When you see the first picture in this post, know that my panic attack had pretty much subsided by time I took the picture. The last part of the drive to the interpretive center was 3 miles climbing 1808 feet, average grade = 11.2% AVERAGE grade – in fact, one quarter-mile section is a 16% grade. Coming up to one of the steeper sections on a curve, a cyclist was followed by two vehicles, then me. The cyclist couldn’t move over, there was no shoulder and it was a sheer drop beyond that. The first two vehicles got around the cyclist but when I tried, in stick-shift Versie, I stalled out, in the middle of the road. That’s when I panicked. The car behind me just drove around me, a car coming down the hill drove on the wrong side of the road and went around me. I was terrified. Billie saved the day, she gave instructions, we changed places, and she gunned it out of there. I was still shaking by the time we got to the top and it took a while to get out of the car.

Oh hurray, another uphill climb. But no stairs this time which I hoped would make it better.

4784 feet – Georgia’s highest point. A 360-degree view. On a clear day you can see four states. This would be east with a view of S Carolina:

Northwest to N Carolina and Tennessee:

Lake Chatuge which straddles Georgia and N Carolina. Hiawassee is a small town on the southeastern side. Our campground is 6 miles from town.

Then 6/10 mile down the trail:

Oooh, my legs need some rest!

Monday: Dani Kathy Leo Jane Barbara Cheryl Jonathan Rich. Big group! Hurray.

Tuesday: Leo Kathy Cheryl Dani and Jonathan

Wednesday. Fun day for this group, they rode downtown for lunch.

Jane Cindy Cheryl and Jonathan:

Thursday. Great shot by Jonathan of Barbara Cheryl and Kathy from the Guy West Bridge:

Jonathan:

Friday. Cindy Jonathan Kathy and Cheryl stopped at Linden Park. One of my favorites because there’s some cool public art that can be easily missed.

May is Bike Month. Get your bike out, go for a ride and have more fun.

We went for a 2.5-mile hike at Tallulah Gorge State Park today – a 1000-foot deep 2-mile long gorge.

We chose a trail down some stairs to the suspension bridge deep in the gorge. Note the sign on the stairway “N5” – each of platforms is numbered as you go down so this one is the 5th platform on the North rim. How many stairs? 530 .. slowly:

Aching thigh muscles by now. The suspension bridge which jiggled and swayed a little bit with every person’s step:

Time to climb the stairs on the other side – 347 steps! The platform numbers now start with an S and go from high to low. At least you got a sense of success and the numbers dropped to zero at the top. There were lots of benches along the way to rest. And we rested a lot.

We walked the South Rim trail back to the start. Nice and flat. Whew!

We crossed the river again along a roadway near the dam.

On the drive home, we stopped to see a local attraction, Goats on the Roof:

And finally, the view from a scenic overlook:

I am going to have some VERY sore leg muscles tomorrow! OMG

We arrived at Bald Mountain Campground yesterday afternoon.

Driving on freeways with many big rigs flying by plus assorted other bad drivers does not make for a relaxed drive. Then we got to curvy narrow mountain roads in northern Georgia which became a different kind of not-relaxed driving. Billie did great – and I was so glad it wasn’t me driving! We got a great night’s sleep and Billie made Belgian waffles for breakfast – yum.

Today we drove beautiful mountain roads to Young Harris and found a great little bakery:

Looking forward to sampling these:

We then drove to the town of Hiawassee, explored some shops, got a few things at the grocery store, and of course, went to Starbucks.

There are quite a few daily activities at this Georgia Winnebago State Rally. Billie went to an RV service/repair/ownership seminar this afternoon. She consulted with a couple of people about several maintenance concerns she has.

Then she went to a “live auction at the pavilion” and, by the time she got back, a little mouse had carefully carved out two small sections from the box of goodies (the lemon bars are in the refrig) ..

A Harvest Host in Gastonia NC. Unfortunately, they are closed on Tuesdays. Darn. Beginning NEXT Tuesday, it will be $1 Taco Tuesday Night. Double darn. Nevertheless, they let us park here overnight.

We were parked at a noisy corner, but it was free, no hookups of course. The noise allowed us to (guilt-free) run the generator to use the AC in the afternoon – it was rather warm. We were parked on the other side of this building:

These pictures turned out pretty good considering I put my camera against the window to take:

Early to bed. We’ll be up early and moving on.

We drove to a Harvest Host near Greensboro NC – a cute little farm called Hello Darlin.

A walk around the property:

With a day of drizzly rain and thinking to the days ahead with limited amenities, Saturday was a shopping/cooking day mainly. I was the sous chef. To the left, green peppers sent back to the sous chef for a smaller dice (on the right).

Meanwhile at the stove ..

Midway through the process, turkey meatloaf, turkey taco meat, sauteed mushrooms and leftover onions/green pepper for the next creation.

I went to the spice cabinet – quite the selection! – and made the turkey taco seasoning (nine different things to measure).

Little quiches for an easy breakfast. The leftover mushrooms are for Sunday’s baked potato dinner. There are also two turkey burgers in the freezer. Then Billie made dinner ,,

brown beans and cornbread:

“That’s enough butter, Arlete.” Although there might be a few of my relatives who disagree.

On Sunday, it was time for cleaning (Billie) and laundry (Arlete) and generally getting ready to leave tomorrow.

Monday: Carmen, Jane, Leo, Amal, Barbara; photo by Cheryl!

Wednesday: Dani, Barbara, Cheryl, Kathy.

Thursday: Leo, Jonathan, Barbara, Jane, Cheryl, Kathy:

Friday: Barbara, Kathy, Dani, Jonathan, Jane; photo by Cheryl.

Saturday: Amal and Brian:

Saturday: an adventure riding along the Yolo Causeway to County Rd 24 and back: Barbara, Kathy, Leo, Jonathan, Jane; photo by Cheryl. Go team!

Well, sort of. There’s always a lot to do on days we don’t ride. Errands, purchases, planning, more cooking usually, including prepping breakfast and lunch for the next day if there’s a ride. At the end of the day, Billie said, “We got a lot done today.” And this is the only picture I have to show for it:

Aldi’s has very good wine at $3. It was time stock up. We actually have a wine cellar. You go out the door, down the steps and turn left. Open the passenger door and …

there on the floor of the passenger’s side in a big strong bag filled with Winking Owl.

Life is good.