With masks in hand and a picnic lunch to avoid contacts,
we ventured south for a long postponed reunion with
Amanda, Stephen, Bri, and Hunter.
This was the welcome in our guest room. G'ma and G'pa.
That's how I sign our e-mails. How sweet!
Board games and conversation could have filled the
whole trip, but the Talberts had some special treats in store.
Tuesday morning we all headed to a little known gem of
Georgia parks (not a state park): Sprewell's Bluff.
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| This is a view of Georgia's Flint River. You can't see the middle of its horseshoe, but you get the picture. |
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| Never would I have imagined a river like this in Middle Georgia. It was free-flowing and stony, and you felt like you were a million miles from civilization. Which is our kind of place! |
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| Us with Bri and Hunter at the overlook at the park entrance. |
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| Proof we were there. |
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| Ach! Something stinks! |
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| Help! I don't think he's a vegetarian! |
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| Preview of a new Disney series-- Kid Zombies! |
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| In spite of Judy's sweater and Amanda's ear muffs, the rest of us didn't think it was cold. Just cool enough to keep you from sweating on a hike. And we're off! |
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| Don't fall in! |
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| Look close and you'll see Stephen at the top of this rock formation. He and the kids found a way up while we were posing. |
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| There was an interesting assortment of rocky sand bars. |
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| It's a long way down from this overlook. |
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| Happy Wanderers. |
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| Ah, let's explore this little nook. |
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| Grim Reapers? I think not. |
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| If you look at this right, you may see a bear. Shadows can play some sneaky tricks. |
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| Here's some of that good ol' Georgia red clay I've known since boyhood. Fortunately, it had been fairly dry, and we had no issue avoiding mud. |
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| Someone who precded us had built a little rock dam which created a perfect pool for play. |
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| The kids were ready for this after the hike. |
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| These kids take to water like ducks. So I guess they're not zombies. |
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| This was the best place for skipping rocks that I'd seen in years. Stephen did some masterful instruction and both kids had success. I skimmed a bunch myself, as there was no shortage of ammunition. I was careful not to throw my camera in. |
Here's Bri in action. Success!
Here's Hunter's successful skip.
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| There was a nice little trading post. Nothing we needed, but we found a few items to save for Hunter's birthday. The park has quite a few cabins and campers can get some supplies here. |
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| On the journey home we stopped at this historic covered bridge. |
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| It was the longest covered bridge Judy and I had ever seen. |
The next day Amanda took us to a local park with
beautiful boardwalks and greenway trails, plus a pond
and wetland. We saw all kinds of interesting sights.
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| Here are the most interesting sights I saw-- my FAMILY! |
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| Let's explore! |
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| This huge snapping turtle was the first item of note. Apparently he is used to people feeding him, but we didn't. |
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| Bri and Judy doing scientific observation. |
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| Amanda had friends that had reported seeing copperheads in this park, so we were ultra cautious, but didn't see any snakes at all. |
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| From the second boardwalk I saw this beautiful patch of Royal Fern. |
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| It's hard to tell, but this tree is overgrown with Resurrection Fern, which is my absolute favorite. |
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| I love the inscription at the bottom of this plaque. I would aspire to have similar things said of me. But NOT until I'm dead and gone and I hope that's a long time! |
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| This wasn't primarily a "play" park, but this slide and another were a great reward for the kids after our hike. They got quite a workout climbing this hill over and over for the thrill of a slide. |
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| We were so thankful to get this pic with the kids before we came home the next day. If it looks like Bri has grown a lot, she has. So has Hunter. But a disclaimer: Look closely and you'll see that Bri is on stilts! |
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| This is our "staged" goodbye photo. The Talberts and Loyds kept waving all the way through their neighborhood until we were out of sight. |
We had another picnic lunch on the way home and
were back in North Carolina before supper time.
Masks and all!
Can't wait till we see the Talbert crew again!
