Your life is an occasion, rise to it.~~Mr. Magorium
We arrived at High Falls on Friday evening. My work week last week was extremely busy so I had no desire to cook or clean for dinner and instead suggested that we eat dinner out. Jeff suggested Fresh Air Bar-B-Que in Jackson, GA. We noticed a snake on the road as we were on our way out of the park. Jeff decided to see if he could get it to move off of the road because he was concerned that someone would run over it. However, when he opened his jeep door, the snake coiled up and gave him the look of "I really don't think you want to mess with me." So, Jeff decided to stay in the jeep. Meanwhile a few vehicles came up behind us and one truck tried to go around us and almost ran over the snake. In the end, the snake finally had enough and slithered off the road to safety.
The bar-b-que restaurant wasn't far from the park. The food was tasty but I am not a big fan of mustard-based sauces so I didn't enjoy the bar-b-que here as much as other places we have tried. I prefer the sweet bar-b-que sauces rather than the tangy/spicy varieties. I didn't try the brunswick stew which is also supposed to be one of their specialties as well.
We returned to the camper after dinner. Jeff built a fire, we ate s'mores, and relaxed at the camper during the remainder of the evening. And, like most trips, we usually meet wonderful people. This trip was no different. On one side of our camper was Jay & Carol and their children Anna & Thomas. On the other side was Bob and Marion. Rachel, Anna and Anna & Thomas quickly became friends.
Rain showers were projected for most of Saturday so we didn't plan outdoor activities. The first place we visited was the Sagon RV dealership. It was our first time to tour Airstreams and Newmar RVs. Airstreams are classic. Although, we quickly determined that they aren't really family friendly. I think they are perfect for two people but not so functional for more than that.
One of the Newmar RVs had the floor plan with the bunk area above the master bed (shown below). Rachel and Anna loved that set up. We had considered this floor plan before purchasing our Fleetwood. The only thing that made us pass it up was resale. We figured our current floor plan would appeal to a larger audience should we ever decide to sell it. The Newmar with the bunks is definitely geared towards families with young children. And, if you take note, you don't see many people our age driving Class A motor homes down the road so I don't think we'd have a large audience interested if we ever did decide to sell it. But, after seeing it, we also found that it had limited storage underneath which wouldn't have worked well for us since we lived in ours full time for so long.
And, we also went in the top of the line Newmar that was absolutely gorgeous; complete with cultured marble shower, tiled floors, etc. (shown below). It was nice. I can't say that I want to spend over $400K on it, but it was definitely high end all the way.
We ate at Buckner's in Jackson, GA, for lunch. The food was very yummy. It was served family style. They serve traditional southern style foods: sweetened iced tea, fried chicken, bar-b-que, green beans, stewed tomatoes, creamed corn, cole slaw, etc. and for dessert....home made peach cobbler. I felt like Jeff needed to roll me out of the restaurant when I left.
We returned back to the park and took a short hike before the rain started. We spotted a dead snake in the water (shown below). It looked a lot like the type we had seen on the road Friday evening. We were later told it was a banded water snake. We have never seen so many snakes on any of our trips. As many trails as we have hiked and as many parks as we have visited, we've never seen any out and about.
The rain chased us back to the camper where we rested until 2:00 and then we attended a reptile educational program in the park that was provided by Southeastern Reptile Rescue. Rachel loves snakes; Rachel loves all animals. Anna has never been as interested in snakes but she did show interest in them this time. Southeastern Reptile Rescue provided a great educational demonstration on reptiles...in particular, snakes. Rachel and Anna held a variety of snakes. And, Rachel got to hold a baby alligator. I think it is great that there are organizations like this one (and Save our American Raptors, Inc.) that spend time educating the public on wild life.
Snake found by the road (an abandoned pet); shown above
We returned to the camper for the remainder of the day. We cooked dinner at our camper and invited our neighbors over for hot chocolate and s'mores. We had a nice evening sitting by the camp fire with our new friends.
The children spent some time outside on Sunday morning catching grasshoppers and then releasing them. Who needs expensive toys for children when you have nature to entertain them? 
Anna, Anna & Rachel
We hope to meet up with Jay & Carol and their children later this year at Laura S. Walker State Park. Currently, we don't have plans to travel anywhere this coming weekend...but that may change. I'm just not sure yet where we'll go and if we do, it'll be a place that has a beach. The weather is getting warmer here in the south so the beach seems very inviting to us right now. For friends and family reading this post, I wish you a wonderful Mothers Day.
3 comments:
What's with all the snakes this weekend?! Loved seeing the high end Class A....looks way nicer than our current 90yr government housing! :) And probably lots more storage!
Happy Mother's Day -Kari
I agree about the snakes. Of all the times we've stayed in state parks, I don't think we've ever seen any actually in the park other than those they had for display. We've never seen any on the trail or near the water. Maybe it's that time of the year?
Jason, the owner of the reptile rescue company, said they found the huge python shown by the road side. It was a pet that someone let go. And, it's only half of it's full size. Can you imagine walking down the road and seeing that thing? It's like other animals...people buy pets that they don't fully understand the long-term dedication and unique care needed. And, yes, many RVs are way nicer than base housing. Heck, high end motorhomes are way nicer than other housing we've seen too. :-)
I hope you have a wonderful Mothers Day too!
Wow Angela, I've just been looking through your blog and you are doing so much fun, interesting stuff. How lucky your girls are to be doing all this travelling and experiencing all these things!
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