Monday, October 7, 2013

Day 5- Trip to the North GA Mountains

This Saturday, we took a day trip to the mountains to buy some apples! I looked up a place online to go and it said "most popular apple farm in Ellijay"....(Key words to avoid in travel- "most popular"!). We arrived and it was so crowded and stinky and nasty and hot. So we ended up buying one bag of apples and then going up the road to Mac's Apple Barn and buying two more (no lines, just apples....perfect!). Then we said we would try to find something else to do that wasn't so crowded and nasty. I saw a sign for the Amicalola Waterfall on the way, so we headed that way. It is the Amicalola State Park and it was very nice. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and looked around. Here we are about to go in.  (Aren't they cute in their apple outfits!?)      
 Alabama and Pate tried on the bear hats and played in the rocks in the gift shop.

 We drove over to the "Base of Falls trail" and started our hike to see the waterfall. It's a really good thing that we had no idea how far it was when we started! Alabama did really good most of the way. We took a few breaks. Here we are taking a break on the rocks beside the stream that runs down from the falls.

 When we made it up the paved hiking path, we were only about halfway to the top. You really couldn't see the top of the falls from here. There is an observation deck and then 175 stairs to climb to get to the top. Alabama really wanted to go up the stairs, so after a little rest, we did! She walked all the way and Adam carried Pate.
 We're about to reach the top here.
 Isn't it beautiful? It felt great to hike all the way to the top and then be rewarded with a beautiful waterfall! (Well, I don't mean it actually FELT great....but the accomplishment did! ha! I probably wouldn't recommend it to any others who are 7 months pregnant!) It's so awesome to experience the beauty of God's creation first hand!
 I have no idea why this picture is sideways!
 We basked in our glory for a few more minutes, then started the hike back down. My legs were shaking by the time we reached the bottom. Alabama wanted to get on the big rock, and so Pate did too, of course.
 We drove up to the top of the mountain where the Lodge and restaurant are. Before we went inside, we played for a few minutes on the playground and Bama had to have a "picnic."

 The inside was gorgeous and the view was just magnificent! They had a really good dinner buffet and it felt good to sit down and eat a nice meal after our tiring day!
 After we sat and enjoyed the sunset, we DROVE to the top of the falls and looked down from there. (That's right, drove. You could have just driven to the top and then walked down a ways to get to the observation deck instead of walking all the way up! We didn't know!
Oh, well....memories made! ha!)

The Georgia/TN game was in overtime was we drove down the mountain and we pulled out the win with a field goal! Perfect ending to what turned into a really fun trip!

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