Jim's Smokin' Que

[From Craig]  Barbecue fans from all over the country (at least those east of the Mississippi) should make a beeline for Jim's Smokin' Que south of Blairsville, GA.  It's about 2 or 3 miles south of Blairsville (94 miles NE of Atlanta) on US 19/129, locally a.k.a. Gainesville Hwy.

We've been looking at the place as we go past, for the last week or two.  Since they're only open Thursday through Saturday, it took us a while to get synchronized.  Now that we're retired full-timers, we have a tendency to forget what day it is.

I thought I'd never have as good a barbecue as we had at Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City.  Being retired full-timers :-) my memory makes it hard to make comparisons four months apart, but the food here at Jim's sure is great.  We got the big Ribs and More platter that you can see on the site, with pork back ribs, beef brisket, cole slaw and fries.  The idea was to have enough leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, but the stuff was so good that we may have supplement the leftovers!  

The ribs, french fries, and cole slaw were all world-class.  No one makes brisket as good as did my late friend John Nocher of Virginia Beach, Cape Canaveral, Milwaukee, and Fort Worth.  But if you put a good amount of Jim's excellent barbecue sauce on their brisket, it gets pretty good too!

We didn't bring our camera; the pictures wouldn't have been as good as the food anyway.  But I did catch a phone shot of their shirt.  A fold makes it hard to read their slogan "you can smell our butts for miles".

We even have 3 or 4 ribs left over.  I may dream about breakfast all night...



From Merikay:  I was thinking of making the leftovers for dinner, if I can hide them from Craig long enough.

We are still here ..

I know it has been a while since I wrote a post. In fact, Craig wrote the last one for me.  I just haven't felt that much of what we were doing was of much interest to anyone out there.

We are still here at River's Edge RV Park, in the North Georgia Mountains near Blairsville. We continue to take walks and have even done one hike that included a mile of the Appalachian Trail, but how many pictures of peaceful forest walks do I need to post?

We have had a few rather cold nights so the trees are really starting to turn. We will be here for a couple more weeks and hope to catch a bit of the color peak.

Day to day we have relaxed a lot, shopped a bit, and taken care of some odds and ends that needed our attention. We both got our teeth cleaned and have gotten our annual flu shots. Now isn't that exciting news!

I had thought that during this time I might write some thoughtful opinion post about our first six months on the road, but although many things have run thru my mind, nothing seems to be coming together.

All I can say is we are happy we are doing this. We are enjoying our travels, and are now enjoying staying in one place for a few weeks.  I think we needed this rest time, but I am starting to get a bit of "hitch itch" and am looking forward to our next round of new places and new experiences.  

We will be here until the last week of October, and there is still much to explore and enjoy.  This weekend we will be going to a local festival in Blairsville.  That should be fun.

Till the next time ...

Amicalola Falls

♫ Amicalola, Pensacola, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo ♫

[From Craig]  Monday night we were sitting with our hosts/neighbors Karen and Al talking about things to do in Georgia.  We said we might want to go see Amicalola Falls, which someone told us was the tallest waterfall in Georgia.  Karen warned us that it involved many stairs.  That sat in our minds overnight, and Merikay and I both woke up in an adventurous mood Tuesday and decided we wanted to go there.

It was almost 50 miles from our camp south of Blairsville, and we got to the Amicalola Falls state park in the middle of the morning.  The Georgia Parks year pass that we bought a week ago got us in for free, and we stopped at the Visitor Center.  The ranger lady told Merikay that the trail along the falls included 604 stair-steps.  Karen had prepared us for this, and we decided to go for it.

They told us about the stairs, but didn't mention the rather steep 0.3 mile path leading to them.  Merikay didn't like the slope at all, and I didn't care for it much either.

We were about to return to the VC and ask for our money back, but remembered that we hadn't paid any.  Just about this time we got to the first of the stairs.

The nice part was that all the stairs were identical and all were the standard height (7 inches).  So there was nothing to do but start climbing.  We stopped at each conveniently-spaced lookout platform and went on only when we were both good and ready.

About waterfall comparisons and claims: Amicalola literature says it's the "highest waterfall east of the Mississippi".  Sites like Wikipedia and Infoplease use "highest" and "tallest" interchangeably, so we don't have to consider small waterfalls near the top of Mount Everest.  The facts about Amicalola are "729 feet in seven cascades".  That would be just high enough to make the Infoplease list, but Amicalola doesn't appear.  Probably they only count height in a single cascade...

Anyway, the cascading waterfall is off to the left as you ascend this first stair complex.  (Don't forget you can click on images to see them larger.)

At the end of the first 175 steps is a crossover bridge to the other side of the stream.  This offers the best view of the falls anywhere along the trail.

On the crossover bridge, a young lady asked if I would take a picture of her and her friend using her phone.  Of course I said yes, and then she insisted on returning the favor.  So here we are in front of the falls.

After crossing to the left side of the falls/stream, we came upon this friendly little sign.  Of course we expected it, but still...

I knew Merikay was concerned about getting up this stair, and I tried to say nothing but positive things.  Again, there were frequent rest platforms.  

The view of the falls was not as good in this upper portion as it had been in the lower.


















Finally, we made it up the last flight of stairs.  Merikay was so happy, and I was so proud of her.  604 x 7 inches = 4228 inches = 352 feet = 35 floors!

Pat on the head

This is the view looking down from the top of the falls.  It's harder to see than the views from below, but it's still a nice bunch of bouncing water!  Someone tossed a red flower on the left side.  If they wanted it to go down, they didn't succeed.

We wandered around at the top for a while.  People who don't want to climb 35 floors of stairs can drive up to the top and then walk down.  We met several such folks.

Then came the climb down.

In this direction we offered advice and encouragement to travelers in both directions.  Success was so good for our spirit!

We made it down to the bottom and fetched our lunch from the Jeep.  After lunch we revisited the Visitor Center.  Merikay almost bought this but realized that the shirt would long outlast her feeling of achievement.

I may sneak back to this VC before we leave North Georgia and buy her this owl.  Feels pretty appropriate for a retired wildlife artist...

From Merikay: I asked Craig to write the post for this hike because I was a bit tired. I feel I am getting back into shape however. About the shirt and owl, I love looking at the things in the park gift shops, but exercise restraint. Otherwise our coach would be full of stuffed toys.  "Take nothing except pictures", just like the forest. Also it helps the budget numbers.

Due to operator error, this post was published about an hour after the previous one.  So please read on below...

Bear Hair Gap Trail, Vogel State Park Georgia

We seem to be falling into a nice rhythm of hiking every other day.

On Sunday we again went over to Vogel (the closest state park) and hiked the Bear Hair Gap Trail. 

Some hikes are too long, others are too short. This one was just right at about 4.7 miles. 

It was not the easiest hike, with a 480 foot rise in the first third, but the last part was all downhill.

Although there was no waterfall to be seen, we did have to cross a creek several times. This was one place where there was no bridge.

It seems it is acorn time. The path was littered with them, and we kept hearing plop, plop, plop as they fell to the forest floor. We don't know if these all fell into this rotted stump, or if a squirrel or perhaps even a human put them there, but because it was an extra wet place some of them were sprouting.

This stump along the path was surrounded and filled with rocks. Many were in totem stacks. I think they were left as tokens by the many hikers that came this way. Craig says he thinks the other trees had stoned this one because it had been adulterous.

Treasured or punished?

Monday was a no-hike day and it rained a little, so we went out to lunch with Karen and Al.

Life is so hard here in the Mountains of Georgia!

Nice Couple of Days

Ho Hum.  Nothing much to say except we have had a couple of very pleasant days.

We went for a dusk walk the other night. No pictures except for this one of somebody's sign:

We don't know them, but it's such a nice name!

On Saturday we went on a moderate hike recommended by our hosts Karen and Al.  They had just done and blogged about this hike two days ago, so we're in serious overlap with them.  The hike is High Shoals trail, which leads to two waterfalls.  

This stretch of level trail could have been in any of the last few states, but reminded us of the gardens at the Biltmore estate.  Just so perfect!

Here is the second waterfall at the end of the trail.

Karen and Al said they though we might enjoy the mile or so of rough gravel road into the trailhead. 

Whoopee! Our first real Jeep road! This is why we bought the Jeep to replace our little Hyundai Accent. Complete with a water crossing!

Saturday was a very low key, around-the-rig work day. I emptied my side of the closet and all of my drawers. I sorted out things that I didn't want to keep and filled a goodwill bag and a trash bag. After putting everything back, I found I have more room once again and I'm ready for our next round of travel.

Meanwhile, Craig asked if there was anything he could be doing to help, and I suggested scrubbing the vent and underside of the microwave. It really needed attention since it is above the stove. 

I must say, he did a wonderful job. Far better than I would have done. About half way into the project he went off and bought some TSP. That really helped remove the built up gorm. 

Showers and football may keep us at home on Sunday, but Craig suggested a walk in the morning.  

We'll see.

Life is good.

River's Edge

Last winter, after I was sure our house sale would eventually close, I began making plans for this winter. Craig wanted to go to the Florida Keys if possible, so I used that as my destination goal. Our blogger friends Karen and Al have two lots in a park in the North Georgia Mountains, one of which they rent out. I asked her to save October for us.

As it turned out we arrived on Saturday, September 20. A little earlier than I had planned, but it worked for them because their last visitor had left a few days earlier. 

Their lots are in River's Edge, a lovely private park with large spaces, level concrete pads, full hook ups, and very nice people. It is about 10 miles from the town of Blairsville, which has both a high end supermarket and a Walmart.  What else do we need?

We will be here for a month, so I will have plenty of time to get some cleaning and sorting projects out of the way, and to rest after several months of travel. We spent much of our first day on the computer ordering things that we wanted from Amazon and other sites. Although we have a mail forwarding service, Amazon likes to have a street address for Fedex deliveries.  So if it wasn't needed right away, we kept saying "when we get to Georgia we will order this or that".

It feels like fall is here. The mornings have been cool, and the afternoons sunny but not hot.

There are many places to walk and hike in this area, so perhaps I will get some much-needed exercise. On Monday we went up to the observation tower on Brasstown Bald Mountain. The upper portion of the tower is not open to the public, but there is a large observation deck lower down that is.

Nottely Lake as seen from the observation tower at Brasstown Bald Mountain

We learned that the blue haze in the air over the mountains is not smoke. Its largest ingredient is isoprene gas released by decaying vegetation.

The 360 degree view was fantastic. I hope we can get back to this place the day before we leave so I can take a comparison picture. It seems the trees are just a tiny bit more colorful every day.

On Wednesday we went to Vogel State Park for a short walk. We now have an annual Georgia State Park pass, and hope to use it frequently.

As we drove in we were reminded what was important. 

The small lake which we walked around was very clear and smooth as glass.

Local resident. 

We took the side trail that leads to the Trahlyta falls.

We are looking forward to a wonderful month!

How will you celebrate autumn?

[From Craig]  There are two ways to photograph a waterfall.  You can use a really slow shutter speed, to get a "big fluffy white stream" look.  Or you can use a really fast shutter speed, to try for "each little droplet in its place".  I mostly use the latter approach.  The image above was shot at 1/2000th of a second.

Gaffney, Freightliner Service Center

The "Peachoid": Gaffney's water tower

The next stop on our travels was Gaffney South Carolina, for our annual chassis service. Oil change, lube, lots of checks and filter changes. Our Cat engine takes 19 quarts of oil, and it needs to be changed yearly to keep her purring. 

When we went to Camp Freightliner training last spring, our instructor praised the Freightliner home service center as one of the best, because most of their technicians started in the factory (building the chassis) before working there. 

Since we were heading that way, it was convenient to schedule our service there. One plus was that they have free electrical hook ups for customers, and we were able to go on a factory tour to see where and how our Alfa's chassis was built.

There is not much to see or do in Gaffney, so except for a short trip to see the Michael Gaffney cabin (pictured below), we just relaxed for a couple of days.

A very well restored cabin.

The interior was quite large and looked very livable. 

When we were sitting in the Freightliner custom waiting area, I struck up a conversation with one of the other women about blogging. She asked how to start a blog. I did better than tell her. She had her laptop with her, so it was easy to get her started. By the end of the afternoon she had her blog launched, and hopefully will be able to have some fun with it in the future.

Robyn's blog: Honeybear & Sugarbear's RV Travels

Please stop by, encourage her, and tell her Merikay sent you.

We were all first time bloggers at one time!