundled up in anticipation of the 33 degree morning and headed east towards the mountain.

Here is what we didn't anticipate.  THE WIND!  Wooooooeeeeeeee!  As I was crankily huffing and puffing up the mountain, cursing the cold, wind and elevation (and myself for even having the idea to begin with), I yelled to Bruce (since it was so windy we had to yell in order to hear one another), "I just ran a half marathon - shouldn't I be in better shape than this?!"  However ... 

... it was totally worth it.

We got to the top with about 45 seconds to spare and saw the most gorgeous red sunrise I have ever seen in my entire life.  It was magical.  Proof to me that God exists.

After about 15 minutes, both of our hands were frozen, so we packed up and headed down the mountain.  I cannot put into words how windy it was up there!  Once we got off the top and into the trees, we had something of a shield, but WOW.  It was cut-through-your-layers-of-clothing-to-your-skin-cold up there.

I snapped this when we were about halfway down the mountain.  Look how pretty the skyline looks with all of the fall colors!

We were almost down to the bottom when we veered off on another trail.  We ended up coming out about 0.50 mile from our car, so we had a nice flat and paved end to our hike.

And we got to cross this beauty on our way to the street.  Good thing the train wasn't running yet!

Once back home, we were hungry for something hearty.

Bacon, Egg & Cheese on a Whole Wheat Bagel?  Yes, please!

Yum.  Hit the spot.

Alright, time for this girl to get going!  Bruce is up at work doing something to his truck and I promised to have more of the kitchen packed (sniff) when he gets home.  Let the chaos ensue!