Rv Issues, More Critters and Fall Foliage

 

Blairsville, Ga (high 70, low 45) 

We had a cold front a week or so ago which brought overnight temperatures down into the 30’s.  Wouldn’t you know that would be the time our furnace decided to quit?  We don’t have a heat pump on the Cameo, and have been very happy with the furnace which is much quieter than the one in the motorhome.  We never use the furnace in the motorhome because  it’s so noisy. We have been enjoying having a quiet furnace and not having to worry about the heat pump quitting when the temperature got below 40 degrees.

The other morning when I turned on the furnace the fan started right up, but it never got warm.  After a few minutes the fan kicked off.  We re-started it 3 or 4 times with the same results. No heat.  We did a little trouble shooting.  It wasn’t an air pocket and we weren’t out of propane, so we called a new mobile rv service that we hadn’t used before.  Integrity Rv service (for my records). The first thing he did was to turn on the furnace and wouldn’t you know it started right up and warmed up right away?  We turned it off and on a few times and it always worked.  He didn’t find anything he thought was wrong, so we paid for a $100 service call for nothing.  Fortunately, it has been working just fine ever since.  We’re having another cold front and so far so good.

 

In a previous post I mentioned the mama cat and kittens that had been dumped here in the Rv park.  Thankfully, we were able to find good homes for them all.  The mother cat is in a shelter and has recently had another three kittens. 

 

We had been hearing that there was another stray cat hanging around on the other side of the rv park.  The people there had been feeding her all summer and were now worrying about her since everybody was preparing to leave for the winter.  We hadn’t see her, and I figured all these “caring” people that were feeding her would take care of her.   I was wrong!   At that point we realized if we didn’t help this cat, she would be on her own all winter.

We finally realized we needed to intervene or the cat would be on her own all winter.  It turned out a local Veterinarian had lost her cat a few months ago in this area. Apparently it wasn’t the same cat, but she agreed to take this cat if we could catch it and bring it to her.  We figured the cat was pretty wild and would be difficult to catch, but we were wrong. We  quickly located her and in about two minutes she was in my lap,  and shortly after that was in a cage on her way to the veterinarians office and her new home. 

That makes 7 cats and kittens that we got out of our RV park this fall.   We got real lucky that we were able to find homes for all of them.   I hate to think how many cats we would have had here next year after they had a few more litters of kittens.   We feel good that we were able to make a big difference in the lives of these poor little kitties.  I still miss the kittens two kittens we kept for so long, but I’m adjusting and they are happy in their new home.

We still have Baxter but he loves his dad the best.  

 

Mom has been doing ok back in Tampa. We have some new caregivers and our live-in Stacy has been working out real well.  Knock on wood.   We are in no hurry to go back to Tampa and are planning on staying here until the cold drives us away.  The weather has been warmer than usual giving us days in the 70’s and nights in the 50’s.  This is our idea of perfect weather.

We’ve really enjoyed the fall foliage this year.  We have been in a drought all summer so we didn’t know what to expect.  It seemed the reds have been more vibrant than other years and the color has lasted for weeks now.

Here are a few photos from our travels around town.  Our Rv park is situated between several scenic and popular drives, so we don’t have to go far to find beautiful places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne and Heidi who are our part time neighbors in Wesley Chapel and also have a lot here, came for 2 weeks with Heidi’s Mom Madge.  Madge is 80 year old, but didn’t let her age stop her from a hike on the Appalachian trail!

The next picture shows Madge, Suzanne, rescue dog Cindi And Al in the background. 

This next photo is Heidi and Cindi at the top of Brasstown Bald which is the highest mountain in Georgia. 

 

 

Since we are so close to Brasstown Bald, we go there often and on this particular day, it was clear enough that we could see the Atlanta skyline, some 85 miles away.

Can you see it?   The blue haze you see in these mountains is not smog, it is isoprene gas which is caused by decaying vegetation.

On cold days, you have a better change of seeing the Atlanta skyline.   Can you see it now after I zoomed in?

 

We sometimes get up early and drive up to watch the sun rise over the mountains.

 

We’ve been hiking, and were really enjoying it since it had gotten cooler.  Unfortunately, Al hurt his knee the other day so our hiking has been curtailed for now.  We’re hoping a few days of rest will help, but we’re already on day 3 or 4.

Met Someone Interesting and a Historical Twist.

 

October 14, 2015

 

We were trying to decide on whether or not to leave Georgia and head back to Tampa.  My Mom was having good days and then not so good days and we were hoping she would do better so we could stay in Georgia at least through the fall foliage season.

We spent a day driving on some of the scenic routes looking for fall color.  It hadn’t reached peak color but we enjoyed it anyway.

We drove up to Brasstown Bald, which is the highest mountain in Georgia.  They have a lovely viewing center. The fall foliage was just beginning to change.

The road up was gorgeous with cobalt blue skies.

Most of the trees were still green, but there was enough color to make for an enjoyable day.

When you get to the parking lot below the visitor center, you can walk the .6 mile on a paved trail up to the viewing area, or you can catch a shuttle.  The trail is kind of boring, and we didn’t want to waste precious time walking, so we took the bus.

While on the bus we struck up a conversation with another couple.  As we were exiting the bus she mentioned she had been there before and brought a picture.  I expected a picture of beautiful fall foliage, but I was certainly surprised at the picture she showed us.

There used to be a fire tower on the top of Brasstown Bald since it’s the highest peak in Georgia.

They have a non working fire tower up there now, but it’s no longer used because of new technology which made it obsolete.

This is what it looks like now.  That is the fire tower in the background and the visitor center in the foreground.

 

Peggy and Walt (I think was his name) were the couple on the bus.  This is the picture she wanted to show me.

It turns out she was last at Brasstown in 1957 as a little girl.

 

 

 

She is the little girl on the left.  Her sister is on the right and the man in the background was a family friend who is kind of a celebrity in Georgia.  His name was Leonard E. Foote.

If you’ve ever been to Amicalola Falls  State Park, you might have heard of the “ Len Foote Hike-Inn.”

From the top of Amicalola Falls, you hike 5 miles down to the Inn.   You can spend the night at the Inn, but you need to bring any personal items you may need.

Notice the name on the Inn? 

On a historical note . . .
The Len Foote Inn is named for Leonard E. Foote, a leading conservationist, biologist and nature photographer, who inspired the comic strip “Mark Trail.” Foote, a Georgia resident, worked for 30 years as the southeastern representative for the Wildlife Management Institute and 18 years on the Georgia Game and Fish Commission and the Board of Natural Resources.

 

One of the park rangers saw the picture, gave me his email address and asked that I send him the picture of the picture that I took.  He is going to copy it and post it at the visitor center at Brasstown Bald. 

We enjoyed a few minutes at the viewing area.

One of our favorite spots to read on a day when we have more time.

The color was just starting.

Some more pictures from our scenic drive that day.

 

Sadly, this was to be our last full day in Georgia. We left the next day and are now back in Tampa caring for my Mother.  More on that later.

Al’s Nemesis is Back

 

Blairsville, GA (high 78, low 65)

 

A few days after we got here, there was a lost beagle running around the park.  Several people were caring for him and looking for his owner.  His owner was finally found and he returned home, some 12 miles away.  I wasn’t so sure they deserved to have him back, since he was not neutered, but it wasn’t my decision.   Before he left, he visited Al in the golf cart and left him a nice present of poison ivy.   We have discovered that dogs seem to carry poison ivy from running through it in the edge of the woods or rubbing against other dogs who do. They have enough oil on them to share with Al.  Al is very, very sensitive to it.

So……  Al got his first batch of PI of the season.  He did all the usual things and thought he was getting better, when he started getting a rash all over his body, which kind of came and went from one area to the other.  

It took us a few days to realize that this newest rash was from his recently acquired allergy to regular laundry detergent.  We had changed to the hypo allergenic laundry detergents, but when we got here, I was so happy to have my big washer and dryer back, that I went to the store and got some of the Tide pods that I had used and liked last year (before we realized that was the problem).   I felt so bad that I had caused poor Al to suffer even more.    I have since washed everything again with a hypo allergenic detergent and he is slowly getting better.  He’s had to take Benadryl, which makes him extremely sleepy.  He had a few days of mostly sleeping, but yesterday we did get out and go up to one of our favorite spots.

 

Here are some pictures from Brasstown Bald mountain, which is the highest peak in Georgia at 4784 feet.  

It was nice and cool mid afternoon.

The dying vegetation in the forests below cause a haze.  Some days it’s hazier than others and yesterday was one of those hazy days.  We always like it up there and have even gone up on rainy cloudy days.   Sometimes you can even see Atlanta which is 90 miles away.

It’s always pretty.

 

 

Here is a picture I borrowed from the internet.  I thought it was spectacular.

Today is farmers market today, so if we can get motivated, we’ll be going into town for some nice fresh produce.

Snow in the Mountains

 

 

Blairsville, Ga, (high 50, low 27)

I can’t remember the last time we’ve been anywhere where the weather was cold as it was yesterday.  The high temperature was only 37 degrees.   The wind was whipping all day long, with the occasional strong gusts that shook the motor home.  The sun never came out, so that made it even worse. 

It was too cold for the heat pumps, but fortunately our two little quartz heaters kept us nice and toasty all day without having to run the furnace.  Our furnace is our least favorite option for heat.  It’s noisy, and the dry air bothers our sinuses.   We turned the furnace on a few times, just to make sure it still worked and to heat up the basement.  We also kept the bay heaters turned on all day.

Today should be a better day.  The sun is already coming out, so we’ll soon be getting some nice free solar power!

We went up to the local favorite Jim’s Smokin’ Que yesterday for some bbq and Brunswick stew.  Afterwards, we decided to take a drive to check out the snow at higher elevations.

Brasstown Bald mountain is the highest peak in Georgia, so we headed that direction.

Despite the wind and cold, there was still some pretty color.

The higher the elevation, the more snow we saw.

It looks so cold up there.

It was a pretty ride.

 

We got up to Brasstown, we discovered the road leading to the visitor center was closed because of all the snow on the road.

It’s a pretty steep road with sheer drop offs, so I guess that was a good idea.  I’ll bet it was pretty from the top of the mountain.

A lot of other people had the same idea, I guess.

Someone made a snowman!

It was a small snowman. Can you see it?

This guy was going hiking.   Burrrrrr

These people were having a snowball fight. Notice the snowball I caught in midair?

We didn’t stay too long, because we turned the heaters off while we were gone and the little darlins were probably freezing.  :)   Just because they have fur, doesn’t mean they don’t get cold too.

This is a view of our campground.  You can see the trees are getting pretty bare.

There is still some nice color around the campground though.

Right across the street from our lot.

 

Our lot.

Since it was so bitter cold yesterday, we got nothing done in our preparations to head south.  We we won’t be leaving tomorrow.   Al still needs to drain the waterheater and washing machine in the cabin.  The hot tub also needs draining, cleaning and winterizing.  Hopefully the weather today will be more conducive to working outside.

We love our little home in the mountains, but I think it’s time to head south.

What do you think?