Christmas 2020

 Well, we just had a GREAT Christmas in the cabin.   We weren't going to rent the cabin this year because Christmas Day was on a Friday, but Katie suggested getting a bigger cabin so we could all be together.  I talked to Betty at IGLS, and she rented us two cabins just for the weekend, side by side.  It worked out so well!  The kids split the cost of the 2nd cabin.  And, Betty let us move in on Christmas Eve, which was so sweet of her!

As usual, complete and utter chaos, but so much fun!  We had lunch and walked around in Helen on Saturday.  The place was packed, and IT WAS SO COLD!!!  High was only in the mid-30's, but we had fun.

Mike and I started on Christmas Eve with our traditional lamb dinner.  We found a special bottle of wine to go with it - memories of Claudia and Chuck!

It was pouring rain, the wind was howling, and it got really cold.  We woke up to.....SNOW!  A white Christmas in Helen.

Mila was in Russia, so again she is the paper plate!

We got Nerf guns for Taylor and Livie - and EVERYONE got into the action.  After supper, we played Catchphrase - boys vs girls.  Mike had to be a girl because Mila was in Russia and we were short girls for our team.  It was a howling good time!

Neil aiming at Taylor upstairs

Lots of food, wine and beer

Playing Catchphrase.  Mike had to be a girl because we were short girls on our team.

Misc. November Stuff

 I can't believe that this month is over already.  Tomorrow is Ella's **16th** birthday!

We had Taylor's birthday celebration at his favorite Japanese restaurant - Ninja:

Mike and I took a drive through the North Georgia mountains. We stopped at our favorite spot on the river in Helen for a brat and a beer, and then drove by Lake Rabun.  Beautiful colors, beautiful day, nice drive!

Mike continued to chase leaks in the roof of the 5th wheel.  That metal roof can't come soon enough!

Hanging out on Neil and Pam's soon-to-be screened in porch. The fire pit is a nice addition!

Thanksgiving day - a beautiful day, great food, and a little bit of target practice! (Gotta get rid of those pumpkins somehow!!)

And.....the best for last! Mike picked up his new Honda 250 Rally.  It's really nice - has a windscreen and fairing. He said it's real steady riding.  It's small enough I should be able to ride it - not much taller than my Suzuki 400 was.   It looks nice in our garage!! The tail bag from the Spyder fits perfectly!

He can't wait to get back out on the roads in the desert.

Annual Family Camping Trip

 We just had our family camping weekend and we sure had a lot of fun!  Angie and Scott didn't join us this year - they are trying to sell their camper so that they can get a toy hauler for next year.  

We camped at Margaritaville at Lake Lanier Islands. It's really a 5 star campground, but very expensive - about what we charge non members at Hart Ranch.  Pull throughs and lake front sites are even more expensive!!

Friday Night:

View across the street from us

Before the Whites arrived

We brought our own music

Saturday

The three campsites - really nice!

This is what the winter in Georgia looks like! Fake snow for the inner tube run. It's 74 degrees!

Watching the Georgia-Florida Game

Playing Corn Hole, Jenga, and watching the game

Supper got moved over to Katie's outside kitchen

Livie fell asleep in PawPaw's lap

Back in Georgia - October

 We landed in Georgia on the 6th and stayed two nights at Margaritaville RV Resort at Lake Lanier to get the Flair cleaned out and get moved into the Voltage at Neil and Pam's.  

It's a beautiful resort (it ought to be - $72/night during the week), and this is where we're going to have the family camping trip in November. Concrete pads, our spot right on the lake.

We had a little trouble getting moved back in.  The big living room slide wouldn't go out (one of the slide motors has gone bad) so Neil, Pam and Mike had to push an inch at a time as I worked the slide controls.  Then we found lots of leaks.  The bedroom slide had been leaking and rotted out the bottom with lots of mildew on the carpet, and the roof over the garage had leaked and rotted the plywood underneath.  Mike has that all fixed now, thank goodness!   We ordered our metal roof, but it'll be 12 to 14 weeks before they can get it they are so backlogged.  That will be a relief to have that.

Neil and Pam took us to NoFo Brewery our first weekend back, and we enjoyed tacos from the food truck.  Rainy, dreary, cold day but we had fun.

Yesterday we were back at NoFo with Katie, Mike, Ella, Taylor, Live, Neil and Pam to celebrate Mike's birthday.  It was a beautiful fall day.  Chase and Jake were working, and it was Angie and Scott's anniversary, so we'll see them today for supper.  Maybe Nate and Mila too.

On the road 9/29 to....

 After leaving Shirley and the Golden Pond RV Park, we had a very short drive through the Ozarks to a Harvest Host called Paw Paw's Pecan Farm in Atkins, AR.  Of course we had to stop there!!!  Great place, beautiful and quiet, and the owners gave us a tour of their home (which is also a B&B).  We bought jam, muscadine jelly, and canned tomatoes.  MMMMMMM!

What a great, peaceful place to camp!

Their home from the driveway.  Beautiful!

From Paw Paw's Pecans we headed to Canton, MS.  This town is just north of Jackson, and is very close to the Natchez Trace.  We wanted to explore the southern part of the Trace after exploring the northern part last fall.

Part of the old Trace

 

Rocky Springs ghost town. It started to decline during the Civil War, General Grant stayed in town to rally his troops before the battle at Vicksburg. After that, yellow fever, boll weevils, and the spring dried up, so the town was abandoned.

Rocky Springs is an old town site.  All that remains is this safe and a cistern

Rocky Springs Methodist Church built in 1837, still in use today

Church cemetary

Then we had a picnic along the way.

Mount Locust is a home along the Trace that was used as an inn for travelers, and was also a farm. 

We ended up in Natchez on the Mississippi River.  We had a great day!