North Georgia -Fleeing Hurricane Florence

Every weather channel said this would be the worst Hurricane to hit the east coast in a long time.  We worried we'd lose power and we couldn't get Logan's food prepped.  The band of potential devastation was so large that we'd have to travel to Ga to miss it.  We agonized over making such a long trip and in the last moment, Tuesday evening, decided to head out.  We drove all night - taking 11 hours to get there.  When I checked the weather again, the storm had taken a hard left, heading for Ga, but stalling in NC and losing momentum.  We were safe to stay for a few days and rest from the travel, but, Va now wasn't going to get a drop of rain or gust of wind, so we could have just stayed home.  The trip was hard on Logan - he started to swell. 
Needless to say that we were tired when we arrived - we took a trip to Helen, Ga - about a 45 minute drive.  Not the best decision - too hard on Logan and we were just too tired for that.  Helen wasn't as interesting as I remembered it.  We got some olive oil (Russ did the olive oil tasting) and a couple of Christmas ornaments.  Russ wanted a milkshake but the machine was down.  At least we got to relax in the hot tub - we stayed at a decent place called Crossing Creek Campground in Blairsville.

On Thursday we took a walk at the TVA trail around Lake Nottingly (~2.6 miles).  We tried to stroll Logan but had to bail - path got rugged.  To limit his car time we ran the other guys.  Then I drove to Atlanta to see Gracie's siblings.  I was able to see Traveler and Clove (white girl) work agility.  Then Gracie and Clove played together.  Pat McClellan brought Star a little later but she was too nervous to play with the girls.  In fact, even Gracie got her feelings hurt by Clove and got too scared to get back  in the game.  Karan bought us all a BBQ lunch - it was nice seeing everyone and getting back to a place of belonging.

Trying to get the dogs to pose for the picture

Gracie Playing with her sister Clove...

Russ and I went to the lake (Marina spot) to kayak - forgetting the gauge and the life vests.  We went on the water for about 45 minutes.  Then went back on Friday for a more enjoyable experience and got lucky - right when we finished the skies opened up and the rains came.



 Friday was the best day - we hiked Desoto Falls.  Logan actually made the lower falls walk (although couldn't get up the last bit of stairs to see the actual falls - so Russ and I took turns with the other guys).  I really enjoyed this hike - got some amazing pictures of the sun peering through the trees.

Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

Another great find was Vogel State Park.  In fact, we got in free because we were a hurricane evacuee.  Georgia opened up a lot of areas for free (like the race track) so campers had a place to stay.  We walked the lake trail Thursday evening returned on Friday to walk/stroll Logan around the cabin area. 



The most interesting find, but the scariest, was the trip to Helton Creek Falls.  It was a short walk to the falls - we left Logan behind though as his swelling had gotten worse.  The falls were beautiful.  The scary part, however, was getting there.  GPS took us a "short cut" where you had to cross two creeks on a narrow passage.  The first creek went OK, but I was scared at the second crossing - got out of the car, and captured a video of Russ who was determined to make it.  I asked another couple at the falls if there were an easier passage out - and yes, there was - thank goodness.

We left Saturday morning. Logan's swelling had come down and we wanted to stay ahead of the storm coming inland.  All in all it was a nice trip...and here's the movie to prove it: