Day Trip: Hiawassee, Young Harris, Blairsville, Helen, Georgia

This is Barbie writing this blog today while Jeff tries his best to win spider solitaire. LOL

We went on a day trip this past Tuesday, June 21, to Hiawassee, Young Harris, Blairsville, Helen, and around the Lake Burton area on our way back. This area in northern Georgia has always been a favorite of ours. The day was a very nice one weather wise. It did get warm as the day progressed. The highest temperature was in Helen at 90 degrees. Of course Kozmo went with us and she had a nice time, so she told us later on in her doggy talk. We stopped first in Dillard for some diesel gas for the truck. It has come down in price being $3.82 per gallon in this area. We saw it just recently at $3.76 in Clayton. If it comes down more we will be saving some more money on our trip up north later in the summer and fall.

We enjoy riding around the Hiawassee area because Lake Chatuge and it’s coves seem to surround the town. It is a beautiful area. Hiawassee is also the home of the Georgia Mountain Fair which is held in August and has an abundance of local craftsmen and women demonstrating and selling their crafts. Many country acts perform as well. We’ve attended in past years and really enjoy it.

   

We made a stop at Vogel State Park to see the ducks and stretch our legs. As you can see by the picture, Kozmo really had a great time checking out the ducks!

In Helen, there were lots of tubers in the river having a great time.

   

We found that unusual for a Tuesday afternoon-all the tubers. Helen wasn’t too crowded but we drove through town and Kozmo got a close-up of a horse drawn carriage. For those of you that have never been there, Helen is a small alpine designed village that caters to the tourist industry.

   

 

   

 

We had to make a stop at Fred’s Peanuts in Robertstown, just outside of Helen, for some Cajun boiled peanuts and pork rinds. We can remember the first time we ever had Fred’s peanuts. Fred was younger then and the peanuts are just as good as they were 20 years ago. Notice Fred’s decor below.

 

    

We also stopped at Stovall’s Covered Bridge in Sautee, outside of Helen. Years ago we caught about a dozen trout right under that bridge. At that time we didn’t have an rv, so we cleaned them in our hotel room in Helen and iced them down for the trip back to Florida.

  

Also in that area we passed an Indian burial mound and the Old Sautee Store.

  

We had camped about 18 years ago at Unicoi Springs State Park in our 32 foot travel trailer. When we went through the campground Tuesday we didn’t see many places that our 39 foot fifth wheel could fit into today. Unicoi Springs is also the home of Anna Ruby Falls.

    

As we were coming back from Helen, we passed the Lake Burton Trout Hatchery where all the trout stocked in local streams are raised and drove through Moccassin Creek State Park and saw many campers.

   

We also saw devastation from the tornado that came through this region in May in the Lake Burton area. Many workers were tearing down trees and leveling off the land to get the area ready for people to build their homes back up again. If you click on the photo and look closely, you can see the path of that tornado. They certainly have a long way to go but are making remarkable progress.

We never get tired of the mountain views and the pretty landscaping that surrounds many of the areas up in Northern Georgia. We feel very fortunate to own a RV site in Dillard that we can come to in the summertime to enjoy.

After our day trip, Kozmo was wiped out. She was very tired and slept through the night without hardly moving. She enjoys her truck rides very much.

‘Til next time…..

A Little Bit of Everything…for the past 2 weeks

It has been a long time since I have posted, and since Jeff is spending a lot of time reading from a Kindle and practicing on his new diddley bow (more on those topics later) I figured I would post today so our friends and family know we are just fine. I’ll try and get you caught up on our activities of the last two weeks. So here goes Reporter Barbie :-)

We took Kozmo to the vet on June 3 for the first time since we got her at the end of February. She supposedly had shots, a check-up etc in January. But, I wanted to make sure she was fine and up to date with blood work, etc. The vet, named Dr. Oakes, and his assistant, Joe, are great professionals located at Rabun Animal Hospital in Mountain City, GA. The place is very clean and they treated Kozmo like a queen.

Her blood work came back normal and she is in excellent shape for a girl that will turn 8 years old. Since we don’t know her exact birthday, we decided that July 4 would be her big day. So most likely we will have a birthday party for her……I will make Doggie Peanut Butter cookies and she will have a great day of being outdoors among puppy friends here at River Vista Mountain Village…haha

On June 4, I turned 56 years young and Jeff took us out to La Cabana, a Mexican restaurant in Dillard. It was fantastic! We both had fajitas with Mexican flan for dessert. We were so happy when they opened up another location in Dillard in April. They have a location in Clayton, which is 10 minutes south of us that we’ve visited previously.

On the subject of food, we went to Kountry Vittles in Rabun Gap for breakfast last week and it was very good and inexpensive. We actually had fried bologna with our eggs and it tasted so good!!! Neither of us has had fried bologna in many, many years. We haven’t been eating out like we used to because I just love our kitchen in the fifth wheel. I have been cooking lots of great stuff, such as spaghetti casserole, a ziti casserole, grilled pork loin, chicken ala king, and homemade soups and desserts. I had to cut back on making sweets because we are eating too much. So now I only make sweets once a week. Last night I made a cherry cobbler and put vanilla ice cream over it. Jeff said it was delicious!!! When you retire and you think of what you will eat for the day or even the week, it seems like life just revolves around food. But, we now have time to enjoy the food and the shopping. Ingles is my FAVORITE grocery store and I can spend hours in that place. They also have a Starbucks kiosk in the store which doesn’t hurt either. I can still remember when I had 17 minutes to actually eat my food when I was teaching. We had to walk the students to the cafeteria and usually waited for the last lunch of students to come out before we took them inside to sit down. Then it was our time to eat, use the bathroom and clean up before we were required to pick them up at the cafeteria. I often wondered why the teachers’ union wasn’t called since we never got 30 minutes of duty free lunch time which is called for in the teacher contract.

I started growing some heirloom tomatoes and yellow squash once we got up here. The tomatoes are coming out and the yellow squash is showing up in clusters. We can’t wait to eat them….. and hopefully not get sick. LOL

We finally broke down and bought a Kindle. I think we owe that to Nick Russell, publisher of the Gypsy Journal magazine and a fulltime rver. He writes a daily blog, Nick’s Blog,  and just published his first book called The Big Lake. He put it on Amazon.com as an e-book for 99 cents. We bought the Kindle and downloaded his book first. It was a fantastic read! Jeff read it first, then I read it. Now Jeff is reading two other books on it while I have decided to finish up all of my books that I have in the rig before I order anything on the Kindle. By then, we might need another Kindle so each of us has one???? I still love going to used book stores and buying the paperbacks at a very reasonable price. I even go to the Rabun County Library if they have the book I am looking for.

We took Kozmo to “Goats on the Roof”, a local tourist stop/country store in Tiger, on Thursday. This place has goats to feed that actually graze on the buildings roofs. See pictures below. The store has homemade jams and vegetables, beverages, snacks, tee shirts, and local arts and crafts. They have a deli that serves Amish food but we didn’t try it this time. I thought Kozmo would like the goats but she was very nonchalant about it. There was a mama goat and her four very white baby goats in a pen when we walked her to the fenced in area. She sniffed them and just wanted to leave. They just stared at her. It was very cute.

  

    

We had a little trouble with our golf cart a week ago. One of the batteries had two cells which would not hold the distilled water when I tried to top them off. When we took it out, four of the sides had expanded and cracked. We took it down to our buddy Eddie in Tallulah Falls at All-American Carts where we purchased it last year and he gave us a battery. Eddie’s a story himself. When we went to look at golf carts last year we met him. Just so happens he attended the same middle school in Brandon that I taught at and retired from last June. Small world huh? Unfortunately that first battery he gave us was a bad one. I had charged it up and we took the golf cart for a ride and it stopped down the hill from us. Jeff pushed it while I steered it for awhile as it died out. Our neighbor, another Jeff, helped us out with pushing it into our site with his cart. Thank heavens he did because I thought Jeff’s back was going to cause him some trouble pushing it uphill himself. Eddie came back out to our site Monday morning at 6:45 and brought a new battery and fixed the control panel for free. He is such a great guy!!! We recommend people go buy a golf cart from him.

During one of Jeff’s “surfing” adventures on the internet he came across a “diddley bow”. The diddley bow, according to Wikipedia, is a string instrument of African origin made popular in America, probably developed from instruments found on the Ghana coast of west Africa. The diddley bow is rarely heard outside the rural south. Other nicknames for this instrument include “jitterbug” or “one-string,” while an ethnomusicologist would formally call it a “monochord zither.” The diddley bow derives from instruments used in West Africa. There, they were often played by children, one beating the string with sticks and the other changing the pitch by moving a slide up and down. The instrument was then developed as a children's toy by slaves in the United States. They were first documented in the rural South by researchers in the 1930s. The diddley bow is typically homemade, consisting usually of a wooden board and a single wire string stretched between two screws, and played by plucking while varying the pitch with a metal or glass slide held in the other hand. A glass bottle is usually used as the bridge, which helps magnify the sound. The diddley bow has traditionally been considered an "entry-level" instrument, normally played by adolescent boys, who then graduate to a "normal" guitar if they show promise on the diddley bow. Jeff’s always wanted to play a musical instrument so he figured if it was to be, it would be with a diddley bow. He must be resorting to his adolescence. He ordered one online that was made by a gentleman from West Virginia. It along with a small amplifier arrived a couple of days ago. I’ll let Jeff keep you updated on his progress and post some pictures of his new “toy.” :-)

Well, I’ve written much about really nothing. I think I was reliving a Seinfeld episode where our lives are really about nothing but we make it seem glamorous and fulfilling for us. Maybe they will make a TV sitcom about us……”Boldt’s Castle Chronicles”.

Remember to live each moment to the fullest!

Alive and Well---very well

Yes, we ARE alive and well in Dillard, Georgia. I know it has been a while since the last post. I have no real excuses either. Yes, we have been busy …occasionally. Yes, we’ve been out and about….occasionally. Yes, we’ve been enjoying “the good life” ….more than occasionally. Here are some pictures around the campground and our site for starters.

 

 

 

 

Notice in a couple of the pictures above the new entry steps we’ve built for the 5er. We actually had a friend do the work. He is currently renovating the cabin next door as well. The steps are great. We just need to get some stain on them.

River Vista recently hired a new couple to manage the resort. They’ve been on the job for a little over a couple of weeks. This past weekend they organized many activities for the full house that was here camping for the Memorial Day Weekend. The activities started on Friday morning and went through Sunday evening. We were booked to DJ a Memorial Day Weekend “God Bless the USA” Dance Friday evening. It was held inside the Mountain Center. About 40-50 folks stopped in and the kids never sat down-they danced to anything and everything. We were told their were also folks sitting outside on the wooden rockers. We also were asked to do a brief ceremony Sunday morning where we played a few patriotic songs and I did a brief tribute to those American soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice followed by the playing of “TAPS” and “God Bless the USA” It was very well received-it moved the many who came to the flag pole for the ceremony. Below is the agenda of activities and a few more pictures.

  

 

  

  

If you want to see all the photos that appear on the River Vista Mountain Village Memorial Day Activities Facebook page , CLICK HERE.

‘Til next time………

We’re Here – in Dillard, Georgia

We arrived here at our site in the Falls View section of River Vista Mountain Village in Dillard Tuesday at about 2:30pm.

Sunday morning at about 10:15am we pulled out of Sanlan RV Park in Lakeland, FL. We stopped at a rest area on I-75 just north of Gainesville and enjoyed a lunch of deli sandwiches , chips and drinks that Barbie had prepared for us. At exit 2 just over the state line in Georgia we stopped to fill the Dodge truck up with diesel at the Flying J. We had no problem getting the 3 cents per gallon discount using our old Flying J rewards card. The only reason I mention this is that others have had to “register” their old cards before they would be recognized for the discount. We paid $3.99 a gallon. We then hopped back on I-75 for 3 miles before exiting at Lake Park to check in to the Eagles Roost RV Resort for the evening. The campground is one we’ve stayed at many times in our travels. With a Good Sam discount we paid $33 for the night. It has long, concrete pull thru, full hookup sites and an adequate wifi network. It has many trees but we were a little disappointed that the sites  were a bit unkept with bottle caps, cigarette butts and the like littering the grounds. We took our time Monday morning as we knew we only planned to travel 120 miles north to the Perry area. We left Eagles Roost at 11:00am and drove for 90 minutes before stopping at a great Georgia rest area at mile marker 108. We ate another great deli sandwich and chips lunch at a picnic table in the rest area. I haven’t had salemi and swiss sandwiches in awhile but those I had those two days were outstanding! We pulled in and checked in at Twin Oaks RV Park at 2:00pm. This is a regular stop for us on our way north each trip as it is a Passport America campground so for the full hook-up, 50 amp site with a strong wifi network we paid $16 for the night. They have no cable tv system but our DirecTV  worked great and we were able to get the digital network channels from the Atlanta area on the antenna. Tuesday morning we left Twin Oaks at about 9:00am and drove until we topped off the gas tank in Eatonton. We’ve used this Citgo Truck Stop many times for diesel fuel. They are less expensive than most and have a well stocked convenience store. We paid $3.97 a gallon for the diesel. We then pulled over at a cute roadside park in Baldwin on Route 441 for a little lunch. Ah, those deli sandwiches sure were good. Have I said that yet ? We pulled into our site at about 2:15pm in Dillard. We stopped and chatted with neighbors then we had more than enough help getting the 5er onto our site for the first time. Let me just say, it was a lot easier backing the old motorhome on the site. But, hey, this was our first run with the new fifth wheel. It’s gotta be easier next time. It had to be just right on the site since we plan to be here until September or so. It took about an hour to get it in the site, leveled, electric, water and sewer connections made, and the four slideouts extended-with all the neighbors helping, er distracting us. Poor Barbie was backing it in, I watch the perimeter and give directions from outside (it works better switching roles we’ve learned), but she also had  “helper #1” giving directions in the drivers side window AND “helper #2” giving directions thru the passengers side window. Enough said. :-)) Once we got all set up we relaxed for the remainder of the evening and watched tv. Oh yes, I did call DirecTV and had them switch over our local channels from the Tampa area spot beam to the Atlanta channels. We’ve spent the past two days settling in, getting a few groceries, visiting with the neighbors and enjoying the peace, quiet and weather here in Dillard. All we need to do now is either get the golf cart sufficiently charged or get new batteries for it-we’ll see.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Kozmo was great on the trip and seems to like our deck here quite well. She doesn’t seem to care for the gravel that the 5er sits on though! And, oh yeah, she loves the deli meats and cheeses also!

I’ll take a bunch of pictures for the next post. But, until then check out this great article that appeared in the Knoxville (Tenn) Daily Sun about River Vista and the Dillard area. Click HERE. See why we love it here?

‘Til next time…….

From Rock Crusher to Sanlan RV Park

We hitched up the “Castle” and left our winter home in Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River, FL, Wednesday shortly after noon.  Two and a half hours later we were setting up to spend the night at Sanlan RV Park in Lakeland, FL. The plan was to spend Wednesday night at Sanlan and then take the “Castle” 8.1 miles to Quadra Manufacturing to have the “Bigfoot” Automatic Quad Hydraulic Leveling System installed on the 5er. We had to have the 5er at Quadra at 8:00am Thursday morning and leave it there overnight until noon Friday. After dropping the 5er off we headed to our Valrico stix-n-brix home to spend Thursday night and take care of some housekeeping issues before heading out Friday to pick up the “Castle” and back to Sanlan to spend Friday and Saturday nights. Our first stop on the way home to Valrico was to catch a fast food breakfast. So Egg McMuffins were in order for Barbie, myself and Kozmo, of course. We don’t know if it was Kozmo’s first Egg McMuffin or not but she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. After getting settled in at Valrico, Barbie went out and bought some groceries, made a trip to Lowes for some Round-Up and some a/c filters while Kozmo and I rested. I received an initially upsetting phone call Thursday pm from Quadra Manufacturing telling me one of their “helper” employees who was assisting with our job up and quit late Thursday pm. Before I got real bent out of shape, Rita, the wife of the owner,  explained that her husband, Roy, would have the job done but could he have until 4:00pm, not noon on Friday. Phew, not a problem. We were going back to Sanlan anyway and that is only 20 minutes away. That also gave Barbie some additional time Friday to get her “tasks” around the Valrico home completed.

Friday morn I left Valrico at 7:00am to take my truck to Tampa Spring Company in Lakeland to have my u-bolts re-torqued per the arrangements made when we got the new “leaf” put in each side on the back of my truck at the Ocala shop of Tampa Spring last week. I was the first one there when they opened the doors so they had me re-torqued and back on the road by 8:15. Once I returned we hung out at the Valrico home until 2:30pm when we went and grabbed a bite to eat at Zaxbys before heading to Quadra to pick up the “Castle.” In case you wondered, YES, Kozmo likes Zaxby’s chicken too!

Once we arrived at Quadra, Roy had our Bigfoot Quad System all installed and ready to go. He then showed us what to do when unhitching and then what to do when hitching back up. Then, he made us go through each process, not one time but two times before allowing us to pay the bill and leave. He completed the job himself Friday with no help. He is such an incredibly professional man-we really appreciate his work ethic and his  courtesy. If anyone needs or wants any information about the system give Roy Trevino a call at 863 619-8617. He’ll answers all of your questions and take care of you. He is awesome. Now to the system. Wow, such an ease to level the 5er now. No wood blocks, no checking a level for front-to-back and side-to-side level anymore. Once we unhitch from the truck, I simply push the “auto” button on the control box and within 60 seconds we are level. It is REALLY sweet! It will save much time and aggravation on our parts I’m sure. 

Setting up once we got back to Sanlan was a snap. Once we unhitched the truck, as Barbie pulled the truck away to move it behind the “Castle” I had pushed “auto” and before she and Kozmo got out of the truck, we were leveled. Barbie’s friend from Mann Middle School, Linda, and her husband Bill brought their new motorhome here for the weekend so we could spend some time together before we head north. I’ll post pictures of Sanlan on the next post.

‘Til next time…….

Mission Accomplished

It is with deep appreciation that I offer my heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all those involved in the planning and execution of the mission that involved the killing of hated terrorist leader, Osama Bin Laden. As one of my favorites, Craig Ferguson, host of the CBS Late, Late Show, says at the beginning of his monologue each night, “It’s a great day for America.”  Ten long years and so many dead, we can now close an ugly chapter in our history. I’m proud to be an American!

Click HERE

God Bless the U.S.A.

by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
from sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

‘Til next time……

Getting Ready to Leave RCC

Yep, that is what we are up to-taking care of the little things before we leave Rock Crusher Canyon on Wednesday.  We’ve been here at our winter home since November 28th. Starting with today and working backwards, here’s what has been happening with us. After our usual Saturday morning breakfast at Kim’s Cafe in Homosassa, we came back to the “Castle”  and began the process of emptying, reorganizing and repacking the basement storage area. We have never really packed it completely since we bought the 5er in late January. Remember, we really have not taken any trips in it other than to take it over to Ocala and back for the warranty work and a couple of add-ons. I’m really surprised that we have more room left than I thought we would. All that remains to be loaded are the lawn chairs, the grill, rugs and those items involved in unhooking from the utilities.

Yesterday, Barbie weeded the planter box in the front of our site. It needed to be done before leaving for the summer. Hopefully it won’t look too bad when we return in November. We were surprised how good it actually looked when we returned this past November. Last evening we dined at Mr. Wang, a Chinese restaurant in Homosassa, one last time. We’ve decided that was our best “new” find this winter. We finally decided to try this place out this year. And, we found it to be excellent and very reasonably priced.

Thursday, we were up and on the road at 7:00am to be at Tampa Spring Company in Ocala for our 8:00am appointment to have a “leaf” added to our springs on both rear sides   of our Dodge pick-up. When we took the “Castle” to Suncoast RV a couple of weeks ago, their tech thought that since our hitch weight is a tad heavy at 2235lbs, some extra support may be in order. So I contacted the manager at Tampa Spring described my truck, the “Castle” etc and he explained the options and costs for each, then recommended adding the leaf to the springs. Knowing nothing about the matter, I went with his recommendation. He said we could re-address it when we return to RCC next winter if I wasn’t satisfied with just that being done. I’m good with that since this was the least expensive fix and this is the fix he has used in the past with success on a Dodge 3500.  He also suggested we have the u-bolts re-torqued in 500 miles, so we’ll have that done in Lakeland at their sister store next Friday morning.

So, Wednesday morning we’ll head out of here and head south on I-75 then east on I-4 to Lakeland where we’ll spend the night at Sanlan RV Park. Thursday morning we’ll have the “Castle” at  Quadra Manufacturing where we’ll have the Bigfoot Auto-Leveling system put on the “Castle.” They’ll keep it until midday Friday so we’ll spend Thursday evening at our stix-n-brix home in Valrico before picking up the 5er Friday about noon. We’ll then go back and spend Friday and Saturday nights at Sanlan before starting the trek north  a week from tomorrow. These plans etched in jello then include overnight stops in Lake Park, GA and Perry, GA before arriving at River Vista in Dillard, GA for a good portion of the summer. We are hopeful that the weather that has terrorized the southeast this past week is history with no repeat in sight.

To all of our followers and friends, be safe in your travels!

‘Til next time…….