At last, a short trip north

As many of you know, we have not been able to be out on the road for most of the last year. We have been busy helping out Larry's mother. We moved her into independent living at a very satisfactory retirement center in our town. In the spring, she contracted an e coli infection and we spent a lot of time over the next five months helping her to recover and getting her moved into assisted living. Then we took a three-week vacation and discovered we really needed that time.

First, we went to Red Bay, Alabama. When we started out, all we needed was to get new pulldown day and night shades installed. The ones that came with the coach had strings that broke repeatedly and usually we looked a bit like a rolling tenement, with shades at all sorts of angles and dangling broken strings. We're very pleased with our new shades. The dash air gave out on the way to Red Bay and they added freon when we got there, so we had dash and roof air the rest of the way. Ahh...

Next, we spent a week in Nashville, taking in two Grand Old Opry shows at the Ryman. Our campground had not flooded last spring, so it was fine. The KOA a short distance away and appearing to be at the same elevation, had flooded and even some of its little KOA log cabins had floated away! Repairs to the Grand Old Opry were still underway, and the Music City Mall was completely closed, with construction equipment abounding.

We also went out to Blue Spring and took a nice hike with Daisy. Here are my favorite photos of it. It really is blue, isn't it?




From Nashville, we moved on through Chattanooga and to the vicinity of Helen, GA. In the 60s, Helen was in danger of becoming a ghost town. One of the residents looked at the gorgeous North Georgia mountains and the Chattahoochee River meandering through the town, and suggested they turn Helen into a faux German Alpine village. The town residents and business owners transformed the town into a kitchy fake Bavarian town - it's amazing. Here's a photo that will give you an idea of what the whole town looks like. Please note the three people floating down the river in tubes. The picture was taken on Friday of Labor Day weekend. The next day we needed to get gas and groceries, and the town was jammed with people and cars. The river was jammed with floaters of all descriptions.




A highlight of Helen was the ZuZu Rock Shop. Well, what did you expect??? Linda and her son Vern were wonderfully friendly to us and we all had a great time showing off our rocks and schtuff. Frodo, their pup, and Daisy also took an interest. They told us about a dig in NE Georgia at Graves Mountain which is the last weekend in September and we are intending to go to it. We're hoping to see them there. However, we're watching the weather because we may be in for a hurricane. If so, we'll cancel our camping reservations and stay home. I've laid in a good supply of water, food and batteries. That will help whether we're weathering another storm or out on the road.












Brasstown Bald Mountain, not far from Helen, is the highest point in Georgia, 4784 ft. It was a nice scenic drive with a shuttle bus up to the observation point on top of the mountain. With a 360 degree view, you can see Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Here is a view of North Carolina:


Another nice hike was to Dukes Creek Falls, where we were rewarded with a multi-streamed, tall waterfall. This photo captures only a part of it:



After Helen, we motored down to a Corps of Engineers park on Lake Lanier and spent the end of Labor Day and most of the week with Ivan, Suzanne and Baby Ivan. Mike was there when we arrived, but had to leave the next day. I'll put up another post after this devoted to our visit - mostly baby pics of course.