Goin to Chattanooga

Happy Halloween, y'all.

 

The mountains we see ahead are south of Huntsville, Alabama.

 

 

They are part of the Cumberland Plateau that begins in eastern Kentucky and extends southwest through eastern Tennessee into northern Alabama.

 

This is the midpoint on the Tennessee River.

 

We are now exactly halfway between Paducah and where the river begins just east of Knoxville.

We pull into Ditto Landing Marina in Huntsville, Alabama, named for James Ditto, a pioneer who began operating a ferry here in 1807. Once a small and quiet county seat town, Huntsville has become a busy and thriving city with a population of more than 180,000. It's Alabama's third largest city.

Aerospace is the reason for Huntsville's growth and international prominence.

 

The most popular tourist attraction in Huntsville is the Space & Rocket Center. It's the world's largest space museum and has the Nation's largest and and finest collection of NASA rockets and army missiles.

Saturn V was designed to propel the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit and around the moon. Designed here in Huntsville, Alabama.

Also at the Center is the U.S. Space Camp for youth who wish to explore the wonders of aviation and space. Ah! What a wonderful land we live in. 

The scenery becomes more interesting as we move upriver. We are now entering the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau. Painted bluff is the abrupt end of Merrill Mountain. More than 350 feet high, it's one of the highest bluffs on the river between here and Paducah, gets it's name from the yellow and brown rock.

Nothing we have yet seen on the Tennessee prepares us for the view as we enter Guntersville Lake. It looks just like a park.

The expanse of water between bluffs and forested hills rising 600 feet above the lake invite you to look.

The leaves changing colors makes this place seem magical.

 

 

 

 

That was just gettin to Chattanooga.