Hello again! Our camper has been at the same place for over two weeks, so I haven’t posted. So, here’s the update. (It’s a big one!)
From the Okefenokee Swamp, we drove up to Camp McCall in Sunset, SC. The camp is run by friends from Summit Adventure (where Libby guided backpacking trips in CA), Ginger and Spinner. They had invited us to come stay, so we took them up on it! It’s a beautiful spot in an arm of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We arrived on Saturday and Matt flew out to Kansas for work on Sunday. He was gone for 10 days for work.
While he was gone, the kids and I enjoyed a slower week at Camp McCall. We had a couple play dates with the neighbor boys (camp staff sons), survived 24 degree overnight temps (and didn’t freeze), explored the camp, and visited the nearby Hagood’s Grist Mill and Petroglyph site.
Last Saturday the kids and I headed down to Atlanta to see my cousin, Michelle, and her family. We enjoyed a visit to the Botanical Gardens, good meals, and time at Candler Park.
After that we headed up to Amicalola Falls, just north of Atlanta. We hiked a couple/few miles on the Appalachian Trail Approach (technically the AT starts at Springer Mountain 8.5 miles in from Amicalola Falls). It was a beautiful area and peaceful day hiking. Then we discovered that Reece has a cider company in Ellijay, GA!
And this is a common view since Claire and Reece are both great hikers!
Then we returned to Atlanta to visit other cousins, Allison and Meredith. (This is the second time we’ve been able to met up with Meredith on this adventure!) We enjoyed the Georgia Aquarium, helped with some packing/moving, and got a lot of laundry done at Allison’s apartment. A very enjoyable and productive visit!
Then we returned to Camp McCall for a couple nights. We picked up Matt from the airport and left the next day for another visiting tour.
This time we drove to Aiken, SC to visit old friends/neighbors from Colorado Springs – the Swifts. We had been there 6 years ago, so it was good to see them again. They have an amazing and energetic community of neighbors/kids and we got to join in. They made us amazing dinner and breakfast and we got to go feed horses at an equine rescue facility. It was a whirlwind, but so fun. Eric and Maria had done the travel/RV life for almost a year before they moved to Colorado Springs, so it was fun to compare stories and get some good recommendations!
From Aiken, we drove up to Raleigh, NC to visit my cousin, Kara. She has lived in Raleigh since college, so I was excited to see her, and her spot in the world. After a couple of strikeouts (one restaurant had a pipe break and didn’t have running water when we showed up), we finally found a place to enjoy dinner. The next morning we went and saw the troll installation at Dix Park – 5 trolls total and they have hammocks! We have a few trolls in CO, so we’re excited to go check out our trolls when we get home. We finished our visit with a quick stop at the NC State Farmers Market. What a cool place!
Then we drove to Greensboro,NC where we had a short, but lovely visit with Kate (Davelaar) Guthrie – a college housemate and friend. She and her son, Abe (who is 5 days younger than Reece), hung out with us and showed us their house renovations. Thankful for old friends who welcome random visitors. Loving these connection points along the way!
From Greensboro we drove up to Pilot Mountain State Park to camp for the night. We enjoyed a rare campfire and all slept pretty well. The next morning we went up to the Pilot Mountain summit, hiked around it, and then climbed! We really only had time for one good climb (“Pole Dancing”), but it was a lovely day and fun to get out climbing!
That night we returned to Camp McCall. The plan was to leave the following day, but because of weather here, and weather where we were headed, we decided to delay a day.
This morning we said our goodbyes to Ginger and Spinner and their dog, Reggie (and their cats – Elvis and Zola). We will miss this beautiful place and such wonderful neighbors!
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