Look who’s back!

Everyone, this is Melanie. She’s all over. Nice of her to join me again for a few days.

Now I’m even further north in Georgia – I had a reservation at one campsite and they called me last week to say they weren’t going to be open in time, BUT they have a ‘sister’ campsite with a couple of spots left. I jumped on it – maybe too soon, but we made the best of it.

Shawnee Campground before and after Melanie arriving

See the road in the background? I thought it was going to be Forsyth all over again and on a Friday night, it was booming!!! Traffic finally settled down around midnight, and my earplugs worked their magic again. I was told sites 46, 48 & 50 are the last ones to be reserved. I get it now. It was a little weird having people checking out your campsite constantly – not to mention the cat calls – geez!

Anyway, the people were nice, the campground was pretty, and it sat on Lake Sidney Lanier

There is still pollen everywhere, and believe it or not, no sneezing! That didn’t start until Arkansas, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

We only had one day to squeeze everything in, since rain was coming on Sunday (we hiked anyway, and spent the rest of the day watching movies – not to bad!). The reason we are here is

Amicalola (Tumbling Waters in Cherokee) Falls and the Appalachian Trail! I finally found some elevation gain – a whopping 875 feet! That may not seem like much, but it did include 600 stairs to get to the top of the falls

That’s Melanie in the pink hat. She is just getting over ankle surgery, so I was impressed with her determination to make it to the top. Amicalola Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall in the Southeast, so. here’s some pretty nature pics for you

It was so pretty, and a fun 3.5 mile hike, but our day wasn’t over. Definitely stop here if you are in the area. Next we took an hour drive in Sammy Subaru (what do you think of the name? I’m just trying it out, but I’ll take suggestions. My itty bitty camper needs a name too. – maybe Oggie since its a Free Solo OG?) through twisy turny roads and 6 miles of dirt, to the start (or maybe it’s the end) of the Appalachian Trail – Springer Mountain

Much to our chagrin, the trail doesn’t start at the parking lot. We had to hike a mile to get to the Southern Terminus (Would that make it the END of the trail?), but it was cool and we did continue down the path about 100 yards, so I can honestly say that I hiked the Appalachian Trail!

In case you can’t read it, the sign says ‘A Footpath for Those who seek Fellowship with the Wilderness’

I admire people who hike this whole thing from Georgia to Maine. I don’t think I would have the patience to last the 6 months it would take to complete, but Bravo!

We left on Monday after a 4 hour delay because Melanie’s battery was completely dead! I’m not sure what’s happened to ‘southern hospitality’, but not one person stopped to help us. That’s OK, we managed and got back on the road. I spent a couple of nights at Melanie’s house in Huntsville, Alabama, and after setting me up with a care package of homemade sourdough bread and baby oranges, I was on my way again! That’s the next story.

It’s so funny. I struggle for Tips while I’m staying with friends, but when I get me back on the road, I have a ton!

Tip of the day: When charging a diesel battery, keep the Subaru revved at about 1500 RPMs (it will cut your charging time in half), remember that it takes a LONG time (like an hour). Also, disconnect the black cable before you try to crank it. I think we spent 2 hours trying to charge her battery before giving up and driving to town for a new one.