We like to get high.

No, not on drugs but actual height. As in we are going to try to hit the highest point in as many states as possible. Which brings me to this post...

Brasstown Bald, North Georgia.

Every good road trip should start off with someone receiving

 photo IMAG0116_zps802d9607.jpg
A ticket. $117 for driving over the median to get in the turn lane.

Then a must stop

 photo 0704130955_zps61069c82.jpg
Bass Pro.

 photo 0704130956_zpsbd7c2eb6.jpg

 photo 0704131002_zps49de5c83.jpg
Shark bait.

 photo 0704131014a_zpsfe9e9f9a.jpg
Crooked eye is looking less crooked lately.

We drove up to Helen, GA. We did some touristy stuff and then headed North to where we would camp. We turned off onto a dirt road that would lead us to a campground (Upper Chattahoochee), but we found plenty of camping along the way. We picked a site..

 photo DSC05599_zps80fb5225.jpg
And not more than a few minutes later...

 photo DSC05600_zps5adf9953.jpg
It started pouring!!!!!!

 photo DSC05596_zps9785b7ce.jpg
Where all the smart people hung out.

I have to admit... I was really glad it rained before we set our tent up. It showed us where NOT to put the tent up!!

 photo DSC05611_zps1eb5f5f3.jpg
Sean worked diligently to get the tent up, a tarp and even made sure that there was proper drainage in camp.

Camp life with little girls is interesting.

 photo DSC05614_zpsb4aed3fc.jpg
Millie was not scary at all....

 photo DSC05622_zps7bd67505.jpg
Working on getting a fire going.

 photo DSC05628_zpsf529ce25.jpg
With sparklers of course! It was 4th of July weekend!!!!!

 photo DSC05640_zpsb9769ad7.jpg
The children began playing a game I like to call hand-eye coordination. As you can see, Millie doesn't have much yet.

 photo DSC05637_zps1f678aa1.jpg
Thank you Chris-tal for throwing that right at a girl's face!

I guess now is a good time to introduce our friend Chris (dubbed Chris-tal by Millie).

 photo DSC05632_zps590a946f.jpg
Whoops... hand-eye facilitator was lost in the river. If you are walking on that log, I'm keeping my camera on standby!

 photo DSC05633_zps6c2049e1.jpg
This could get interesting!

OK, so Chris-tal didn't fall in, but my Sean the bomb (aka the real man... no offense Chris-tal) retrieved the item and no, he didn't fall in either!

 photo DSC05644_zpsd86ff760.jpg
Cooking in the fire.

 photo DSC05619_zps97758f25.jpg
Here is the part of the story where I tell you how Chris-tal left his keys in the front seat of his truck. Then shut the door and realized the truck was locked.... but his keys were right there!! His wallet and cell phone too! We are basically in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road that is going to wash out at anytime and HE LOCKED HIS KEYS IN THE TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After some calling, driving and digging around, we finally located someone willing to come out and give the poor guy a hand. I'm so glad too because I didn't really want to tie Chris-tal to the top of the Jeep all the way home.

 photo DSC05616_zps49073ab5.jpg
We love turtles.

 photo 0704131357_zpsb2fbd737.jpg
Hanging out in Helen. I also discovered that my daughter is apparently a kleptomaniac. Autumn tried to steal something from the Christmas shop. Which reminds me... guess it is time to have a serious talk with the girl about stealing and GOING TO JAIL.

The next morning, we drove to Brasstown Bald.

 photo DSC05646_zpsfe266635.jpg

 photo DSC05648_zps26f21592.jpg
Millie was my hiking partner. It was a wee bit windy.

 photo DSC05651_zps4587073d.jpg
We saw oodles of snails.

 photo DSC05652_zps406434c0.jpg
Autumn picked up every. single. one.

 photo DSC05653_zps46f34b80.jpg
Apparently snails were too disgusting for the chalk, sand, feet, shoes and brick licker. Seriously Millie?

 photo DSC05654_zpsf2c8594c.jpg
4,784 feet. Who knew Georgia could get so high?

 photo DSC05657_zps5af448ce.jpg
Photo op.

 photo DSC05658_zps947fdee6.jpg
Gust of wind. Sean and I nearly lost our hats. Thank you Chris-tal for taking the photo.

 photo DSC05661_zps96e29dfe.jpg
Here we go with snail removal again! I suppose to her defense, she was worried about them getting stepped on.

 photo DSC05663_zpsaac7caf5.jpg
Random Roww sighting.

 photo DSC05665_zpscc10ea48.jpg
Random good girl sighting. They both did really well on this hike.

 photo DSC05672_zps1f5688d1.jpg
Doing some exploring of the campground we were near.

 photo DSC05673_zps6926f5cc.jpg

 photo DSC05675_zpsefbc8b12.jpg
Pretty flowers.

 photo DSC05676_zps50905f9c.jpg
River crossing in the Jeep. I don't know why, but that thoroughly entertained the little people.

 photo DSC05682_zps30c3ea0e.jpg

 photo DSC05701_zps0b2b34a0.jpg
Creepy Gary Bider. (This is out of sequence but here is my bider story::

The girls and I were in the Jeep, on our merry way to grab a bite to eat when out of nowhere, Autumn pops out of her seat screaming bloody murder. I'm trying to figure out what is going on when (insert scary music here) I look over and see two large tentacle looking legs climbing over the passenger seat headrest. I begin screaming and driving, well, not so good. The thing finally climbs over and I realize it is a daddy long leg. I cease screaming and find a place to pull over. Autumn is still shrieking. I escort Mr Daddy long leg out of the Jeep and get Autumn buckled back in. Thank goodness just us girls were in the Jeep because if Sean had been driving and Mr Daddy long legs climbed over my head, there would have most definitely been a wreck!)

On our way back into our campsite, we discover a

 photo DSC05702_zps55b1f02e.jpg
Bear! Everyone was so excited. I will admit it. I did not think we would ever, ever, ever see a bear in Georgia. Millie even proclaimed, "MY FIRST BEAR!" So cute.

 photo DSC05703_zps93c638f8.jpg

 photo DSC05705_zpsdcc01d10.jpg
I know they are blurry, but these are the pictures people.

 photo DSC05706_zps2b37602c.jpg
I'm a bear.

Sean kicked the bear out of our campsite and I guess you could say that silly old bear did seem a bit confused... Wait, aren't you supposed to be afraid of me? I am a bear after all....

After the bear excitement, we went to check out some

 photo DSC05714_zps5a6c0d14.jpg
HUGE WATERFALLS!

 photo DSC05715_zps6c5a0ff6.jpg
I need to find the reason we took this photo Sean Jordan.

 photo DSC05716_zps695cf6da.jpg

 photo DSC05739_zpsad845429.jpg
More camp life.

 photo DSC05741_zpsd88fa1e7.jpg
The things you can discover about your children when you shut out the noise of our busy world.

 photo DSC05744_zps8e6521be.jpg
Best friends.

 photo DSC05747_zps549b044e.jpg
Maybe it doesn't look like it because of the photos, but it rained A LOT! I know that we must have gotten over 6 inches of rain. I'm thinking more.

 photo DSC05761_zps0e2cac5c.jpg

 photo DSC05751_zps281f5b3d.jpg
But we still managed to have fun, fire and just good old family time.

 photo DSC05763_zpse63def31.jpg
Our last night camping, it was raining horribly. We were so close to the river that I kept getting this feeling that the river was going to rise and sweep our tent away. I woke up many times to look and make sure we were safe from the water. I guess Sean did too.

This is what it sounds like:


Who wouldn't sleep like a baby with that in their ear all night!!

 photo DSC05766_zps4a455cb3.jpg
My husband, God love him, tore camp apart (Chris-tal too) without complaint. Love that man to pieces.

I forgot to add that Chris-tal only had to pay $60 to get his keys out!! He made out better than us!

Something I realized about myself POST camping....

I am more afraid of a Gary Bider than I am of a bear.... Something is not right with this picture!!!

And that is my post about getting high in Georgia.

 photo DSC05660_zpsf3a672e1.jpg
The Jordan's.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Snowzilla.

Playing with fire.

The man in the box.