They fly through the air with the greatest of ease . . .

They tell us this is typical late summer weather for Georgia, not early summer . . . all we know is that it’s HOT!  We spent the week doing whatever we could to beat the heat . . .

Monday . . . hanging out at the pool

Tuesday . . . shopping and a movie – San Andreas

Wednesday . . . another day at the pool, and this time we all got fried pretty well

Thursday . . . we stayed in the air conditioned comfort of the RV, reading and watching movies

Friday . . . we were ready for the pool again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a nice crowd at the pool . . . but not so busy that it felt crowded.

We’ve had beautiful days, and some amazing sunsets!

We don’t have any shade in the area of the park that we’re in, but luckily there’s a loop road that’s in a wooded area where we can walk Casey every day – it’s nicely shaded and a dirt road, so easier on her paws than the asphalt.

I call it Yurt Village – the only thing in this loop are a group of rental yurts and some of the work campers.

We’re just down the road from the little village of Pine Mountain, and Callaway Gardens, a major vacation destination.  Almost everyone we’ve talked to has said that we should spend a day at Callaway Gardens, but we’ve been hesitant at a daily rate of $20/person.  The bike trails are supposed to be nice, and the beach, but as Michigan natives, where lakes and beaches are plentiful, we have a hard time justifying that kind of expense just to ride bikes on a path and go to the beach.

On Friday evenings, though, admission is just $5/person at the beach and they have a big circus tent where the Florida State University trapeze team puts on a performance, followed by a movie on the beach.  We figured that would give us a chance to check it out and see if it’s worth coming back for a full day.

We had an early dinner so that we could get there right at 5pm.  The beach looked like fun,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Bryce was intrigued by Aqua Island.

Looks almost like a mini version of “Wipe-Out”.  Aqua Island is NOT included in the normal admission price, though . . . it requires an additional fee! 

Same goes for the various available watersports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had some time to kill before the trapeze show, so we took a drive through the main area of the park to check out the gardens.

We didn’t see much besides a few areas of wildflowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The azalea gardens, which Callaway is famous for, either bloomed early or got wiped out by spring storms . . . we didn’t see any in bloom.

We stopped at the Pioneer Cabin . . . just so I’d have something to take pictures of.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside of the cabin was set up the way it must have looked in the early 1800s.

Out back, there was a well,

 

and a smokehouse.

After our little break, we continued around the park and back to the beach . . . and made it back just as they were locking up the gate between the beach and the rest of the gardens!

We still had about an hour until the show, so we stopped in at the Rockin’ Robin Diner for milkshakes.

Based on our experiences so far, Tom was expecting the shakes to cost a small fortune, but we were pleasantly surprised.

We enjoyed our delicious milkshakes while learning about the history of Callaway Gardens from the diner’s owner.

After enjoying our shakes, we made our way to the big tent and found seats on the bleachers to watch the performance.

It began with a parade of performers,

 

and then the Ringmaster announced each of the performers.

The performers and crew are all college students, and this is an extra-curricular activity for them, not their field of study (probably isn’t a field of study at all!) 

 

There are acrobats that perform on the ground, and others that are up high.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls who performed on the high swing and the cloud swing were really talented – they were just as good as any professional circus performers!

The bicycle group was particularly entertaining.

The grand finale was a the trapeze act, and they were very good, also . . . they moved so fast, it was hard to get a picture of them!

All in all, it was a really good show, and would have been worth the $5 admission on its own!

Well Done, Florida State University!

Mayfield Dairy Tour

During our post-Rally gathering of Dreamers, Mike had told us about the Indoor RV Center where he had purchased his motorhome, and it turned out that there was one in Georgia, not too far from where we were staying at the Georgia RV Park.

We decided to take a drive out there on Thursday to check out a few motorhomes that they had, and since it’s an INDOOR showroom, it would be much more tolerable in the 90 degree heat . . . yeah, right!

First thing we found out was that their showroom is NOT indoors . . . ok, then!  They had a few motorhomes, including a 2006 Country Coach in the same floorplan as the one we’ve been looking at in Canada.  WE walked through them, but didn’t spend much time . . . the salesman wasn’t too enthused about showing them to us!

On the way to the RV Dealer, we had seen a billboard for Mayfield Dairy, so on the way back home we stopped in for a tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a milk bottling plant, not an ice cream plant, but they still had an ice cream shop and the $4.50 per person tour price included an ice cream cone at the end of the tour.

We browsed through the gift shop while we waited for our tour time.

 

The tour included the history of Mayfield Dairy and their famous (?) yellow milk jugs, and the many other products that they produce.  As usual, there was no photography allowed on the tour, but they have some handy displays in the store.

 

We saw where the tanker truckers bring the raw milk into the plant, where it’s processed – homogenized and pasteurized, and finally where it’s bottled, labeled and sent back out the door – all within 24 – 48 hours, and at a constant temperature of 34 degrees F.

The tour ended with an opportunity to “milk” Bessie.  Bryce didn’t want to try it, though!

 

It was a fun and informative tour . . . and the ice cream was delicious, too!

 

On Saturday, we moved across Georgia, though Atlanta,

to the Pine Mountain RV Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

It’s a very nice RV Resort, with roomy sites – with picnic tables AND firepits!  I think we’ll be very comfortable here, and it it ever cools down, we might even have a campfire!

It’s really quiet right now, but we hear it’s going to fill up for Father’s Day weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a nice little Dog Park that Casey has already checked out,

and a beautiful pool that we’re going to get a lot of use out of – it’s supposed to be in the upper 90s all week!!

Yep, this will be a nice place to call home for a couple weeks while we check out the area!

SOMEthing to talk about -- Tallulah Gorge State Park

So, that’s what happens when I open Live Writer to start a blog post and walk out of the room . . . I come back to “I posted a blog!”

Contrary to his opinion, we had quite an adventurous day on Wednesday.  Directly north of us on St. Rt. 15 about 35 miles was Tallulah Gorge State Park.  We packed a lunch and waited for the fog to clear in the morning, and set out around 11:00, arriving shortly before noon.

From the Georgia State Park website:

“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.”

We stopped in the Interpretive Center first,

looked at the displays,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Bryce & I talked to the volunteer about the hikes while Tom finished up a conversation with the diesel mechanic who’s rebuilding our engine (all parts are in and he’s getting ready to start re-assembling it!).

Permits are required to hike to the gorge floor, and they were all given out for the day already (darn! ), but we still had two options for the day – we could take the North Rim Trail from the Interpretive Center (stopping at Overlooks 2,3,4, and 5), cross the dam and pick up the South Rim Trail to overlooks 6,7,8,9, and 10.  From the end of the South Rim Trail, option 1 would be to turn around and go back the same way, or option 2 would be to hike down 347 steps to the Swinging Bridge, and then up 310 steps to the North Rim Trail at overlook 2.

I was leaning toward option 1, but we’d see how it went . . .

 

We met Tom at the car, transferred our lunch and water bottles to the backpack, and set out for the North Rim Trail.

This first part of the trail is really comfortable to walk on – it’s made from recycled rubber mulch!    

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at Overlook 3 first, where we had a pretty good view of L’Eau d’Or Falls and Hawthorne Pool below the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

We back-tracked a little to Overlook 2, where we had a better view of the falls – L’Eau d”Or and Tempesta Falls.

 

Across the Gorge, we could see a picnic shelter on the South Rim Trail – that looks like it’ll make a nice lunch stop.

From Overlook 2, lots of people head down the stairs to the suspension bridge over the river – but we weren’t sure if we were doing that yet!

We continued along the North Rim Trail,

past Overlook 4 (where we couldn’t see much of anything) and some really fragrant flowers,

 

to Overlook 5 – Tallulah Falls Dam.

 

There were lots of warning signs along the trail,

but maybe they need one stating that motorcycles aren’t allowed on the trail!  This guy came down the trail that connects the campground to the North Rim Trail!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, we had reached the end of the North Rim Trail, and had to walk over the dam to the South Rim Trail.  From the top of the dam, we could see into the Gorge,

 

but we had to be careful not to get dirt in our eyes when trucks passed by on the highway!

Our first stop on the South Rim Trail was the picnic shelter where we enjoyed our lunch while admiring the view of the gorge.  You can see the suspension bridge over the river in this view.

The South Rim Trail seems to be a little more developed, with structures,

artwork,

and benches.

Moving along, we reached Overlook 7,

where we could see Hawthorne Pool flowing into Tempesta Falls.

Overlooks 8, 9, and 10 are at the end of the trail, behind a stone wall at the edge of the gorge.

From here, we could see the Interpretive Center,

Hurricane Falls,

 

 

 

and Overlook 1 on the North Rim Trail.

Another view of Hurricane Falls.

So, we had reached the end of the South Rim Trail – I thought we would turn around and go back the same way, but Tom didn’t want to.  We talked to several people who had just made the climb up the 347 steps on this side, and they survived . . .

So we decided to continue on!  More warning signs!

These steps were pretty steep!

We made it, and we could see where the water flowed over Hurricane Falls,

and continued on after the falls.

There was an additional 221 steps down to a platform at the bottom of Hurricane Falls, and Bryce did that one by himself!  221 down, and 221 back up – less than 10 minutes!!

Tom and I waited at the Suspension Bridge for him to return,

 

then we all went across the bridge . . . there was quite a bit of sway and flex in that bridge!

Especially with Bryce jumping!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other side, we rested some more before our big climb up 310 stairs . . . steep stairs!

 

I must say, it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!  We took about 10 minutes to get down the 347 steps, and just under 30 minutes to climb the 310 steps!

It helped that each landing was numbered, so we could see our progress as we climbed!  Back at the top, we made our way back along the trail to the parking lot and headed back to Commerce.

After an early dinner at Five Guys (Bryce’s choice), we relaxed in the pool back at the RV Park – a great way to end the day!