Cloudy Day in Georgia

Today we decided to take a little road trip and put one more state under our geocaching belt. The cache we found today in Georgia means we have cached in 7 states since we began this hobby this past summer: OH, IN, KY, TN, NC, SC, and now GA.

The northern most tip of the state is only a 2 hour drive from here. It was a very scenic drive; unfortunately for our dog with a weak stomach, it was also an extremely curvy drive. Shelby tossed her kibbles in the back seat, much to our dismay. We came home a different route, on the Smoky Mtn Parkway. Still curvy, but not bad enough to upset anyone's stomach. I have to admit, I was feeling a little queasy myself and couldn't much blame her for getting sick to her stomach.

The area we drove through was picturesque, even for this time of year, and would have been even more impressive if the day hadn't been so dreary. It's interesting how the mountains look different depending on the area that you're visiting. The mountains we saw today seemed to have more evergreen trees than the ones in the Asheville area, so they didn't look as brown. They also seemed a little "pointier." I'll include a photo I snapped at a scenic overlook, which is also where we found our geocache.

We were in Rabun County.. According to Wikipedia, it's the rainiest county in GA and one of the rainiest counties east of the Mississippi. (No wonder it was so dreary.) They average 70 inches of rain a year! Sha-ZAM!

Wikipedia goes on to say, "The high elevation along the divide gives Rabun County the most snow of any in Georgia. This also gives it mild weather throughout the warmer months of the year, leading to the county's slogan, Where Spring Spends the Summer." (Ah, that's a pretty catchy slogan!)

"Mountains dominate the topography of Rabun County. The Eastern Continental Divide provides Rabun County with the second and third highest peaks in Georgia: Rabun Bald at 4,696 feet and Dick's Knob at 4,620 feet. The county has eight peaks that are higher than 4,000 feet and over 60 peaks that are between 3,000 and 4,000 feet."

The area also appeared to be fairly affluent. There were cabins and huge houses perched up high on the mountains and many swanky housing developments, golf courses, resorts, campgrounds, and lots of touristy, artsy shops. I think that many of the homes were probably second residences. From what I've gathered from my online research so far, the area is a summer resort community. This time of year, on a Sunday, most of the shops looked like they were closed.

We did stop at a road-side stand to buy some boiled peanuts. Our friend, Matt, here at the campground LOVES boiled peanuts so we got him a bag. He says that the first time someone introduced him to them, he thought there were offering him "bald" peanuts. Must've been a local!!

I tried a few. They were pretty good, but not what I expected. They're boiled in the shell, which of course you have to peel off. The ones we got were still hot, pretty soggy and very salty. The nut itself is soft, the texture makes you think of a bean, and the peanut-y flavor is much more mild than when they're dry-roasted. Apparently they're a popular road-side cuisine down here. I'll probably find myself craving them when we're back up north even though they did have a distintive, somewhat unpleasant odor.

This place also had furniture for sale that looks rustic, part of it;s made with tree branches. I commented about it to the lady who was running the place and she said, "It's Amish furniture.....made in Ohio!" They also had a bunch of canned preserves made, guess where? IN OHIO!!! What are the odds, we drive all the way to Georgia and find products made in Ohio!! Who was it who said, "No matter where ya go, there ya are." Hmmmm, I guess that doesn't really apply to this situation. Who was it who said, "Loretta, you're an idiot?" Probably everyone reading this post!!

Anyways, it was an enjoyable Sunday road trip.