HIKING AT TALLULAH FALLS

We spent Sunday afternoon hiking at Tallulah Falls within the Tallulah Gorge State Park. Being totally out of shape we only got to 5 of the 10 overlooks at Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center. It was a great day, sunshine, 70's. Perfect day to see the falls and gorge.

The gorge is 820 ft across and 1200 feet deep. In the early 1920's the Georgia Power Company established a series of hydroelectric dams and diverted water from the falls. At the same time Lake Rabun and Lake Burton were created along with a few other recreational areas. A few times a year the flood gates are opened and the floor of the gorge allowed to fill for white water rafting. One of those times is late April so we were lucky enough to see the falls and gorge at the perfect time with the floor flooded.

You can go all the way to the floor of the gorge normally.....perhaps when we are in better shape and the flood gates are closed.

There is an area with a suspension bridge that we did not hike to this time but will at some point we are sure. We are sure we will hike there....not sure we will cross the bridge. Since Judy can barely bring herself to stand near the rail and take the posted photos, most likely she will not be crossing but taking photos of Steve as he crosses. In order to get there you go a series of steep metal stairs to a suspension bridge swaying 80 feet above the water rock floor. You can get to the floor by descending the 400 steps to get to the bridge and then another 200 to get to the bottom of the gorge....and what goes down, must come up so we would walk up the 600 steps back to the top. We think there are something like a total of 12oo steps in all to get to the bottom. We walked a few hundred is all yesterday.

One of the photos shows an iron contraption that held the steel wire for Karl Wallenda to make his walk across the gorge in 1970. At the part he walked the gorge is 700 feet across and 1200 feet deep. It took him just 18 minutes to cross and they have photos of him doing hand stands mid way. Eight years later is when he fell to his death in Puerto Rico while crossing between two hotels on a similar tight wire.

We will chose another place next week to explore.

Mona Vie at River Vista

We are all set for Mona Vie tastings at River Vista. It is on display in the lobby and we have the perfect living room setting in the clubhouse.

We found this old Sinclair station that has been converted to a local stop on the way to Highlands. We thought Judy's family might enjoy seeing these since her Grandfather also had Sinclair stations.

Last night we drove up Dillard Rd to see the waterfall that you can see from our campground. We enjoyed some of the views. This log overlook was built by someone and rests right over the waterfall. We were here last winter and saw it...wanted to go back to see it again. It is on the road to Highlands NC.

We went to the Dillard House for dinner on Easter. They serve you EVERYTHING on the menu. Every vegetable you can imagine, small portions of meats (lamb, ham, fried chicken and country fried steak for Easter), and Strawberry Shortcake. It is so yummy. Our second time there and we thoroughly enjoyed. Last night we heard there is a local discounts so we will definitely be going back.

The first week at River Vista Mountain Village has been an active one. We are still arranging and rearranging things in the motorhome in order to get everything in it's right place. We feel confident that within the next few weeks all should be settled in it's rightful place. It was difficult to decide what to bring and what to leave behind so we brought items we weren't sure of. Thanks to our storage cabin, we are making things work.

The campground is starting to get busy and our office is getting situated. We have spent the week reading contracts and documents to familiarize ourselves with everything. Lot's of paperwork to create and go through. We have also been out and about meeting people as they arrive. The first have arrived that are staying long term and we are excited about that. We think they may be good prospects to purchase a lot.

This is such a beautiful area. We are anxious to take a day here and there to see more of the sites. The campground is ideally situated to do day trips to a multitude of places. Once things are situated better here, we will start doing a trip here and there.

The weather has been beautiful. We were expecting it to be quite cold still but the last week every day has been in the high 70's to low 80's and cool at night. Today it is raining and supposed to cool off.

Steve talked to his Mom last night and she will be coming in June to visit with his brother and sister in law. I know they will love it here as much as we do.

Judy is going back to Florida next week for a few days to bring another load of the things we could not fit in the first trip. While she is there, she will stop by and see some of the St Pete Mona Vie team.

We have been able to meet a few Mona Vie prospects locally. Starting to build some good relationships with people here. Looks like this is a great place for campsites and Mona Vie.