Interesting start to the day navigating the Atlanta transport system.. hotel shuttle, airport MARTA train, bus to Amtrak.

The hotel shuttle bus driver was really friendly and helpful, but not necessarily the greatest driver. He went through a red light, which I alerted him to..'is this a red light?', so we came to a screeching halt with cars coming across from the right & left of us. He then reversed up saying 'thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus'... I was thinking thank you Mo. Phew, a near miss! At the airport I then caught my first train and then a bus. Everyone was really helpful whilst I tried to work out how the ticket system worked, etc.

Atlanta Amtrak station is tiny! There was a train pulling in, with loads of people queuing to check their luggage on-board. I was here to pick up my Railpass and all my tickets. Second incident of the day. The computer system said I hadn't paid for my tickets & roomettes (just the railpass), so after a few calls to Trailfinders, Michael (the friendly Amtrak attendant) & I managed to sort things.

John arrived in good time to pick me up, first stop Ikea. So I picked up a few supplies eg chocolate! We then drove up to Blue Ridge for lunch. My feta preserved orange salad was delicious (& huge). Lots of independent stores, old school style. Next stop Ingles for food supplies. I do love browsing the shelves of foreign supermarkets. We also did Walmart in Murphy, so I got the full experience!

It was then onwards up a windy road to the Smoky Mountains More later.