21 Seconds, Helen and Waterfalls

Cleveland, Georgia,  (high 81, low 61)


this post was supposed to go out yesterday, but I had a few issues that I still haven't worked out.

When I got onto the computer yesterday morning I saw an email from Google telling me someone from Chile had tried to hack my account and they recommended I change my password.  I did, but for some reason Live Writer keeps sending me a message saying "Windows Live Writer can't log on to the remote server using the user name and password."

I changed my Blogger password and tried to log back on to Live Writer, but I keep getting the same error message.  

So this morning, I am having to try to post this blog via Blogger.....and I hate posting through Blogger!!!!

I tried the cut and paste method and that was real fun since it didn't paste the photos.

21 SECONDS

Al is a big Miami Heat fan and has been watching the playoff for what seems like forever.  :)
We’ve had quite a few early mornings and long days, so Al is struggling to stay awake to watch these games.       With 21 seconds to go and Miami was down 5 points, Al  he went to bed, not wanting to watch the victory celebration by the Spurs.  As it turns out, a lot happened in that last few seconds because the Miami Heat ended up winning the game and Al missed it!



Helen
On Monday, we drove to the city of Helen, Georgia.  It’s also called Alpine Helen. 
It’s your typical touristy little town, with lots of little shops and restaurants.

from the web:

In the late 1960’s, Helen was revitalized from a remote mountain community into a replica of a quaint Alpine Village located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Helen is 15 miles off Highway 365/I-985 and located an hour and a half north of Atlanta via I-85 or GA Hwy. 400. Currently, Helen is one of the top tourist destinations in the state.

Helen was definitely an interesting place to see, but we weren’t overwhelmed by it.  It might be more fun in the fall when they have more activities.


We are learning that this area is loaded with fun and touristy things to do.  It would take years to see and do all of what this area has to offer.

We are close to the Appalachian trail, but there are many, many other trails and waterfalls in any direction you choose to go.  The scenery is beautiful, but their main tourist season is October for the fall colors.  We certainly intend to be here then.

Yesterday, we hung around the house a while to see what the weather was going to do.  It had been raining off and on and we didn’t want to cross Blood Mountain in a downpour.  We ended up back in Blairsville, then over to Hiawassee for lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  The restaurant is across the street and up the hill from a huge lake.  What a beautiful view. It was pretty cloudy and rainy, so I didn’t get any pictures.  Next time!

The drive from Blairsville to Hiawassee was incredible.  Rolling hills, mountains and beautiful green valleys.

Since it was raining, this next picture is the best I could get.  We will be back there too!

After a wonderful Mexican lunch, we headed back towards Cleveland.  We saw a sign for Tallulah Gorge State Park, and  took a detour.  By this time it was after 5pm, so we didn’t get to see much, but it was worth our $5 entrance fee.

There are some  strenuous hiking trails to the falls.


It started off easy with nicely padded trails.

A sign of things to come

We took a short walk out to the waterfall viewing area, but to really see them, you need to hike down the 3 million stairs.   One day, we will do that. 

We haven't decided when we'll be leaving.  We'd love to stay until November, but Al has to get back to Tampa to finalize the sale of the business, so I guess we'll be leaving soon.  

We will sure hate to leave!

State Park and Rv Lots for Sale

 

Cleveland, Georgia  (high 81, low 64)

 

The weather has been very nice here in the Georgia mountains.  It’s not exactly cool with the highs between 80 and 84 every day, but the humidity is much lower than Florida and it’s pleasant enough that you can enjoy outdoor activities.  It gets wonderfully cool at night.  In fact, we’ve had to break out the sweats for a few hours in the mornings.  

Yesterday was a day for some exploring.  We ended back in Blairsville looking at an Rv lot.  The drive was gorgeous, as usual.

The scenery was beautiful.

There are many, many beautiful vineyards.  This one was on the top of a hill and really caught my eye.  I think we’ll have to spend some time exploring the vineyards, if not to drink wine, but just for their beauty.

 

We ended up at Amicalola Falls State Park.  We had been there years ago and the main thing we remembered was that they have a very steep hill going into their campground.   It was a 25% grade.  Oh, no….not for me!

They have a “Hike-In Lodge.”  The only way to get to the lodge is to hike.  It appears to be very popular.

There is another lodge that can be reached by vehicle.  We went inside hoping to see the waterfall.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t visible from the lodge.

It was a nice view though.

The Robin had the best view.

The falls are visible from the top, but you don’t get a very good view of them.

Spectacular scenery and hiking trails make this one of Georgia’s most popular state parks. At 729 feet, Amicalola Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall in the Southeast.

Visitors have choices on how to best view the tumbling waters, ranging from an accessible pathway to a challenging trail with staircases.  Those who tackle the latter can join the park’s Canyon Climbers Club.  An 8.5-mile trail leads from the park to Springer Mountain, the southern end of the famous 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail. Numerous other trails provide shorter day hikes.

 

We didn’t have time to do any serious hiking yesterday,but we did walk around a little and this most wonderfully fragrant plant was blooming.  I sure wish I knew what it was because it was so nice.

 

We ended up in Blairsville, and looked at another Rv lot.  More about that later.

Less than 3 miles from the Rv lot we looked at is Vogel State Park.  It’s another of Georgia's jewels.  We had also been there before and I was impressed that there was a lake up in the mountains.  Hey, I’m a Florida girl.  It doesn’t take much to impress me!

By the time we got to Vogel, it was getting later in the day, so we didn’t have too much time.   We had a 16 mile over the mountain and we didn’t want to drive it at dark, or in the rain.

The highway back home, is Hwy 129, which goes over Blood Mountain.  It’s a very popular area for crazy motorcyclists and bicyclists, with a lot of very twisty and windy curves.

The guys on the “crotch rockets” love this road.  When they are zooming around a curve, they lay the motorcycle down so low into the turn, that their knees are literally inches from the pavement.  Yesterday, one guy  have had on some sort of metal knee pads and when his knee hit the pavement, sparks flew!  It was kind of interesting to watch, but man, how dangerous is that?

No pictures…sorry, it happened too fast.

 

Our trip to Blairsville was to look at another Rv lot for sale.

This one has a huge  35x80 concrete slab.  A coach house (or cabin), a raised deck with table, chairs and umbrella included.

That’s a 45 foot motor home in there, so you can see the site is plenty big.

 

The coach house (cabin) has a washer and dryer, refrigerator, hot water heater, sofa, and shelving for storage and a place to hang extra clothes. 

The deck comes with a table and chairs and huge umbrella.

It’s a wonderful lot in an area that offers a lot to do.  It might be a nice place to spend a few months in the fall.

 

It rained pretty hard half the night.  I sucked it up and didn’t get too worried.  Of course, just in case I set the SAME code on the weather radio for our area and kept checking the radar for any signs of severe weather.   Other than heavy rain and lightning and thunder, we didn’t get much.

Rain is predicted today and tomorrow, so we may not get to do much exploring.   There is so much to do  around here, that we hate to miss a day due to the rain.

We could use a day of rest though.  We’ve been going strong for 2 weeks and are both tired.  Today might be a good day for a movie and a nap!

The final picture is of Al trying to get a “the end” picture for Judy.  It was of a big bulldog.   He worked so hard and when he finally got one, I took one look at it and decided it was too gross to post!