Mission Accomplished

 

Blairsville, Georgia (high 87, low 67)

We started our day off yesterday with a hike around the neighborhood. The country roads make a great place to walk, and you don’t have to worry about tripping over tree roots, or getting poison ivy.  Al is extremely allergic/sensitive to poison ivy, and all he has to do is be near it to feel it.  There are plenty of nature trails nearby, including the Appalachian Trail, and Vogel State park within a few miles.   We intend to get back to some of those trails again soon, but for now we’re pretty happy just around the neighborhood.

Our walk started out by the stream in the RV park.  A lot of the sites are backed up to the stream.  I think it would be so nice to be able to hear the rushing water from your site.  Of course, the closer to the stream you get, the more you pay.

There are numerous back roads to choose from and we have been taking a different path each day.

Our mission had been to spot a bear, until we talked to a lady at a shop we went to yesterday.  I’ll tell you more about that later.

There are crops planted along the way.  This looks like some sort of bean or pea plant, but there are no beans yet.

We understand bear like the corn fields, so our next trip will go by the corn field.

Along this path, we found a nice house built right over the river.  There was a historical marker showing this was the site of an old grist mill.   It’s hard to get a good picture, but the water was really rushing over the large rocks.  The river is quite a ways down from where we are standing.

We walked several miles and still didn’t see a bear.  I guess we’ll have to keep trying.

After the walk, Al decided to do some chores, and I decided to soak in the hot tub.  At first, I thought it was a bad idea, because the water was pretty hot, and I was pretty warm from the hike.  After about two minutes, I realized what a good choice I made.  I don’t think I have ever have had a hot tub soak after a good hike, and boy what a treat that was!!   I just laid back and floated.  It felt soooooo good.

Our mission yesterday was to get a flag for the front of the cabin.  The previous owners had one, took it with them, and we needed a replacement.

Mission accomplished.

Lynda, the previous owner, told us where to go for the large size flag we needed.  They had a great selection.  This one is double sided and made really nice, but was pretty pricey at  $29!   We ended up spending $56 by the time we got the flag, pole and pole bracket.  A bit expensive, but in our opinion, necessary!

It turns out the lady at the shop lives nearby.  She said there are a lot of bear around this year for some reason, and she frequently has bears in her yard.  Most of them run off if they see a human, but she had a big male bear that wasn’t intimidated at all by her, or the noise she made.  She showed us a picture of him.  I wish I could have gotten the picture so I could post it.  It was an amazing picture or a really big beautiful bear.  She said we should carry some mace and some sort of horn or noisemaker before we walk in this area.  Although black bear (like we have here) don’t normally attack people, she reminded me of one that did recently attack a young girl up in Minnesota or Michigan.   Anyway, we decided, maybe we need to be a little more cautious.

After we bought the flag, we looked around at a few shops in search of a bear lamp, and a picture to put over the TV.  We didn’t find anything we could afford, so we’ll keep looking.

We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant here in town for lunch (again).  We’ve been ordering their enchilada lunch special, substituting refried beans for ground beef in the enchilada.  It makes for a mostly vegan lunch, and is delicious.

After lunch, it was time to go back home and work!   We pressure washed the deck in preparation to repaint it.    Now, we’re waiting for the deck to dry before we can start to paint.

We finished the day pretty tired, and after having happy hour in the hot tub, we were really relaxed, so we had a quick dinner and hit the bed early! 

Here is the cute kitty picture of the day.