Catching Up on 2020

It is now May, 2020...where has the time gone?  Well, I'll try to recap it in the next few posts.  Shortly after our trip from Blue Ridge in November, Bob's truck started running poorly.  It was in the service department at the Dodge dealer until early January before the technicians finally figured out the problem.  Good news was all the work was under warranty, and he ended up getting several new components before they were able to find the root of the problem.

Gwen and Ellen spent Christmas week with us.  We enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve and Day meals and our grab bag gift exchange. We celebrated Christmas again  with Bobby and Valerie at their lake house a couple of days later.

At the end of January, we decided to go to the state park in Morganton, GA, that we had discovered on our last trip to Blue Ridge.  We checked in on Tuesday, January 28, and left Friday morning on the 31st.

The park was virtually empty, and we were able to get a prime lakeside spot.   Bob didn't want to bother removing the camper for the short time we'd be there, so we left it on.

Lake levels were extremely low, but still presented a beautiful sight with the clear water and Blue Ridge Mountains in the far distance. 

Roscoe enjoyed the view, too.

And the sunset was spectacular, but brought on the cold winter night air, so we had to retreat inside.

The next day we took a self-guided driving tour which ended up taking most of the day.  First stop was for lunch!

The Toccoa Riverside Restaurant was just a short distance from our starting point, and Bob was already hungry.

The restaurant had a very spacious inside dining area, enclosed outside dining space, and this lovely riverside seating which I'm sure would be packed during the season.

The décor was very woodsy with carved bears cavorting everywhere.  The food was quite good, too.

A fair portion of the ride wound along the scenic Toccoa River, known for its trout fishing...

...and rafting and tubing.  This tree is decorated with life jackets, sneakers and sandals from some who enjoyed the river water sports.

Next on the tour was Sucches (pronounced such-as) where  Woody Gap School is located, the smallest K-12 school in Georgia that boasts 100 students.  Sucches is the highest community in the state at an elevation of 3000 feet, giving its nickname of Valley Above The Clouds.  

The touring map showed there was a suspension bridge which looked like a good place to check out.  The brochure did caution that it was a bumpy 3 mile road to the trail.  It didn't mention that Forest Service Road 816 was two way but barely wide enough for one vehicle, especially one with a camper on top.

But we managed to have two other cars safely pass in the opposite direction before we arrived at the parking area and trail head.

The brochure also said it was a short and easy hike to the bridge.  It was neither short nor easy for 70-somethings like us, but thankfully there were a few resting spots along the way, and the sound of the rushing river kept us motivated to continue.

I finally reached the "swinging bridge".  At 270 feet, it is the longest suspension bridge east of the Mississippi.  Bob and Roscoe had opted to stop where the trail got steep, about 500  feet from the river. 

Was it worth the effort?  Yes and no...in many ways, the bridge and scenery are very similar to Chau Ram Park, less than 20 miles from us with a truly short and easy hike to get to!

Thursday was somewhat uneventful...we road thru Blue Ridge and on into Copperhill, Tennessee, the little tourist town where the Blue Ridge Railway stops on its scenic route.  Friday we packed to leave and stopped at the dump station before heading for home.  Luckily Bob noticed we hadn't pulled in the camper slide...that would have made for an interesting ride back and would have been even more interesting if we had left it out when we were on that narrow fire road to the bridge!

About 20 miles from home, snow had dusted the apple orchards in Long Creek.  It was a nice ending to a pleasant trip.