Return to Fort Mountain, GA

Changes, turn and face the change…

15 years ago our family realized we’d never been “real” camping…pitching the tent in the yard doesn’t count…even if you live on five wooded acres with a lake.

So, it was determined camping would be our family vacation. My single mother picked Ft. Mountain, GA as our destination, because in the state park brochure it looked nice.

We didn’t take into account that we are wimps when it comes to mountains…

Picture the four of us: my mom, my uncle, me, and my little brother, snaking up hairpin turns, climbing ever higher, as the sky darkened, and the wind picked up. To entertain ourselves, my brother and I started “pretend crying,” only to be told to shut up cause my mom really wanted to cry but she had to drive.

Once on top of the mountain, the storm passed, and camping was successful. But my mom, fearing heights, swore we’d never go to the mountains again.

Flash forward 15 years later. My husband is mountain crazy. I swear the man is part jumping goat. On previous adventures he’s taken us: 5945′. Fort Mountain, GA is only 2,851′. So, in hindsight, we had nothing to fear but taller mountains.

Because the memory was such a large part of my teenage summer, and I compare all mountains to this first mountain, I wanted to take my 30 year old self back. Thus, when my husband got the call 5/28/16 that he didn’t have to work Memorial Day, a plan was hatched.

Overall, the park is much how we left it. In my photo album, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the pictures of large rocks and trees I found interesting, only to see them again, like silent old friends. It’s the little things that amaze you.

The overlook is a lot nicer. Maybe things do improve with age.

The 30 During 30

Crazy weather we’ve been having! It was nearly summer in December until yesterday, when the temperature dropped back to normal.

Meanwhile, my sinuses decided it would be a good time to get a cold.

I really, really want to cover some of the larger items on the 30 Before 30 that I didn’t get to blog about. Hopefully, I can get more on that wrote tonight and scheduled to post during the week.

Also, I’ve been mulling over what I want to do for 30 DURING 30. It hasn’t been easy. I have struggled to create the new list since my birthday. We did so much last year, but a lot of it came down to the wire. Therefore, this year I tried to pick more things I know I can realistically do without a lot of help or travel, while still being fun and unique.

So, after a lot of indecision and pressure to plan out the whole year not knowing much of the hubby’s schedule at this point, I give you the 30 During 30 list:

1. Create A Geocache
2. AFI’s 100 movies: Original list
3. Make Figgy Pudding  12/18/15
4. Make A Fruit Cake 12/17/15
5. Continue Photo Diary via AdventureKettle on Instagram (in process)
6. Read Dune
7. Do 24 Hours of Silence
8. Go Golfing
9. Drive A Tractor
10. Play Messy Twister
11. Rock Painting
12. Eat Breakfast In Bed
13. Collect Postcards from all 50 states (21 out of 50)
14. Read A Book With Goodreads Bookclub & Discuss
15. AFI’s 100 Passions list
16. No long be overweight based on BMI
17. Take a RWA class
18. Visit 5 Little Free Libraries
19. Return to Fort Mountain
20. Collect 30 recipes from other people
21. Paint all 10 nails a different color
22. Relive the 90s for a day
23. Write 5 Classics’ Corner Book Reviews
24. Make another batch of Preserves
25. Try Perler art
26. Unplug for a day (no computer, tv)
27. Make a piece of Jewelry to Wear
28. Write a Children’s story
29. Continue webcomic
30. Create more fanart

If you noticed that two of the items are already crossed off, you are correct! This year, I’m not wasting any time. Before the 3-0, I ended up rushing to crochet, creating an ebook on coffee quotes at random, and literally forcing myself to watch 3 movies a day to get the list done and not eat crow on my birthday. This year I resolve to pace myself better.

Anyhow, for List Items 3.) and 4.), I wanted to try some different types of baking for the Christmas Season. My Grandmother loved to bake and passed down the holiday tradition to me. Right now, it’s too difficult to make the same things I made with her. But at the same time, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas without making something…so I found new things to try. I’ll blog about it with photos and links to the recipes later.

You can plan a pretty picnic…but you can’t predict the weather

Aw, golden weekends, how precious and few they are. For those who don’t know, ‘golden weekend’ is medical lingo for having both Saturday and Sunday off.

So for this golden weekend we made big plans to finally visit Tallulah Falls. If I remember correctly, I’ve seen a documentary on Tallulah Falls from GPB/PBS. It was a resort town during the turn of the century. In my mind, I have these Victorian/Edwardian-ly dressed characters getting off trains and hanging around waterfalls. Adorable, gentle people.

While there, I learned that the town is actually called Tallulah Falls. The park with the waterfalls is Tallulah Gorge State Park. Is it sad that I didn’t realize this until we were an hour away from the area?

Anyhow, we made a big day of it, with my relatives and my husband’s relatives fulling packing out the Suburban. If our family grows anymore we’re going to have to buy a van, bus, or RV. For lunch, we stopped at one of our favorite vacation spots in GA, Helen. While there, you gotta try Hoofer’s of Helen’s German restaurant. Their potatoes, sausage, and pretzel bread are my husband’s favorite meal ever.

From there, we headed through the Sautee Nacoochee area. Although we’ve been to Helen now half a dozen times, we’ve never really explored Sautee Nacoochee, since we usually go to Cleveland or Blood Mountain. But, lucky for us, we found an awesome fruit and vegetable stand called Fritchey’s Farm Fresh Market. They sell everything from honey with comb, peaches, watermelons, turnip greens, and sunflowers. Very friendly folk. Their bathroom and prices were clean, so we will be back.

By this time, we were well aware that the chance of rain was for certain. We fought it all day, driving in and out of stormy looking areas. Just our luck, the moment we arrived in Tallulah Falls, at Tallulah Gorge State Park, the bottom fell out. We rushed inside the museum and lingered in the gift shop, buying rain ponchos, until it stopped. Then the sun came out and the day started to feel hot. Feeling safe, we put the ponchos and umbrellas back into the car.

Unlike a lot of parks, there’s a lot to see at Tallulah Gorge. There are six waterfalls, many overlooks, a suspension bridge, and miles of trails. As one of the rangers explained the map, I was feeling overwhelmed. Although having the neuroma out of my foot is certainly helping, I wasn’t sure if I was up to 550 steps up and down. I made it clear that I wasn’t going to the very bottom. So, we headed for overlook spots one and two.

The view from overlook one was great. I’m familiar with Cloudland Canyon and I have to say Tallulah Gorge is every bit as lovely. I felt on top of the world, as though, at any moment I could, in my imagination, soar freely into space. There’s something so freeing about being high up. It makes you feel small, but endless at the same time.

For those who don’t know, there’s some general info from the park website about Tallulah Gorge:

• One of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern U.S., Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep.
• Visitors can hike rim trails to several overlooks, or they can obtain a permit to hike to the gorge floor (100 per day, not available during water releases).
• A suspension bridge sways 80 feet above the rocky bottom, providing spectacular views of the river and waterfalls.
• Tightrope walkers have twice crossed the gorge, and visitors can still see towers used by Karl Wallenda.

After seeing overlook one, it was only natural that we would take the path to overlook two. It was a brisk walk, down stairs, and then up a hill. Being sheltered under the trees, we really didn’t notice that it was starting to cloud up again. Rounding the curve, we came face to face with part of the structure that was used to hold Karl Wallenda’s tightrope.

It’s amazing to think that in the 1970s 30,000 people gathered to watch the daring event. The area has really grown up since then. Today, I’m not sure it could safely hold 100 people. This summer marks the anniversary of Karl Wallenda’s walk across the gorge. The park is planning a big event July 18th with his grandson Nik Wallenda. There’s rumors that he wanted to walk across the gorge in his grandfather’s footsteps. But then I’ve also read, that at this time, he won’t be reenacting the feat. Guess we’ll see.

Looking down at overlook two, the clouds darkened and we could see rain not far off. We posed for pictures and barely noticed as my brother ducked his camera under his shirt and disappeared in the direction of the gift shop. Then it started. The bottom fell out again and us without our ponchos or umbrellas. We scurried back down the trail to the gift shop. But it was useless. By the time we made the journey back, we were soaked. As we purchased dry t-shirts in the gift shop, the sun came out again. It was a freak happening that we were caught in the rain. Although I wanted to see more of the park, there’s something about being soaked that makes you feel miserable and exhausted.  We enjoyed the little time that we had, but it was clear that it was now time to go.

Next time, I’ve learned, that I am going to take a mini-backpack with ponchos anytime there’s rain in the forecast at a park. Some members of our party didn’t have cell phones. So, I think we’re going to have to find those old walkie-talkies in case we need to find each other in a hurry.

All-in-all, not a bad daytrip, just unpredictable weather. But now I can official cross #7. Visit Tallulah Falls off the 30 before 30 list.

A Campin’ We Will Go

It’s been a rainy spring in Georgia. But that didn’t stop us from going camping during a rare free Saturday night. It’s the first time I’ve been camping in about 12 years.

It was really a spur-of-the-moment trip, and was certainly not frustration-free. Originally, we had planned to camp at our favorite north Georgia park, Cloudland Canyon. It’s been on our to-do list for years prior to the 30 before 30. However, it turns out, national parks require campers to reserve a two night stay…seriously, more rules than some luxury hotels! We didn’t have two nights. So I looked at some of our other favorite GA parks, but found the same story.

The trip was quickly becoming a headache. I decided to look across the border, into the parts of Alabama we grew up visiting. But, unfortunately, Mt. Cheaha also requires a two night stay on the weekend. So annoying. Kinda like vacation rentals that want you to stay for a whole week. Not everyone has a week. Not everyone has a whole weekend. Not everyone has two days. Some people want to camp Saturday night, pack up Sunday and get ready to go back to work.

Sadly, it’s kinda no wonder parks are not used as often. And it’s kinda sad they’re certainly not important enough to some state governments. As you read this, Alabama is planning to close over a dozen parks, including Mt. Cheaha. It’s heartbreaking. We take a trip to Mt. Cheaha every year. We got engaged there. And now our dreams of taking our kids there is up in the air. You can read more at: The Anniston Star. Depressing, all the future memories we could have made there. Personally, I think the government could scale down the park, before closing it all together. I could understand closing the on-site hotel, gift store, pool, and restaurant. There are people who want to view the overlook and walk the nature trails.

But, I digress. The camping trip was saved when my mother-in-law suggested we look at a local city park. I discovered that city parks are easier to work with when you don’t have a lot of time. For about $15 we stayed at the Little Tallapoosa Park in Carrollton, GA. This included firewood, a fire pit, an electrical outlet, and a heated bathroom/shower building. Copying right from their website, the park has:

• 256.25 acres
• 7 miles of natural trails
• 2.5 miles of paved trails
• 7 acre open meadow for events, disc golf, etc.
• 32 tent/pop-up campsites with 120 electric hookup
• 23 RV campsites with water, sewer and power hookups
• All sites have picnic table and fire ring with grill
• Equestrian parking
• Comfort station with bathroom, showers, washer and dryer
• Small pond for fishing
• 17 Geocaches

Happily, it’s a very clean park. Only open since 2013. Not very crowded. Really nice for families who just want a neat and safe place to visit and experience some of the great outdoors.

So, we went tent shopping Friday night. It was a learning opportunity. Bass Pro Shop is very high on their camping equipment, unless there’s a sale going on. We decided to do a price check at Dick’s Sporting Goods and saved $40 on the same 6 person tent. With the savings, we were able to buy fire starting sticks and metal poles to roast marshmallows. I packed a variety of clothes, including some long pjs, even though at the time, I didn’t know I’d need them.

Saturday morning, the husband went into work. When he got home, we made the 3+ hour trip back to our old stomping grounds. Got groceries for our camp dinner: hotdogs and chips, and for our camp breakfast: eggs and bacon (plus a protein bar for me because I don’t eat eggs). Then we picked up my brother and headed to Little Tallapoosa Park to set up camp. After so many residency interview trips, we are logistics experts.

As it grew dark, the in-laws drove over to inspect our camp. I think, mostly to make sure we’d survive the night. Although we’re both nearly 30, my husband has never been camping without his family, and I’ve never been camping without mine. I guess parents worry no matter how old you are. They stayed for a hotdog and went about their way.

Although the weather was clear for the weekend, it had rained nearly all week. The wood was very damp and green. Thank goodness for fire starter sticks, charcoal, and lighter fluid. We sat around the fire, roasting marshmallows, talking movies, games, music, Apple products, and stocks. Honestly, at 11pm I was sleepy. We decided to turn-in. It had grown colder. It’s easy to forget how cold spring nights can get when you live in the city. And, I’m cold natured. So I ended up putting on three layers of clothing to sleep in. It’s a good thing I always overpack.

Other than the cold, I slept well on the air mattress. Some campers below us, obviously night owls, decided to chop wood and keep a blazing fire until 1am. The likes of which could be heard over our noise canceling ear plugs. When they finally stopped, I feel back asleep until dawn. I kept one eye open as the colors changed from dark blue to light blue. I was proud I didn’t have to make a run for the restroom area in the middle of the cold night, but could wait no longer. I knew if the guys weren’t going to get up and start a fire, I would. I imagined that I was Ma Ingalls, rising early in the morning to start my pioneer day. But in reality, I dragged the quilt around my shoulders like a long cape and swung my pink and black striped Victoria Secret’s bag to the restroom area. I put on jeans and a sweater over my three layers of pjs.

Then I started the fire, as I announced to the tent, “Guys, I’m up and starting a fire, but by all means keep sleeping. I’m just cold.” They got up. Either they were cold or didn’t trust my fire building abilities. My brother helped build a larger fire while my husband started cooking breakfast on the Coleman grill. By 7:30am, I ate my Powerbar and drank my DaSani sparkling water. Then when it was ready, I had two strips of turkey bacon and two more marshmallows. Our breakfast and fire woke the night owls, who gave us sour, sleepy looks. Um, yeah we didn’t go to bed at 1am, you thought we’d sleep until 10:30? Early to bed, and early to rise makes campers warm, fed, and ready to pack up.

We were packed up by about 10am and decided to walk around the gentle, paved nature trails to burn off breakfast. Heard lots of birds, saw tons of fat squirrels (who we threatened to eat), and what was possibly a hawk flying away from us. Also saw one wild, stray bicyclist who came out of nowhere rapidly.

If we had known what Geocaches were, we might have tried it. Apparently, it’s a GPS treasure hunt? I don’t know anyone who goes Geocaching, but I want to in the future.

All and all, the trip was a success. Memories were made and important lessons were learned. Always over pack. Especially blankets. You really do need more blankets. My husband and brother agree. I, personally, learned that I could never make it as a pioneer. After one day, I was ready to take a shower and go back to normal. For years, I’ve had this vision that I’d like to reenact the Oregon Trail…not going to happen, lol. I’ll just read about it in books and enjoy nature whenever I get the chance.