Hey Darlings! I’m back with another Hidden Gem in our Exploring Georgia Series with Mitsubishi. The weather is finally beautiful again here in Georgia so the kids and I decided to grab our swim wear, grab some breakfast on the go and we jumped in the 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander that were test driving for the week and set off for our adventure to Helen, GA. It was the perfect day to water tube on the Chattahoochee River. It’s conveniently located about a two hour give or take the crazy daily Atlanta traffic jams from where we live.
Surprisingly the ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be after all sometimes trying to get to the other side of Atlanta can take the same amount of time. The biggest complaint from people who live here is the traffic. I’ve come to realize that traffic is and will always be a major issue which is expected since thousands of people are continuing to move here. My first thought was that the ride would be a little long but it turned out to be a great ride. I had time to sit back and enjoy life. The kids and I enjoyed candid conversations, jokes, told each other jokes a moment to unwind, laugh, joke and enjoy life. This was the first time in a very long time that I just allowed myself to take a break from everything. There were no deadlines to meet, emails to answer, calls to take or need to put out fires. It was just a nice ride to reflex on the day and enjoy my family. I find myself many times so concerned with meeting deadlines, hustling to pay mortgage and the monthly bills and consumed with the kids activities that I forget to just breathe.
The 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a hybrid. What that means is you have the best of both worlds. This particular model can run solely off an electrical charge, gas or both. I love that you can opt to charge it while your driving. This comes in handy while on long trips or driving a few hours like we did. There’s no need to worry if the charge gets low and there’s no where to re-power up because you still have the traditional gas option. The drive to Helen was smooth sailing. The Outlander handles really well on the highway and the MPH are unbelievable. I believe we got 23 MPH.
Factor in the Apple Car Play that works wonders when your on the road with the connection to my iPhone a breeze. We enjoyed listening to both music via my iPhone as well as Pastor Joel Osteen on SirusXM®. I love that when the car was delivered that the station was already set. This may seem minor but it made my day. The crew that dropped off the vehicle was a new set of staff members but it speaks volumes to the entire team because Mr. Jim and Ms. Sherry both know that its my favorite channel. Thanks to the 710W Rockford-Fosgate® premium audio system with 9 speakers our ride was amazing with crazy sound effects. The surround system is so amazing the volume only needs to be minimum thanks to this awesome system.
Once we arrived to Helen I was just as excited as the kids. As a mother I have always it my mission to expose my kids to different experiences. Sometimes that means that even when I’m afraid to do something I suck it up for my kids. I want them to be cultured and exposed before they become adults. The foundation that I set for them will in return push them to set a higher standard for their kids when their older with families. Honestly tubing on the Hooch would not be something that I would normally be open to doing but for a few years I have been yarning to give it a try so I said why not!
As soon as we parked the car and headed to purchase our admission I felt like a kid in the candy store without a care in the world. I immediately had this feeling to just let go and do something wild and crazy. The process is quick and the staff is really friendly. We headed upstair to the cashier to make our purchase. The cashier guided us through the process of what we needed, wear to change clothes, how to leave your keys and what to expect while tubing. Listen if you tube on the Chattahoochee River commonly known as Tubing on the Hooch, PLEASE BUY THE STICK! The stick is only $5. I purchased one for BJ and Mario used a bamboo stick that was similar to the ones that are sold that he had from Martial Arts. Trust me! YOU WILL NEED THE STICK! I repeat: YOU WILL NEED THE STICK!! You will get stuck trust me! Once our hands were stamped the next step was to head downstairs to grab your tube, life jacket if needed and a strap if you want to attach two tubes. Mario grabbed a life jacket and a strap because we attached our floats to one another. Pay attention to the color float that you select. Mario had to have a blue one because of his size while BJ & I had to have the lime color.
Within a matter of 3-5 minutes your loading your tube in the back of the bus and grabbing your seat on the shuttle bus. They shuttle you to the starting area. Keep in mind that you have two options: Tube the Chattahoochee for the short ride which last about an hour or the long ride which can last up to two and a half hours. We took the long ride. Once we arrived to our starting point which is about 8 minutes from the office you each take turns placing your tube in the water, jumping in and heading down the Chattahoochee River.
Initially the start was slow and steady but Oh Boy when the flow of the water picks up thats when the adventure begins. The boys and I so much fun. I believe that Mario and I got stuck at least 50 times. LOL!
I wasn’t afraid for the majority of the ride until a man that was fishing mentioned that there was a huge copper head snake on the edge and while the current pushed us close to another edge I saw the shedded snake skin from a tiny snake. Yeah I would say that scared the crap out of me. It didn’t help that I mentioned it to Mario but hey it was all about the experience. The only really rough area for us was under the bridge and I think that was partly due to the wind that was there. From my observation there are only about 2-3 spots on the trip that were pretty deep but for the most part you can stand up in the water. I will say this…my tube was soaked more than 3 times. The way that those rocks are sitting and how hard you can bump them be prepared to get wet and make sure that you place your cell phone in a water resistant pooch. I purchased one from 5 and Below but they sell them at the cashier registers too. I was able to capture quite a bit of footage well as much as I could without getting my iPhone wet. No I didn’t edit it so if you see or hear a few screams of the cell drop yeah thats exactly how it happened. Its been stated that the distance of the tubing adventure is 1000 foot lazy river and I’m incline to agree. Either way it was very fun! Stay tuned for our next adventure.