ON THE ROAD AGAIN
with Bill and Anita
NEWSLETTER #2, June 27, 2010
It is wonderful to be on the road again…without question…we really like to travel! We left Bonita Springs as planned about 1:30 PM on Thursday June 10th, and stopped at North Trail RV on I-75 in Ft Myers to tweak a couple of things. We trailed our car with all wheels down the past trips but could not do so this year. When we purchased our Toyota convertible last fall, we were unaware we could not do the same this year, as there is no room for the master tow plates to be attached to the front of the car. We bought a new two wheel tow dolly which works just fine, but it is more difficult to attach, but we will get used to it.
We spent a nice weekend with Anita’s daughter and her husband in Tampa, after getting a new relay and starter at a Ford dealer there. On Saturday we drove 50 miles north and spent the day kayaking on the Weekiwatchee spring fed river. What a delight, just drifting 8 miles down the river with its current. The water was as clear as a glass of gin, so we saw many kinds of fish, including many manatees. The temp was in the 90’s, but we stopped several times to take a dip in the nice cool 72 degree water.
We left Tampa Monday morning, the 14th, driving north on I-75, and stopped for a quick lunch at a rest stop south of Lake City. As Anita was preparing lunch, I checked the tow dolly and everything was secure, but low and behold, I was surprised to see our bike carrier had become loose and my bike’s front wheel and tire were damaged. Had we not stopped there, we would have lost both bikes and the carrier and probably would not have even noticed it. When towing with the 2 front wheels on the dolly it lowered the rear area of the car to a clearance of just a few inches. We must have hit a bump in the road which loosened the carrier from the car. After lunch, I was able to secure the carrier to the car, but we drove slower to our camp site 50 miles further. We realized we could not continue our trip with the bikes. We had to store them somewhere. I remembered a friend of ours in Key West bought a farm near Lake City, and after a couple of phone calls, I located him in Key West and told him our problem. He said he would gladly store them ‘til we came back. He called his next door neighbor up here, and an hour later we met him in the Wal-mart parking lot with his pickup to carry the bikes to our friend’s garage on the farm. It sure is great to have friends that can help when needed.
We spent that evening and the next day and evening nearby in the beautifully wooded Stephen Foster State Park on the Suwannee River. We visited the Stephen Foster Museum which is housed in an antebellum style mansion typical of those that existed in Foster’s era. It was constructed on the banks of the Suwannee River in 1958. Josiah Lilly, the son of pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly, who was a devoted fan of Foster, suggested a Memorial which the state of Florida and the Florida Federation of music clubs funded. Steven Foster wrote,”Old Folks At Home,” the state song of Florida. There are 8 large moving dioramas depicting interpretations of scenes from Foster’s best loved songs. It took 15 years to construct the amazing dioramas. The actual desk that Foster used, and a replica of the piano that he wrote “Old Folks at Home”, which made the Suwannee River known all over the world, is displayed with many other beautiful pianos, some with mother of pearl ivory keys. The walls are decorated with masterful paintings of Foster and his life’s history. He wrote more than 200 songs in his short life of 36 years.
The center piece of the park is the Stephen Foster Memorial Carillon Tower. The carillon, the world’s largest tubular bell instrument, plays concerts daily featuring the music of Foster. The music resounds throughout the parks beautiful gardens and grounds. There are many Foster artifacts in the tower building, as well as many photos of the carillon’s construction. On Wednesday, the 16th we drove 253 miles into Georgia and stayed 5 nights at the Pine Mountain RV park which had cable TV, so we could watch the US Open golf tournament. While there we spent a day at nearby Warm Springs visiting Franklin Roosevelt’s Little White House, where he passed away on April 13th, 1945. The cottage is small and quaint and nestled in the deep woods and is similar to Herbert Hoover’s summer retreat which we visited last year in Virginia. As we now know, he was paralyzed from the waist down with polio, and travelled to Warm Springs to bath in the warm springs more than 40 times. It was his only relief from pain. We also spent a couple of hours visiting the new 11,000 square-foot memorial museum that tells the story of a great president. It contains many historical artifacts. Later we drove to the summit of Pine Mountain, 1395 ft above sea level…and the temperature was a warm 86 degrees. It has been in the 90’s every day since we left.
Anita spent a day at Calloway Gardens, a destination resort and Garden, with many attractions including a butterfly garden which is North America’s largest glass enclosed tropical conservatory. The Horticultural Center and vegetable garden were well designed but she said the best part was watching a performance of the Florida State University Flying High Circus. The students are very adept on the high wire, trapeze and tumbling. It was very entertaining!!
I had a nice lazy Fathers day watching the US Open. We left the next day, Monday, the 21st for the Dalton, GA area. We drove 175 miles north on back roads, seeing so much more than I-75. We arrived at Chatsworth, which is at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, and drove up a winding road 7 miles, towing the car, to near the top of Ft Mountain, to Ft Mountain State Park. It along with Stephan Foster State Park was an excellent campground. Both sites were heavily wooded and distant from other campers. One of the many reasons we like to stay in state and national parks. It was so good to see the Great Smoky Mountains again! The rolling hills are so heavily wooded amid the smoky haze, the air is cooler and so fresh…it’s like coming home again!
That evening we drove 28 miles to Anita’s first cousin Tom Miller’s home in Dalton for a delicious dinner. Anita was born in Dalton and left for Orlando when she was less than a year old. There are still many relatives living in the area. Tom also gave us a lesson in beekeeping and showed us a Queen Bee which a friend had ordered through the mail for his hive of bees. The Queen Bee and a few other bees were mailed in a small cardboard box about the size of a matchbox. We had to return by 10 PM as the park closes at that hour. Many deer greeted us on the way back.
The next day we took Hunter and walked a wooded trail to the top of the mountain for a splendid view of a stone tower built by the CCC. We also found the remnants of a large 850 foot stone wall, as high as 6 feet, said by archaeologists to be a thousand years old or more. Theories about its purpose suggest it might have been built by the Cherokees for defensive or for ceremonial purposes. We then drove to a beautiful mountain lake in the park where Hunter took his first swim in fresh water since last summer. Boy, did he enjoy that! We returned to Anita’s cousin’s home for a great barbeque dinner. When we left our campsite the temperature was 77 degrees and found the temp to be 98 degrees at their home. These mountains are so “cool”. After dinner, Anita’s cousin took us to three cemeteries to bring Anita up to date on her deceased relatives. We visited the James Vann home near Chatsworth, a large 3 story brick building built by his slaves in 1804. The home had 4 fireplaces, beautiful wooden floors and large windows for a fabulous mountain view. James , a full blooded Cherokee Indian, was a successful entrepreneur. As a young uneducated man he purchased vast amounts of property by trading and as a result he owned thousands of wooded acres which he logged. He owned saw mills, ferries, warehouses, a tavern etc. He also owned over 100 slaves. He was murdered as a young man and left his fortune to his 13 year old son, Joseph, who in later years became even wealthier. When the Cherokee nation was ordered by President Jackson and Congress to move to Oklahoma in 1838, i.e.; the march of tears, Joseph Vann was already there, making another fortune. So he and his family never had to endure the 800 mile tragedy that cost thousands of lives.
We are now in Townsend, TN, where we came in June of 2008 to take my carving lessons. The small community is in the foothills of the Smokies and introduced us to bluegrass music. Friday night we returned to a social center we visited a couple of Friday nights, a couple of years ago, to hear jam sessions. Lots of amateur musicians come to play their guitars, banjos, fiddles, washboards, etc. They gather in several rooms of the old school house and play terrific bluegrass. Anita videotaped a good amount of the music, which will bring back memories when we return home. Yesterday we took a drive into the mountains and found the beautiful cool creek that Hunter played in when we were here last time. Hunter really loved the water, and in a little over an hour, he had picked up, with his head under the water, at least 40 rocks of all sizes and piled them up. We sat on rocks in the cool shaded stream and found comfort from the 90 degree day. Last night we returned to the Pickin’ Porch for a free dulcimer concert which featured a well known performer, Bing Futch, a decendent of slaves and Cherokee Indians. His dreadlocks hung below his waist, but what a performer!! Tonight we will take Hunter along for a beautiful 17 mile sunset drive to Cades Cove, a beautifully preserved former settler’s 1800’s community in a valley. Tomorrow we will leave for one of our favorite camping sites, Woodsmoke, in Unicoi, TN where we will stay through the 5th.
We had also the heat most of you have had. 90’s every day! One early evening we had a mountain shower which brought some cool air, but it has been very dry . Last year we had rain almost every day. The forecast is for cooler weather next week…we hope. To date we have driven 895 miles in the RV and 430 miles in the car…no bike trips this year!
We hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday! Thanks for traveling with us.
We spent a nice weekend with Anita’s daughter and her husband in Tampa, after getting a new relay and starter at a Ford dealer there. On Saturday we drove 50 miles north and spent the day kayaking on the Weekiwatchee spring fed river. What a delight, just drifting 8 miles down the river with its current. The water was as clear as a glass of gin, so we saw many kinds of fish, including many manatees. The temp was in the 90’s, but we stopped several times to take a dip in the nice cool 72 degree water.
We left Tampa Monday morning, the 14th, driving north on I-75, and stopped for a quick lunch at a rest stop south of Lake City. As Anita was preparing lunch, I checked the tow dolly and everything was secure, but low and behold, I was surprised to see our bike carrier had become loose and my bike’s front wheel and tire were damaged. Had we not stopped there, we would have lost both bikes and the carrier and probably would not have even noticed it. When towing with the 2 front wheels on the dolly it lowered the rear area of the car to a clearance of just a few inches. We must have hit a bump in the road which loosened the carrier from the car. After lunch, I was able to secure the carrier to the car, but we drove slower to our camp site 50 miles further. We realized we could not continue our trip with the bikes. We had to store them somewhere. I remembered a friend of ours in Key West bought a farm near Lake City, and after a couple of phone calls, I located him in Key West and told him our problem. He said he would gladly store them ‘til we came back. He called his next door neighbor up here, and an hour later we met him in the Wal-mart parking lot with his pickup to carry the bikes to our friend’s garage on the farm. It sure is great to have friends that can help when needed.
We spent that evening and the next day and evening nearby in the beautifully wooded Stephen Foster State Park on the Suwannee River. We visited the Stephen Foster Museum which is housed in an antebellum style mansion typical of those that existed in Foster’s era. It was constructed on the banks of the Suwannee River in 1958. Josiah Lilly, the son of pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly, who was a devoted fan of Foster, suggested a Memorial which the state of Florida and the Florida Federation of music clubs funded. Steven Foster wrote,”Old Folks At Home,” the state song of Florida. There are 8 large moving dioramas depicting interpretations of scenes from Foster’s best loved songs. It took 15 years to construct the amazing dioramas. The actual desk that Foster used, and a replica of the piano that he wrote “Old Folks at Home”, which made the Suwannee River known all over the world, is displayed with many other beautiful pianos, some with mother of pearl ivory keys. The walls are decorated with masterful paintings of Foster and his life’s history. He wrote more than 200 songs in his short life of 36 years.
The center piece of the park is the Stephen Foster Memorial Carillon Tower. The carillon, the world’s largest tubular bell instrument, plays concerts daily featuring the music of Foster. The music resounds throughout the parks beautiful gardens and grounds. There are many Foster artifacts in the tower building, as well as many photos of the carillon’s construction. On Wednesday, the 16th we drove 253 miles into Georgia and stayed 5 nights at the Pine Mountain RV park which had cable TV, so we could watch the US Open golf tournament. While there we spent a day at nearby Warm Springs visiting Franklin Roosevelt’s Little White House, where he passed away on April 13th, 1945. The cottage is small and quaint and nestled in the deep woods and is similar to Herbert Hoover’s summer retreat which we visited last year in Virginia. As we now know, he was paralyzed from the waist down with polio, and travelled to Warm Springs to bath in the warm springs more than 40 times. It was his only relief from pain. We also spent a couple of hours visiting the new 11,000 square-foot memorial museum that tells the story of a great president. It contains many historical artifacts. Later we drove to the summit of Pine Mountain, 1395 ft above sea level…and the temperature was a warm 86 degrees. It has been in the 90’s every day since we left.
Anita spent a day at Calloway Gardens, a destination resort and Garden, with many attractions including a butterfly garden which is North America’s largest glass enclosed tropical conservatory. The Horticultural Center and vegetable garden were well designed but she said the best part was watching a performance of the Florida State University Flying High Circus. The students are very adept on the high wire, trapeze and tumbling. It was very entertaining!!
I had a nice lazy Fathers day watching the US Open. We left the next day, Monday, the 21st for the Dalton, GA area. We drove 175 miles north on back roads, seeing so much more than I-75. We arrived at Chatsworth, which is at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, and drove up a winding road 7 miles, towing the car, to near the top of Ft Mountain, to Ft Mountain State Park. It along with Stephan Foster State Park was an excellent campground. Both sites were heavily wooded and distant from other campers. One of the many reasons we like to stay in state and national parks. It was so good to see the Great Smoky Mountains again! The rolling hills are so heavily wooded amid the smoky haze, the air is cooler and so fresh…it’s like coming home again!
That evening we drove 28 miles to Anita’s first cousin Tom Miller’s home in Dalton for a delicious dinner. Anita was born in Dalton and left for Orlando when she was less than a year old. There are still many relatives living in the area. Tom also gave us a lesson in beekeeping and showed us a Queen Bee which a friend had ordered through the mail for his hive of bees. The Queen Bee and a few other bees were mailed in a small cardboard box about the size of a matchbox. We had to return by 10 PM as the park closes at that hour. Many deer greeted us on the way back.
The next day we took Hunter and walked a wooded trail to the top of the mountain for a splendid view of a stone tower built by the CCC. We also found the remnants of a large 850 foot stone wall, as high as 6 feet, said by archaeologists to be a thousand years old or more. Theories about its purpose suggest it might have been built by the Cherokees for defensive or for ceremonial purposes. We then drove to a beautiful mountain lake in the park where Hunter took his first swim in fresh water since last summer. Boy, did he enjoy that! We returned to Anita’s cousin’s home for a great barbeque dinner. When we left our campsite the temperature was 77 degrees and found the temp to be 98 degrees at their home. These mountains are so “cool”. After dinner, Anita’s cousin took us to three cemeteries to bring Anita up to date on her deceased relatives. We visited the James Vann home near Chatsworth, a large 3 story brick building built by his slaves in 1804. The home had 4 fireplaces, beautiful wooden floors and large windows for a fabulous mountain view. James , a full blooded Cherokee Indian, was a successful entrepreneur. As a young uneducated man he purchased vast amounts of property by trading and as a result he owned thousands of wooded acres which he logged. He owned saw mills, ferries, warehouses, a tavern etc. He also owned over 100 slaves. He was murdered as a young man and left his fortune to his 13 year old son, Joseph, who in later years became even wealthier. When the Cherokee nation was ordered by President Jackson and Congress to move to Oklahoma in 1838, i.e.; the march of tears, Joseph Vann was already there, making another fortune. So he and his family never had to endure the 800 mile tragedy that cost thousands of lives.
We are now in Townsend, TN, where we came in June of 2008 to take my carving lessons. The small community is in the foothills of the Smokies and introduced us to bluegrass music. Friday night we returned to a social center we visited a couple of Friday nights, a couple of years ago, to hear jam sessions. Lots of amateur musicians come to play their guitars, banjos, fiddles, washboards, etc. They gather in several rooms of the old school house and play terrific bluegrass. Anita videotaped a good amount of the music, which will bring back memories when we return home. Yesterday we took a drive into the mountains and found the beautiful cool creek that Hunter played in when we were here last time. Hunter really loved the water, and in a little over an hour, he had picked up, with his head under the water, at least 40 rocks of all sizes and piled them up. We sat on rocks in the cool shaded stream and found comfort from the 90 degree day. Last night we returned to the Pickin’ Porch for a free dulcimer concert which featured a well known performer, Bing Futch, a decendent of slaves and Cherokee Indians. His dreadlocks hung below his waist, but what a performer!! Tonight we will take Hunter along for a beautiful 17 mile sunset drive to Cades Cove, a beautifully preserved former settler’s 1800’s community in a valley. Tomorrow we will leave for one of our favorite camping sites, Woodsmoke, in Unicoi, TN where we will stay through the 5th.
We had also the heat most of you have had. 90’s every day! One early evening we had a mountain shower which brought some cool air, but it has been very dry . Last year we had rain almost every day. The forecast is for cooler weather next week…we hope. To date we have driven 895 miles in the RV and 430 miles in the car…no bike trips this year!
We hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday! Thanks for traveling with us.
Bill, Anita and Hunter
NEWSLETTER #3 (2010)
ON THE ROAD with Bill and Anita
ON THE ROAD with Bill and Anita
We had planned to go out west to the Rockies this year, but because of our late start in June and waiting for Anita’s family reunion, we have decided to do that trip next year, when we will leave in mid-May. We now will spend the summer in the Smokies and Appalachians.
We arrived at one of our favorite camp sites, Woodsmoke Campground, in Unicoi, TN, on Monday, June 28th. It was great to see the owners, Damie, Urban, Vega and Richard again. As usual, they saved us our favorite site # 29. We have spent 59 wonderful days on the same site. While we were there we drove to the top of Roan Mountain where the temp was 62 degrees, 30 degrees cooler than the base of the mountain. Anita had hoped to see the huge display of rhododendrons, but we were a week late. It didn’t take us long to find the red barn a few miles down the road, and spent an evening listening to traditional mountain music. We spent the 4th of July weekend in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest city and storytelling capital of the world. Story teller, Andy Erwin entertained us again with his southern childhood experiences. We spent an evening listening to the SONOS, a unique a capella musical group out of LA. We attended the Jonesborough 4th of July parade of tractors and politicians and shook the hands of 2 gubernatorial candidates. We met an interesting character who supports himself making very elaborate walking sticks out of twisted wood and then heard him yodel with Anita’s favorite band the Roan Mountain Moonshiners. He told us he also has his own band. After the Moonshiners performed we heard Adam Larkey, age 13, an outstanding fiddler with his band. His nine year old sister, Sarah, belted out several Allison Krause songs. Someday we will see them on American Idol. Our 4th of July celebration ended in Unicoi which had a great fireworks display.
On Monday, the 5th, we left for Hiawassee, Ga. The site of Anita’s Family Reunion, and I believe it was the hardest 160 mile drive we have ever had. The I-26 interstate crossed over two Mountains with grades of 7-9%, even though we downshifted coming down, our tow dolly brakes started to smoke. The other mountain roads we took were narrow, without shoulders, and were up and down, and around and around. The 160 mile drive took us over 5 hours. Our campsite at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds is excellent, heavily shaded and level even though we are on the Mountain.
Anita’s son Pat, and his wife Amy, have a nice condo just out of town overlooking Chatuge Lake, which is very large with many coves and 60% of its shoreline protected against development. It is on the border of Georgia and North Carolina, so it is in both states. Our first day Pat took us for a boat ride and then we stopped and swam in the cool water in a quiet cove surrounded by trees. Anita’s daughter Alyson, and her husband Karl, arrived the next day and we drove to near the top of the highest mountain in Georgia, Brasstown Bald. (4,750 ft.) The bus which should have taken us to the top wasn’t running so Alyson and Anita hiked the half mile straight up to the observation tower. They could see three states from the top.
Early the next morning we drove to the Nantahala Gorge for a great 2 hour whitewater rafting trip. Afterwards Karl drove us on a thrilling scenic ride past Nantahala Lake and Wayah Bald into Franklin, N.C. We saw some interesting specimens of rocks and gems in the museum. The next day we went tubing on a rocky shallow river in Helen, Ga., (where I banged up my left leg on some rocks), tubing is for kids, not 83 year olds.
The family reunion was the first of a kind for Anita’s family, which is primarily located in Georgia and in the Atlanta area. We missed a few who couldn’t come because of last minute illnesses, but there were over 30 of the clan, from babies to grandfathers. Anita and Pat were great hosts and everyone sure seemed to have a good time. The noon barbeque was a big hit and Pat offered scenic boat rides while the children enjoyed a lot of toys in the water. The farewell dinner was held half way up a mountain at Brasstown Lodge, a beautiful resort.
Sunday was a good day to relax; we have good internet and cable TV. We arose Tuesday the 13th, planning to leave, but remember me telling you about my injury while tubing; well my leg looked like it was infected. I drove 20 miles to a clinic in Blairsville and they confirmed it was infected and I had cellulites again. I had the same condition 5 ½ years ago when we were in Maine and was hospitalized for a few days. They suggested we stay a few days so they could monitor the condition.
So the remainder of this week has been rather uneventful. On Thursday I returned to the clinic for an evaluation and the doctor suggested I see a doctor that owns the clinic. He had his own practice. After a 2 hour wait, he just told us to watch the red area on the leg and if it spread, I should check in at the hospital. I am happy to report this morning, Sunday, that the swelling is down and the infection has not spread, but it hasn’t receded either.
We drove to Blairsville Friday evening to listen to a bluegrass group at the old city hall. It wasn’t worth the drive, but you never know, as last night we heard a great group named the Steel Spring Session from Ducktown, TN, on the Hiawasee public square. It was the first time we saw a peddle steel guitar which was really nice to listen to. They did a rousing performance of my favorite song Dueling Banjos! Wow!! Misty Mountainuff I had to see this spectacular display. It is almost indescribable.
Yesterday we took a drive into the mountains to visit the Misty Mountain Model Railroad. As a model railroad buff, I had to see this spectacular display. It is almost undescribable. The owner spent 3 years designing it, and he, and 2 other men, have spent the last 15 years building it. It is in a specially built building in a 100 X 75 foot room and it is built at eye level, so as you walk through it, it appears you are within the display. He had 8 trains running out of 13, all “O” gauge. In another area he had over 700 railroad cars and engines displayed, a collection gathered over 70 years. The last 4 days I have been carving, reading and enjoyed watching the British Golf Open, as we have cable TV service. Anita has been busy hiking and taking pictures of this wonderful area. We are in the mountains at 2500 feet above sea level with many second homes nearby. It is only 2 hours from Atlanta and Knoxville, but we also have seen many Florida tags as well. We have been camped at the North Georgia Fair Grounds for the last 2 weeks which is heavily wooded and offers a great view of Chatuge Lake. The weather has been great, low 80’s during the day and low 60’s at night. The annual fair starts Saturday so we have to leave tomorrow as all the sites are reserved. So we’ll just take the sore leg into North Carolina where I am sure it will get better. We have a site reserved near Cherokee for a few days.
We arrived at one of our favorite camp sites, Woodsmoke Campground, in Unicoi, TN, on Monday, June 28th. It was great to see the owners, Damie, Urban, Vega and Richard again. As usual, they saved us our favorite site # 29. We have spent 59 wonderful days on the same site. While we were there we drove to the top of Roan Mountain where the temp was 62 degrees, 30 degrees cooler than the base of the mountain. Anita had hoped to see the huge display of rhododendrons, but we were a week late. It didn’t take us long to find the red barn a few miles down the road, and spent an evening listening to traditional mountain music. We spent the 4th of July weekend in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest city and storytelling capital of the world. Story teller, Andy Erwin entertained us again with his southern childhood experiences. We spent an evening listening to the SONOS, a unique a capella musical group out of LA. We attended the Jonesborough 4th of July parade of tractors and politicians and shook the hands of 2 gubernatorial candidates. We met an interesting character who supports himself making very elaborate walking sticks out of twisted wood and then heard him yodel with Anita’s favorite band the Roan Mountain Moonshiners. He told us he also has his own band. After the Moonshiners performed we heard Adam Larkey, age 13, an outstanding fiddler with his band. His nine year old sister, Sarah, belted out several Allison Krause songs. Someday we will see them on American Idol. Our 4th of July celebration ended in Unicoi which had a great fireworks display.
On Monday, the 5th, we left for Hiawassee, Ga. The site of Anita’s Family Reunion, and I believe it was the hardest 160 mile drive we have ever had. The I-26 interstate crossed over two Mountains with grades of 7-9%, even though we downshifted coming down, our tow dolly brakes started to smoke. The other mountain roads we took were narrow, without shoulders, and were up and down, and around and around. The 160 mile drive took us over 5 hours. Our campsite at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds is excellent, heavily shaded and level even though we are on the Mountain.
Anita’s son Pat, and his wife Amy, have a nice condo just out of town overlooking Chatuge Lake, which is very large with many coves and 60% of its shoreline protected against development. It is on the border of Georgia and North Carolina, so it is in both states. Our first day Pat took us for a boat ride and then we stopped and swam in the cool water in a quiet cove surrounded by trees. Anita’s daughter Alyson, and her husband Karl, arrived the next day and we drove to near the top of the highest mountain in Georgia, Brasstown Bald. (4,750 ft.) The bus which should have taken us to the top wasn’t running so Alyson and Anita hiked the half mile straight up to the observation tower. They could see three states from the top.
Early the next morning we drove to the Nantahala Gorge for a great 2 hour whitewater rafting trip. Afterwards Karl drove us on a thrilling scenic ride past Nantahala Lake and Wayah Bald into Franklin, N.C. We saw some interesting specimens of rocks and gems in the museum. The next day we went tubing on a rocky shallow river in Helen, Ga., (where I banged up my left leg on some rocks), tubing is for kids, not 83 year olds.
The family reunion was the first of a kind for Anita’s family, which is primarily located in Georgia and in the Atlanta area. We missed a few who couldn’t come because of last minute illnesses, but there were over 30 of the clan, from babies to grandfathers. Anita and Pat were great hosts and everyone sure seemed to have a good time. The noon barbeque was a big hit and Pat offered scenic boat rides while the children enjoyed a lot of toys in the water. The farewell dinner was held half way up a mountain at Brasstown Lodge, a beautiful resort.
Sunday was a good day to relax; we have good internet and cable TV. We arose Tuesday the 13th, planning to leave, but remember me telling you about my injury while tubing; well my leg looked like it was infected. I drove 20 miles to a clinic in Blairsville and they confirmed it was infected and I had cellulites again. I had the same condition 5 ½ years ago when we were in Maine and was hospitalized for a few days. They suggested we stay a few days so they could monitor the condition.
So the remainder of this week has been rather uneventful. On Thursday I returned to the clinic for an evaluation and the doctor suggested I see a doctor that owns the clinic. He had his own practice. After a 2 hour wait, he just told us to watch the red area on the leg and if it spread, I should check in at the hospital. I am happy to report this morning, Sunday, that the swelling is down and the infection has not spread, but it hasn’t receded either.
We drove to Blairsville Friday evening to listen to a bluegrass group at the old city hall. It wasn’t worth the drive, but you never know, as last night we heard a great group named the Steel Spring Session from Ducktown, TN, on the Hiawasee public square. It was the first time we saw a peddle steel guitar which was really nice to listen to. They did a rousing performance of my favorite song Dueling Banjos! Wow!! Misty Mountainuff I had to see this spectacular display. It is almost indescribable.
Yesterday we took a drive into the mountains to visit the Misty Mountain Model Railroad. As a model railroad buff, I had to see this spectacular display. It is almost undescribable. The owner spent 3 years designing it, and he, and 2 other men, have spent the last 15 years building it. It is in a specially built building in a 100 X 75 foot room and it is built at eye level, so as you walk through it, it appears you are within the display. He had 8 trains running out of 13, all “O” gauge. In another area he had over 700 railroad cars and engines displayed, a collection gathered over 70 years. The last 4 days I have been carving, reading and enjoyed watching the British Golf Open, as we have cable TV service. Anita has been busy hiking and taking pictures of this wonderful area. We are in the mountains at 2500 feet above sea level with many second homes nearby. It is only 2 hours from Atlanta and Knoxville, but we also have seen many Florida tags as well. We have been camped at the North Georgia Fair Grounds for the last 2 weeks which is heavily wooded and offers a great view of Chatuge Lake. The weather has been great, low 80’s during the day and low 60’s at night. The annual fair starts Saturday so we have to leave tomorrow as all the sites are reserved. So we’ll just take the sore leg into North Carolina where I am sure it will get better. We have a site reserved near Cherokee for a few days.
To date we have driven 1203 miles in the RV and 860 miles in our car. We saw a couple of clever billboards lately… ”Drink, Drive, Die” and on a church bulletin board, “OUR SUNDAYS ARE BETTER THAN BASKIN ROBBINS”.
Thanx for traveling with us again.
Bill, Anita and Hunter
