A Beautiful Day in Ellijay

 11.4.2023

Ellijay, GA

Talona Ridge Resort

Comet got me up early today, and I was glad he did.  The moments just before the sun came up over the mountains were spectacular!  

After lunch in town at Cantaberry we drove out to Amicalola State Park.

We hiked up a short but steep trail to the base of the falls.  Being a Saturday the trail was quite busy and well worth the effort.

This park was once the start of the Appalachian Trail.  The official start has been moved to a more remote mountain top about 8 miles away.  However, this park has the most accessible entry and parking to the trail.

After our hike we cashed in the tasting we won as part of a raffle at Cartecay Winery.  We enjoyed the wine, the beautiful day, and some live music.

We made it back to the RV and Comet in plenty of time to attend dinner with The Wander Local Rally folks.

Ellijay, GA

 11.3.2023

Ellijay is an adorable little town nestled in the mountains of GA.  I really haven’t taken enough pictures so you’ll have to take my word on it.  It is gorgeous here.  While Kenny Worked I spent the day wandering from shop to shop.  It is a pleasant mix of antique stores and little mom and pops.  It was fun picking up stocking stuffers and other small gifts.

After work we went to Engelheim Winery.  It was a beautiful setting with some great wines.  We enjoyed a glass of Chardonel before returning to the RV Resort for the evening festivities with the Wander Local Rally.  

Kenny got a text from Tony Mastrostefano asking where we were.  When Kenny replied a small town in Georgia called Ellijay Tony responded that he and Lori were here also.  So, after dinner we drove up to the beautiful home that they are sharing with 4 other couples.  It was fun to see them for a bit!

(This is where the picture I should have taken of the 4 of us could be!)

Talona Ridge

 11.2.2023

Talona Ridge RV Resort, Elijay, GA

Part of our research into finding places to visit is following various YouTubers.  This weekend we are attending a rally put on by one of them, Wander Local.  We decided on this one as it was to be the last weekend of our trip out west and was directly on our route.  It just seemed like a natural fit.  Once the trip kind of exploded we felt the need to do this part, especially since we had already paid for it.

So, this morning we left our beautiful campsite on Harrison Bay and headed south.

The drive itself was uneventful.  However, Comet wasn’t feeling great and managed to throw up into his box that he rides in, all over the truck, and into my purse.  Of course this happened on a narrow back road where there was no place to pull off.  Once I found a CVS I pulled over to go inside to buy paper towels and wipes to clean things up.  So, we traveled on until we got to Talona Ridge, our beautiful campground for the weekend.  Now, Comet has serious separation anxiety; he never runs from me.  Until today when he bolted out of the RV and took a tour of the RV park.  After a few minutes of following him, he stopped to do his business in another campsite.  Of course, I had run after him with nothing in my hands so after retrieving him I had to go back to pick up what he’d left behind.  Thankfully, the folks in the site never came out of their camper!  

After all of Comet’s shenanigans we checked into the rally.  It was fun meeting new people.   We played an ice breaker game in which we had to find the person with the matching index card with a travel destination on it.  My partner who also had Moab, Utah and I won a drink from the bar as we have both been o Moab.  After dinner catered by a local eatery there were give always.  I won a shaver in that too.  However, since Kenny has a beard I traded it to another couple for two wine tastings.  Now that we will use!  After ice cream we went back to the RV as it was too chilly for us for a campfire.

Little Debbies Anyone?

 November 1, 2023

Harrison Bay State Park near Chattanooga, TN

This was a pretty low-key day.  It was quite chilly outside, especially in the morning so my motivation to go exploring was low.  Instead I opted for reading and enjoying the lake and the fall colors.  During Kenny’s lunch break we took a hike in the state park where we were staying.  It was only about a mile around a small island, but it was enough to get rid of the chill and Comet some exercise.

Blogging has brought contact with people whom I haven’t talked to in decades.  This morning I was chatting with a high school friend, Patsy Jackson, who mentioned that Little Debbie headquarters are in Chattanooga.  While there wasn’t a factory tour for me to go on there is a factory store.  After Kenny worked we took a short drive there.

What Patsy had no way of knowing was how big a fan of Little Debbie both Dad and Aunt Mary were.  Both had stashes of the little cakes.  Aunt Mary liked them frozen.  Kenny said I giggled the entire time we were in the store.  Beyond the cakes there were hats, shirts, sweatshirts, inflatables, pens, magnets . .  . You get the idea.  Let’s just say it’s a good thing I had an empty drawer in the RV and that Little Debbies have a long shelf life!  I mean who can pass up a giant box of Oatmeal Cream Pies for $2??? And Comet will look sporty at the Ugly Christmas Party in his Christmas Tree Cake shirt!

As always he was happy to see us when we returned home.

Rock City and Chattanooga Choo-Choo

 10.31.2023

Chattanooga, TN

Harrison Bay State Park

First a couple of updates.  If you’ve been following along you know that we have a map of the US where the RV has gone.  We updated it to include Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.  Our rule is that we have to agree that a state gets added, the RV needs to spend the night, and we have to do something in the state.  We also need to be together.  Thus Kenny’s trip back across the country didn’t count for the map.  We’ll have to figure out future trips to cover the spaces that we are still missing.

While I was in Waco I ordered a scratch-off poster of the National Parks.  Our goal is to get to the ones in the contiguous US.  For this we actually also got to add St. John’s in the US Virgin Islands that we snorkeled in on our honeymoon.  We also went to Denali when we were in Alaska on a cruise with Pop and the kids in 2009.  Scratching off parks is not dependent on the RV.

After Kenny worked today we went to Rock City, another 1930’s tourist attraction.  It sits high on Lookout Mountain and is a path through rock formations, gardens, and a cave of nursery rhymes.  It was an interesting walk.  The views were beautiful.

Not sure I’m really buying in on the 7 states thing.  I don’t think you can see 120 miles :).

We drove back down the mountain into the city and went to see the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.  The terminal is the largest freestanding brick dome in the world.  It has been beautifully restored.  There are several restaurants/bars off of the main terminal with other businesses in the “rail yard”.  The gardens are currently under renovations.  The place was oddly deserted perhaps because it was Halloween?

Comet was very happy to see us when we got home.  We made it in time for a cold, cloudless sunset.