Kolomoki Mounds (SP) 11/1/21 - 11/4/21 (#9)

Our last camping trip for 2021 was to Kolomoki Mounds State Park in Blakely, GA. The drive is only about 2 hours from the farm. It's a very small but well laid out state park. We had driven over when we were camping at Cotton Hill (Dec. 2020) & had scoped out what we believed was the best site (#11).

#11

On the end & on the water!

We like our sites to be secluded & on the water if at all possible. This one didn't disappoint.

This park is a local favorite for hiking, fishing & holiday activities (Fall festivals, Halloween - ghost tour through the woods, Christmas, Spring festivals, etc.).

The hiking trails were a short walk through the woods just a couple of campsites down from us. I can only walk about 2.5 miles before I have to take a break (due to foot issue that I hope to get fixed in 2022). But, we went twice & very much enjoyed both trails. Started out cool but stripped those layers as we went. 

The other hike we went on was to the mounds themselves (there are 8 total). These pics are from the largest of the mounds ... the Temple mound where religious ceremonies were believed to be held. It took over 2 million basket loads of earth to build this mound (couldn't figue out where the dirt came from, no real excavation area & we forgot to ask the ranger when we visited the visitor center. 

Climbing up Temple Mound

From top of Temple mound overlooking other mounds

Yes, it's as steep as it looks

Read here all about them if interested: Kolomoki Mounds

We also ate at nearby White Oak pastures. A regenerative farming operation that brought the town of Bluffton back to life. Read about that here: White Oak The restaurant has excellent food & would recommend if ever in the area.

Here are a few more pics:

As of 1/2022, I still haven't finished this book

2020 Christmas gift from our niece

Nell Mell

Our next trips start in late March 2022. Will try to be more timely in posting about them.

FD Roosevelt (SP) & Desoto (SP) 10/10/21 & 10/15 - 10/18/21 (#8) - Part 2

 We left Desoto fairly early on Friday, headed back to FDR.

Our site this time was great #302. It backed up to a creek & the beginning of one of the many hiking trails. Although that kept Nelly on her toes as many people took their dogs on this particular trail.

# 302

We went for a hike w/o Nelly (about 2.5 m) the next morning & relaxed the rest of the day. As is usually the custom, I took Nelly for a walk around the campground each morning.

We visited the FDR museum & Little White House in nearby Warm Springs. The museum was well laid out & the film was very informative. This is where FDR came to seek treatment & a hopeful cure for Polio. He built a treatment center where people brought their children. The pools are now empty but once were fed by the springs & the facility housed & treated thousands over the years. He died of a massive stroke sitting for a portrait at the Little White House.

Unfinished Portrait

We had lunch in Warm Springs at the Bulloch House. Home cooking buffet in a beautiful old historic home in the downtown area. Highly recommend if you are ever in the area. Food & service were fantastic ($13.95 pp).

This trip was more of a real vacation instead of just a few nights camping. The fall color was a little late this year so we missed that but we did some real sight seeing & exploring of each area we visited. In hindsight, we could have driven all the way to Desoto but without knowing the mountains or roads we played it safe this trip. We continue to learn our limits on each trip.

Obligitory pic of Nelly. She continues to be such a good camping buddy.

Note to self: Write posts very soon after coming home. Many details are already forgotten.

FD Roosevelt (SP) & Desoto (SP) 10/10/21 - 10/18/21 (#8) - Part 1

This was our longest camping trip yet. We went to two State Parks - FD Roosevelt SP (FDR) in Pine Mountain, GA & Desoto SP in Fort Payne, AL. Weren't too sure about driving 7 hours in a day so we left on Sunday (10/10) & stayed one night in FDR before heading on to Desoto the next day.

We had a pull thru site (#203) at FDR & didn't even un-hook. Not the greatest site because the 'living area' was on the road side but it did face the lake & we just relaxed for the evening. One note: I was being buzzed by a couple of strange looking bees & stepped away when one followed me & stung me on my left arm. No big deal as I'm not allergic but it was swollen and itchy the whole trip.

We left fairly early the next day to head to Desoto which is on Lookout Mountain in NE AL. It was originally built by the CCC but the state now runs it.

Old Entrance

Desoto SP is a full hookup park. meaning all sites have water, electric & sewer which makes for dumping & cleaning the tanks a breeze since you don't have to wait on anyone or anyone wait on you when you check out. And, you don't have to conserve as much while you stay. We got set up in site #1 & realized it was going to be a bit busy with traffic coming & going in the gate not too far from the site. But it wasn't too bad. Nelly enjoyed having someone to bark at as the gate code didn't work for everyone (including us as some point).

We went hiking on a short trail the next day - Tamladge & then took a ride into Fort Payne which is the home of the country group Alabama. We decided not to tour the museum as we are not big fans of the group, but do enjoy their music.  

We went to Little River Canyon the next day which was beautiful & then drove the Lookout Mountain Scenic Byway. Kept seeing the same people at each overlook which reminded both of us of past family vacations in the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC. I had found a glass blowing company (Orbix) in the area that I wanted to set up contact with to buy ornaments for great niece who should arrive early Jan. 2022. We wanted to eat from a local BBQ spot in Fort Payne & asked for directions at Orbix. They sent us up a steep hill to get back to town. Steep is not even the word for it, it was extreme steep & quite scary but we made it to 'The Bar-B-Que Place' back in Fort Payne. Delicious & would definitely recommend the Jo Jo's to go w/your dinner. They are thin/almost thick sliced potatoes served w/a delicious sauce & the BBQ was great too.

This Hawk was only a few feet above us.

Got back to the CG & I decided to take a short hike. I left at 3:30 w/the intention to be back around 4:30. I went in search of the Silver Trail (1.7m) which should have been a moderate hike that looped back to the campground via a short connector (.3m). As I was hiking a very strenuous section I thought 'this can't be right'. I had been gone an hour at this time & hadn't seen the landmarks I should be passing. Checked the map & sure enough I was on the much more difficult White Trail (2m), well away from the CG. Got to an area that has a broken sign - <---- to head to the contact station (.8m), this I knew I could take the road back or ---> go on the bike Loop (2m). Propped the sign up & couldn't really tell which was which (felt like the guy in Jurassic Park trying to escape during the rainstorm). Headed in what I thought was the correct direction & after another 30 minutes realized I had taken the wrong turn. I had at least another 1.5m to go to be able to get out of the woods. It was around 5:30 at this point so I kept trekking as it was getting darker & darker. Finally made it to a ranger trail (used for rescue via 4 wheelers) & followed it out to the road, just about 1m down from the CG. Got back a little after 6;00. My short 2m hike had turned into about a 5m hike. I won't make that mistake again.

We went to nearby Desoto Falls the next day & then on to Mentone, AL to explore the town & their shops. Ate lunch at the Mentone Market & bought a couple of coffee cups & T-shirts. Very pretty area.

To be continued .....

Fort Yargo (SP) 8/30/21 - 9/3/21 (#7)

This time we visited Fort Yargo SP in Winder, GA (1/2 way between Atlanta & Athens). 

New Visitor Center

On Monday, we got to the CG a little later than we anticipated (5 hour drive). As usual we missed a couple of roads (GA road signs are notorious for being non-existent in the direction you are headed, or hidden behind something, or only a couple of feet from the turn). On the plus side GA roads are also notorious for having 5 different routes available to get to the intended road. After exiting I75 there were only 3 roads to take but little did we know that each of them turned in several different directions themselves. Thank goodness for paper maps because GPS kept disconnecting. Oh well, we made it before dark. Didn't get to do a CG walkabout on arrival day, which is our custom. No bother, it was cocktail & dinner time right after getting set up.

Site #7

There are 40 RV sites (5-12 on the water), 12 primitive sites, 6 Yurts (all on the water) & 16 cabins. We were in #7, a pull through (W/E only) on the water. Not too far of a walk to the bath house. Had a very friendly couple from LaGrange in site 6. A nice man from Ocala came in to tent camp for one night on site 8. He was on his way to Pigeon Forge. Site 9 had a young mother & her sweet 4 yo daughter (Rachel & Lilly) from Cumming, Ga. They were also tent camping.

Since it's so hot here in the South, we were a bit worried that it would be miserable in early Sept. To our surprise it was almost perfect weather. We did lose Tuesday to rain all day (from hurricane Ida leftover bands). However, we awoke to 65 degrees on Wednesday morning!!!! The highest high was 85 one day.

After breakfast we decided to explore a few other CGs on Lake Lanier, only about 30 miles away & each CG was only about 5 - 10 miles apart. 

Shoal Creek (former COE) was dismal, tight bumpy roads, cracked asphalt. It was more suited to very small RVs & pop-ups or tent camping. River Forks (County) was a small clean CG w/about 45 sites. Old Federal(83 sites), Duckett Mill (111 sites) & Bolding Mill (94 sites) were all COE & we would stay at any of them, but Old Federal was our favorite. Almost a resort like feel. Clean with lots of grass & almost all sites right on the water. It seemed there was also swimming allowed at we saw a lady sunbathing by her camper & had a huge plastic duck floatie & several other floating devices nearby.

On Thursday we decided to hang at the campground. After breakfast, we took Nelly for a walk around the CG. It was quite hilly. Decided to go ahead & hike the walking trail before lunch. Greg's knees were bothering him so he decided to turn around after a mile or so. I kept going & took the road back. Altogether about 3 miles.

Greg resting before walking back to site

Here are a few pics from the rest of my hike:

Brand new creek bridge

Gazebo in the woods

One of several benches along the route

Very calm deer. Took this & kept walking.

Greg had lunch waiting when I got back. Kind of negates the calories I burned ....

Nachos!

On Thursday, on our way to dinner, we stopped by the blockhouse on the park grounds. It was built in 1793 & very well preserved. 

One of my many cousins (Pam) lives just down the road in Monroe & met us for dinner at a restaurant in Winder Bistro off Broad. Very good, would definitely recommend if in the area. Thursday nights are 'Date Nights' & they have a special menu at a good price.

Overall, we had a very nice trip. I'll leave with a few pics of the waterfowl we viewed from our site & of course, the obligitory pic of Nelly.