Little Cabin in the Woods

That's where we stayed while we enjoyed our vacation to the mountains in North Georgia. First, we visited Ft. Knox, KY since we most likely will be going there next. The boys liked staying on the Army base, I’m a little nervous about the move there, though I’ve heard from several people that it is a good place to be. I’ll cross that bridge when it is time – I’ve got enough going on here to focus on at the moment.

Anyway, we spent last week at a cabin we rented from an Army buddy of Drew’s and his parents and brother joined us, enjoying the peace and quiet, making s’mores on the campfire, giggling at the wild turkeys that would come strolling past the back porch and relaxing. On Wednesday, we spent the day at Amicalola Falls, the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River, and that was my favorite part of the trip. We drove to the top and walked the trail to the hotel lodge there and ate in front of a window wall with a gorgeous view, where we also got to talking to one of the park rangers. She offered to meet us at the bottom after we walked down the 604 steps and show us some of her birds of prey. Very cool. Drew, his brother, the boys and I walked down the steps that follow along beside the falls while his parents and Boo drove back down to meet us at the visitor’s center. My most unobservant son managed to spot a beaver (actually, upon reflection we think it was an otter) on the other side of the falls as we were making our way down all those steps. That was cool, too.

At the bottom we met up with the park ranger and she introduced us to her birds, and one of the other rangers told us she is one of the top bird rehabilitation specialists in Georgia. They were gorgeous. There was a hawk that had been blinded in one eye by crows, several beautiful owls and a vulture. We got to have our own little educational session as she told us all about these birds and how they go about trying to rehabilitate them or place them in educational programs if they are not able to be rereleased into the wild. I loved it! Those birds of prey are some of my favorite creatures to see, and I always look forward to programs where we can watch them fly or learn about them. Back inside the ranger station, the boys got the opportunity to hold a non-venomous snake. I passed. Snakes are my least favorite creatures. By far.

I also got to reconnect with my uncle and his wife as who live in the area there as we had dinner together one evening, and then we got to visit my Grandma and my uncle in Knoxville on our way home, too. And that was really good, too.

Maybe if I can figure out where Drew put the camera I can share some pictures in the near future.

What I did not get done was any writing for future blog posts. I’ll have to manage to find some time for that now that I’m home – once I get the laundry done and the house back to normal, that is. I tell you what, over a week with NO INTERNET access was brutal. My hands were twitching by Saturday. What with writer’s block and last week’s vacation, I have really missed blogging – and reading blogs.

All in all, it was a great vacation, but it’s very good to be home, too. Looking forward to getting back into our routine and hopefully blogging again this week. But for now I must go check the chicken I have cooking for dinner tonight and do some work around the house while Boo naps and before I have to go pick up the boys from school.