We survived, but I’m stuck in Georgia!!

 

I started my trip back to Georgia at Watson Mill State Park in Comer, GA (close to Athens, GA). 

After visiting with friends and hiking around the park, I headed to the North Georgia mountains.  I stayed in Dillard, GA for the first part of my stay in the mountains, and then moved about 6 miles to Mountain City for the last part.  My original plans were to leave this morning (Thursday, April 28) for Tennessee.

I did some hiking while here.  One of my favorite hikes in the area is Panther’s Creek Trail.  It has been damaged in recent years by storms and has some major erosion problems, so while I still like it the trail is harder. 

I also went to Tallulah Falls Gorge twice.  I had walked the North Rim trail before, but never the South rim until last week.  I like it better – less people and I think better views.  If you look very carefully at the top of the picture below, about 1/4 of the way over from the left you will see a footbridge with people on it.  (Don’t forget you can click on a picture to enlarge it).

During the 2.5 weeks I’ve been here there have been several bad storms.  Yesterday after hearing how bad the storms were supposed to be, I decided to stay at my mom's condo.  This is one of the few times I have an option of where to stay, so I took advantage of it!!  My sister had gotten into town just the day before so we had fun – until the storm started. 

When I got here, my mother suggested I move my car to one of the empty garages so if there was hail it would not get damaged.  During the night a huge tree fell and missed the building by inches.  Actually leaves or small branches from the tree wiped the pollen off the screen on my mother’s screened porch.  Another few inches and several screened porches would have been badly damaged.

So, while I have no damage to my RV or car, I’m stuck.  The tree is right in front of the garage doors and I can’t get my car out of the garage.  Someone is coming this afternoon to cut and move the tree.

My mom’s condo is the middle one on the left side. Things in the screens porch were blown over, but nothing major. 

The second picture shows my RV safe and sound in the clubhouse parking lot, with the fallen tree in the foreground.  Based on what we saw on TV (especially Alabama) and what we’ve heard about some areas around here we were very lucky.   

We have also heard that Mountain City and the campground I left yesterday got hit bad.  I hope to get up there this afternoon and take a look around.   The owners are the nicest owners that I have met in my almost 2 years of full-timing, so I hope it’s not too bad.  

Hopefully I will be able to get out tomorrow.  I’m headed to Manchester, Tennessee for several days. 

DeSoto State Park–Fort Payne, AL

After leaving Louisiana, I headed toward DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama.  I have previously camped in this park, but in my camper van.  I like this area and it’s a nice state park.  Those who have been reading my blog, will probably recognize why I like this trail.  The rocks!!!  This trail is one of several within the park.

Desoto Falls is not in the State park, but down the road.

Little River Canyon National Preserve is just a short drive away.  There is a little bit of hiking, and a nice scenic drive.  There are also some very steep roads in the area!! I tried to take a picture of one of them, but it didn’t really show how steep the road was. 

Since I will be so close to the GA mountains, I decided to stop for a couple of weeks to visit my mom and see some friends.  More on Ga in the next blog (Where I will tell you about how I survived the storm last night!)