Emerson's First Birthday - Burt's Farm

We went to Burt's Farm for Emerson's first birthday. He thought all the pumpkins were great!In fact he was ready for work!After picking out our supply of pumpkins and gourds for the fall we headed off for a tractor pulled haywagon ride.We all sat down on top of a bunch of loose hay for a ride through Burt's Farm. There were fields of pumpkins (of course) And the occasional scarecrowWhoa what is this up ahead??? But of course! Singing pumpkins! What is going on with this one, Mom? Ooooh even a haunted graveyard.... All in all this excursion was pronounced LOTS of fun. (Bopp had a great time too, Wood pointed out the view of Amicalola falls as we were approaching the dewagoning stage of this journey.What a View!!!

Tallulah Gorge

After Black Rock Mountain State park we tooled on over to Tallulah Gorge. This view is from the South side where we are headed back to this morning for a bit of shopping for a bear for the front porch. Sue really wanted to hike down to the suspension bridge, over the gorge, but since it would have been the second hike of the day and since there are tshirts in the gifts shopping that read "I survived the hike down to the bridge" (Wood and I did it once and my knees remember it well) and since it was already 5:30 - we settled for pictures from the trail around the rim of the gorge. Isn't it just gorgeous See the little fence up in the top left hand side of this picture. That is where I was when I took the picture above this one. :-)

Black Rock Mountain

I forgot we had one more adventure with Sue and Ron when we hiked the Tennessee Rock trail at Black Rock Mountain. It was a slightly rainy and cloudy day so we didn't get to show off the gorgeous views as much from the top, but Sue and Ron said it reminded them of their hikes in the Pacific Northwest.by now you are probably guessing that I am obsessed with different kinds of fungi growth up here.We just HAVE to remember to come back up here in the spring because there are HUGE rhododendron bushes EVERYWHERE. In fact the road up here is a tunnel of rhododendron bushes/treesAnybody know what kind of flower this little guy is crawling out from?

AT and Benton McKaye

Anne joined us this year for a few days and we wanted to take her on our favorite loop of the Appalachian and Benton McKaye trails. You start at Three forks and meander up a lovely forested AT.

Petey also had the pleasure of accompanying us on this one. He wasn't too sure of the hiking sticks and I must admit, he is about as eager to ford streams as I am. I do love the variety of fungi to be seen on this trailAnd weird growths on trees..And other unique vegetationBut the bummer on this trip is, that although the AT is one of the best marked and maintained trails, we happened to miss the turn or we were very cleverly turned around (that is what Wood and Anne claim - I continue to forget their reasoning and think we missed the trail) and never did hook up with the Benton McKaye and ended up rehooking up with the AT and coming back down the way we started (after about a 1/4 mile clever turn around). I think the massive rains we have had in Georgia as of late, made the trail a bit impassible in places, because I remember all other stream fords on this trail - at least this loop of it, being very easy to get across. We had some challenges and Petey and I waited while Anne and Wood forded and then tried to find the trail on the other side (petey does not like to get wet) (me neither). So we ended up crossing back over the same road to our beloved truck. BUT I have to say the FS road to get to this trail and then the windy country roads to get back (which include another FS road) are all part of the adventure and all in all it was a great day.

Amicalola Falls

We decided after the adventures of the previous day that we would not hike up and down the falls but rather parked at the bottom and hiked a little way up and then came back down and drove up to the top. I found a bush with berries hanging over the top of the falls and this little guy below that was gobbling up lichen as quickly as he could munch.

Bear Hair Trail

Wood and I had never hiked at Vogel State Park before. It is a gorgeous place and Sue and Ron suggested we take the Bear Hair trail there, one day last week. Seemed like a great idea so we set out. We do love the Blood Mountain area in northwest Georgia. There was some hiking, some picture taking and some... fording of streams. Let me just say, Sue is a master stream forder. She justs zip zip zips right across the logs. Me, I hem and haw and look for a stick to help me balance going across. Needless to say, I was always the last across and it always took me some time and much chewing of the inside of my cheek.

Another of the streams to ford. Ok and did I mention that we sort of got lost? boy was I glad Ron had his compass and we had a map - which ended up being quite well worn by the time we were done. It was supposed to be a well marked trail, but we did meet some nice guys and their dog a couple of times on the trail and they mentioned that it gets a little confusing at the end, but just stay on the trail (if you can find it) and you will get to the end eventually. We ended up back tracking a bit and then kind of sliding down a hill that looked like it had become a popular addition to the not so easy to find trail. It wasn't the trail but it got us back to the car :-) We were rewarded for our efforts by some great views of Trahlyata Lake from the top of the trail. And I really liked this tree :-)

Cloudland Canyon

We had never been to this state park in the north west of Georgia. Wow what views and what a hike down into the canyon to see the water falls Huge rocks and lots of shale all along the sides. Made me want to have armor on :-) We huffed and we puffed but we made it down and up. Petey got to go with us for the very first time and he was great. As long as he was carried up and down the stairs. Seems as though these grate stairs were a little scary for him. It was well worth it when we got to the first waterfall at the bottomIt really was gorgeous and quite worth it.

Atlanta History Museum with Sue and Ron

We took a tour of the Tullie Smith farm this time. Our docent was a great wealth of information. Made me want to listen to him all day long.It serves as a demonstration farm today for local school groups. Don't think I had ever been this close to cotton before. We strolled through the gardens around the Swan House, which belonged to the Inman's in the very early 1900's. I think I could live there :-) No pictures allowed inside, so you will just have to come see why I want to live there. Sue LOVES to take pictures! See her peeking down at Ron from the upper right?