On The Way To Helen…

I apologize for the quality of some of these photographs.  My husband drives like a bat out of hell  rather fast, and it’s hard to get a decent photograph when you are flying…Most of the photographs were taken through the car windows, as well, so there is a bit of a reflection.

We left for our Helen trip early in the morning.  I traveled most of the time with a camera on my lap, anxious to photograph anything that struck me as special.  I’ve never done that before.  I’d like to share just a few of my photographs with you.

On our first leg of the journey to Helen, we saw lots of deep red Georgia clay.  Every time we venture a couple of hours north of our home, I am amazed to see this red clay.  This clay was in an area where some road construction was going on.  We have clay in our area, but not this much, and it’s not this red.  Of course I saw lots and lots of pine trees, too.  If you are in Georgia, you are going to see pine trees…always!

This photograph shows the first Georgia mountains that we saw.  If you look closely, you can see some houses nestled in them. We traveled down Georgia highway 441 for the entire trip.  We passed through many towns.  Remember, this 5 and 1/2 hour trip took us 10 hours to complete…  I don’t remember all of little towns, but I do remember going through Milledgeville(home of the state mental hospital).   We ate lunch in Madison, Georgia, which I found interesting because our granddaughter is named Madison. 

This photograph was taken in one of the last little towns that we passed through.  It may have been Demorest, but I am not sure.  I thought the buildings were charming, and the downtown area was so clean.  It was like stepping back in time…This is what downtown looked like during my childhood. 

We were almost to the cabin when we stopped at a roadside store to ask for directions.  I saw these flowers planted beside a fence, and walked over and snapped a picture.  I just love sunflowers.  The temperature that day was in the high 90′s, so the flowers were looking a little droopy–and we were all feeling a little droopy ourselves!  The crepe myrtles were blooming beautifully this time of the year, but it was hard to get a good picture of those.

My husband and I encountered this deer during our first morning outing in the mountains of Helen. It was grazing beside the highway.  We stopped the car in the middle of the highway,  and my husband whistled to get the deer’s attention.  I snapped the photograph as the deer turned its head to see where the noise was coming from.

This lake photograph was taken in Unicoi State Park.  We rode all through the park on our way to visit Anna Ruby Falls.  Unicoi is the most beautiful Georgia State Park that I’ve ever visited, and we’ve visited quite a few of them.  It has the most beautiful trees, rocks, and rustling water all along its roadways.  What a beautiful place to visit! 

I must be getting old, because I’ve never been on a trip before where I “drank in” the scenery all around me before.  It was like  seeing everything through a new set of eyes.  Sometimes I think you have to reach a certain age before you truly appreciate things–and I believe I’ve finally reached that age.

Six Word Saturday…June 19

 

My six words for this Saturday are:

Had a great wedding anniversary yesterday!

Yesterday, Ed and I began the day of our wedding anniversary  at 6 o’clock in the morning with a kiss.  We exchanged anniversary cards, then began packing the car for our trip to Fernandina Beach, Florida.  Time for a little fun in the sun…

Two of our three grown children, and their “significant others” joined us for the trip since we had an extra bedroom in the condo, and hated to waste it.  Our caravan hit the road around 8:30.  Of course we had to make a stop at Target about mid-way to the beach.  We just can’t travel without making a side shopping trip!  An hour later, we were on the road again, but had to make one more side shopping trip to Wal-mart!

Lunchtime found us eating lunch at WhataBurger.  Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed the oldies music while we munched on our burgers and fries.  We were groovin’ so much that we hated to leave, but the beach was calling our name…

By 3:oo we were unloaded and enjoying our condo.  The ”sun lovers” among us had already hit the beach by then.  After a brief rest, Ed and I hit the beach to soak up some late afternoon sun.  We enjoyed watching our family and others around us doing various activities. Meanwhile we simply relaxed in our reclining bag chairs.  We absolutely love our reclining bag chairs–the best thing that I’ve bought all year!

Later, hubby and I left the family behind, and went to Kentucky Fried Chicken for our traditional anniversary dinner.  We do that every year, because that is where we ate on our wedding night…so many years ago.  We found a little table in the corner, and enjoyed our anniversary meal–just the two of us.  There were only three other customers in the restaurant, so it was very private!  I enjoyed myself just as much as I did 38 years ago…

It’s been a wonderful anniversary day, and I am  looking forward to spending another year with my husband, and best friend, Ed.  He’s a special man and I am so blessed.  It sure doesn’t seem like be have been married for 38 years…Have a great weekend everyone, I wish you were here…

It’s Almost Time To Get Away…

Soon it will be time to pack the suitcase, load the car, and take the first of our “mini” vacation trips.  We don’t take week-long vacations, we split the days up and take “mini” vacations.  There is a reason for this…  Vacations are nice, but when you are responsible for about as many pets as the local animal shelter , things can get a bit complicated!  

Since most of the family will be vacationing with us, I won’t have anyone to feed all of my animals on a regular basis.  This makes me worry.  I’ve invested in automatic feeders for all of them, so I hope it will be enough to keep them fed and happy until our return.  I have automatic cat feeders, dog feeders, fish feeders, and rabbit feeders. 

Normally, I pre-package all of the food for each day and leave instructions for a family member on how to feed them all, but  this summer I will rely on feeders.  I’m sure they will all be fine for the amount of time that we are gone, but I will still worry a little bit. If the animals are “absolute pigs” and eat all of the food in the first day or two, then they will be hungry for a day or so–which would serve them right–for being greedy! 

This first little get-away trip is to the beach in Florida…but not too far down in Florida, and not on the Gulf side.  We’ve stayed at this condo before, last year, and I absolutely love it.  There is a panoramic view of the ocean from all over the condo–except from the bathroom!  I can’t be out in the sun for very long because of the arthritis medications that I have to take, so I love being able to enjoy the ocean view from indoors, and from the terrace. 

stroll down a sandy beach...

 Since the condo has two bedrooms, we invited each one of our children to come and spend one night with us–each on a different night.  It seemed a shame to waste a good bedroom.  Two out of  three children have decided to join us.  Some are getting a motel room and staying an additional night,  to make it more worth the  trip.  The other son decided to save his time and money, and  wait for the next trip to the mountains in July.  

tubing down the Chatahoochee River...

 Both  sons are more excited about going to the mountains than to the beach.  They don’t understand why women love the beach so much!  How about you, do you prefer the quiet, coolness of the mountains, with the cabins,  rivers and streams, or do you like the “laid back”, sunny, tropical atmosphere of the ocean?  I enjoy both places, but I’m a beach lover, hands down!   Perhaps it’s because I was born in Florida, who knows…

Want A Headache? Plan A Family Vacation…

Last year eight members of our family went on a family vacation to the beach.  I rented a condo with 3 bedrooms, and 3 baths at Fernandina Beach, Florida.  I made all the plans, collected the money, everybody went, and we had a good time.  The only decision to be made was who got the master bedroom–they paid extra.  Hubby and I got the master bedroom…for sixty extra dollars a night.

family enjoying the pool last year on vacation

This year the eight of us decided to try  another family vacation, and go to Helen, in the north Georgia mountains this time.  Our youngest son, and his girlfriend also agreed to join the rest of the family, which puts the group up to ten.

  So…we set out to find a four bedroom cabin–reasonably priced–on the river–with enough beds for eight adults and two children–preferably with a game room!  Just try finding a cabin that meets all of those requirements, and is available on the dates that we needed!  It’s a recipe for a sure-fire headache.

I can’t tell you how many of us were scouring the internet looking for a cabin!  We’d find one that we thought would do–only to find out somebody didn’t like something about it.  Heads were aching, tempers were beginning to flare.  Some of us got so aggravated we didn’t even care if we went anymore(yes, I am guilty, but not the only one…)

After finding and nixing several cabins, we finally all got together and had a family meeting discussing what we liked about this cabin and that cabin–something we should have done in the first place.  Through that meeting I think we all figured out what each family wanted in a cabin–which turned out to be the four things that I mentioned above.  

We found a listing for rent by a private owner that seemed to fit our needs, but the listing didn’t say how many beds the place had.  We sent an email and made numerous phone calls over the weekend trying to find out about the cabin.  In the meantime, we found a second cabin that had  the right amount of beds/baths, was available, but was located on a golf course instead of a river.  It had no game room, but did have access to a swimming pool and tennis courts.  I contacted the owner, and asked for reservations…then a couple of the men complained that they were not the “golf type”(my husband was one of them, but not the only one)  The headache was getting worse…

  It was nearly 24 hours later before one of us got a reply from the owner–the other two people never did get a reply…It was my daughter-in-law, Christina, who was the lucky one to get her call returned.  She found out that the cabin had just the amount of beds available that we would need!  It was too good to be true!(I sure hope not)  There is also access to the river from the backyard, and a game room! 

the perfect cabin...I hope

With the pefect cabin found, you’d think the problem would be solved…nope!  Nobody wanted to make the reservation!  Christina was willing, but didn’t have a credit card.  I had a credit card, but didn’t want to put this trip on it because I already have another trip pending on mine…My youngest son was willing, but has a low limit on his card, which may or may not be enough to cover reservations…Headache is getting worse… about to explode!   I’m thinking maybe this trip just isn’t meant to be…

Finally my daughter decides she will lend her credit card to the cause, but doesn’t want any part of making the reservation details.  Christina is willing to handle the details…As of a couple of hours ago, the reservation was made–problem solved–FINALLY–I hope!  I just broke the reservations  for the golf course cabin, so I hope this saga is over…Headache is beginning to feel better!

Stay tuned for more details of this trip in a couple of months…With a beginning like this, it’s sure to be a doozie!