![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Well, back from Blue Ridge, GA. Had a blast of a time. Pictures are here. Here's the timeline:
Thursday
4:25 Picked up Dave, after missing his house at least once. Not quite awake yet..
4:40 Got together with Jen, Steve and Dana, handed out Vince's FRS radios to help caravaning on the road.
~5:15 Hit the road!
5:25 First pit stop! Waited five minutes (with a bunch of other people!) for the Krispy Kreme at BBD to open, while Dana & co were getting gas. Mmmmmmmmmm... Nothing like a doughnut and chocolate milk to get one started on a road trip!
The drive overall was pretty uneventful, even getting through Atlanta was surprisingly quick, despite an accident that had closed all of 285 in both directions. We got to Blue Ridge well before sunset, and eventually found the office where we picked up the key and gate clicker for our cabin. Looking at things from hindsight, it's pretty cool we found the cabin as easily as we did, as it was some way out of the well-beaten path.
The cabin was pretty amazing, fully decked out with every creature comfort. As there were only five of us, we had plenty of room too. Everyone got their own room.
After oohing and aahing for a while, we set back on the road to do some shopping in a nearby Ingles, and managed to rack up $140 worth of groceries. Whoever said to never go shopping when hungry was right... But it was worth it! Vince informs me that Ingles is generally a yuck store, but this one was quite high-brow and gourmet. The deli, meat and fish departments were really kick-ass. The steaks we picked up for the grill were incredibly delicious and tender, and the vacation started with a veritable feast, followed by lazing in the hot tub and sleep. Bliss!
Friday I and Dana got up early and did a bit poking around in the immediate vicinity, then returned for a breakfast of waffles, bacon, and fried cinnamon apples. After that, we all packed into Dana's car and went through a short hiking path by Lake Blue Ridge. The plans for the rest of the day sort of faded away under the option of just lazing and grilling more dinner. I did do a little exploring of the local roads, finding that Lake Blue Ridge was pretty much missing. And finally, more hot tubbing. Murrr...
Saturday I got up reasonably early, and headed out to explore the vicinity; Blairsville, Brasstown Bald (highest mountain in Ga), Anna Ruby Falls and DeSoto Falls. I tried to get to High Shoals, but conceded that the off-road capabilities of my Protege 5 fell short of the required fording of creeks. Also, I glanced Helen in its faux Germanic beauty(?), but as it was the first weekend of October, the place was so packed by beer-hungry people that I couldn't really fit in. Finally, returning from DeSoto I took the long way back on 348, enjoying the setting sun which painted all the turning colors golden and red as the perfect backdrop to my winding up and down the tightly turning mountain roads.
I think the car did pretty well overall, considering what it is, but for some reason Dana and Steve don't want to ride with me anymore... And I didn't even take curves hard enough to hear nary a wail from the tires while others were in the car! Though I do wonder just how many cars the local fire rescue gets to fetch from the forests, as the speed limits on the mountain roads were rather optimistic, with the possible exception of people driving an F1 or Murcielago...
More dinner (leftovers,) more hot tubs, more lazing, and finally getting ready for the early departure Sunday morning.
Sunday found us pretty well prepared to leave. Some final clean up while the sun was thinking of rising, and then off on the road. There was plenty of fog, giving everything a magical quality. Though it wasn't until we got on 515/5 that the fog got inpenetrable enough that we had to slow down to a crawl. I finally understand why there were all these warning signs for traffic lights! You couldn't see the light until you were practically right underneath it! As the sun rose and we got closer to Atlanta the fog eventually cleared up. The rest of the trip was a pretty uneventful drive back to Tampa.
Thursday
4:25 Picked up Dave, after missing his house at least once. Not quite awake yet..
4:40 Got together with Jen, Steve and Dana, handed out Vince's FRS radios to help caravaning on the road.
~5:15 Hit the road!
5:25 First pit stop! Waited five minutes (with a bunch of other people!) for the Krispy Kreme at BBD to open, while Dana & co were getting gas. Mmmmmmmmmm... Nothing like a doughnut and chocolate milk to get one started on a road trip!
The drive overall was pretty uneventful, even getting through Atlanta was surprisingly quick, despite an accident that had closed all of 285 in both directions. We got to Blue Ridge well before sunset, and eventually found the office where we picked up the key and gate clicker for our cabin. Looking at things from hindsight, it's pretty cool we found the cabin as easily as we did, as it was some way out of the well-beaten path.
The cabin was pretty amazing, fully decked out with every creature comfort. As there were only five of us, we had plenty of room too. Everyone got their own room.
After oohing and aahing for a while, we set back on the road to do some shopping in a nearby Ingles, and managed to rack up $140 worth of groceries. Whoever said to never go shopping when hungry was right... But it was worth it! Vince informs me that Ingles is generally a yuck store, but this one was quite high-brow and gourmet. The deli, meat and fish departments were really kick-ass. The steaks we picked up for the grill were incredibly delicious and tender, and the vacation started with a veritable feast, followed by lazing in the hot tub and sleep. Bliss!
Friday I and Dana got up early and did a bit poking around in the immediate vicinity, then returned for a breakfast of waffles, bacon, and fried cinnamon apples. After that, we all packed into Dana's car and went through a short hiking path by Lake Blue Ridge. The plans for the rest of the day sort of faded away under the option of just lazing and grilling more dinner. I did do a little exploring of the local roads, finding that Lake Blue Ridge was pretty much missing. And finally, more hot tubbing. Murrr...
Saturday I got up reasonably early, and headed out to explore the vicinity; Blairsville, Brasstown Bald (highest mountain in Ga), Anna Ruby Falls and DeSoto Falls. I tried to get to High Shoals, but conceded that the off-road capabilities of my Protege 5 fell short of the required fording of creeks. Also, I glanced Helen in its faux Germanic beauty(?), but as it was the first weekend of October, the place was so packed by beer-hungry people that I couldn't really fit in. Finally, returning from DeSoto I took the long way back on 348, enjoying the setting sun which painted all the turning colors golden and red as the perfect backdrop to my winding up and down the tightly turning mountain roads.
I think the car did pretty well overall, considering what it is, but for some reason Dana and Steve don't want to ride with me anymore... And I didn't even take curves hard enough to hear nary a wail from the tires while others were in the car! Though I do wonder just how many cars the local fire rescue gets to fetch from the forests, as the speed limits on the mountain roads were rather optimistic, with the possible exception of people driving an F1 or Murcielago...
More dinner (leftovers,) more hot tubs, more lazing, and finally getting ready for the early departure Sunday morning.
Sunday found us pretty well prepared to leave. Some final clean up while the sun was thinking of rising, and then off on the road. There was plenty of fog, giving everything a magical quality. Though it wasn't until we got on 515/5 that the fog got inpenetrable enough that we had to slow down to a crawl. I finally understand why there were all these warning signs for traffic lights! You couldn't see the light until you were practically right underneath it! As the sun rose and we got closer to Atlanta the fog eventually cleared up. The rest of the trip was a pretty uneventful drive back to Tampa.
