Life by a Georgia lake - by RV or a houseboat?

Wednesday, April 26^th

We left Freightliner Service Center confident that our rolling home is as ready for this trip as we are. We headed down the highway at 10AM hoping the commuter traffic would be over.  In the past, we have avoided interstate driving at all costs. On this trip, if we don’t want to be gone for a year, we need a pretty direct route. That means the Interstates. Yuck! 

We don't usually drive on the Interstates.  This is crazy! 

 

We had been pretty lucky traffic-wise so far, but today we hit the mother-load of tractor trailers.  Combine that with a fatal accident, and we were not getting anywhere fast!  It is so much easier to endure traffic jams in a motorhome, though.  You have comfortable seats, great views out of the huge windshield, cold drinks, snacks, and even a toilet a few feet away should the need occur!   At one point, as we were inching along, the “need” occurred to Norm very badly.

Luckily, before we left, I had gotten into the driver’s seat in a local parking lot, and learned what to do in an emergency.  “Emergency” can be defined as many things, evidently. Today, Norm called his need for the bathroom an official “emergency”.  So when the traffic came to a complete stop, he put the emergency brake on and we changed positions.  Oh Lord, I was nervous!  Of course, as luck would have it, the traffic began to move and I had to drive this huge monstrosity- hitting the brake a little too hard a few times as I got the feel of it. Hearing grunts and a couple of curses from the bathroom, it was clear that Norm was suffering the consequences of my lack of experience. Oops.  Luckily it was only for a few miles before the traffic halted again and I could gladly give the wheel back to Norm.

Driving this big RV is really scary!

What happened to me? I thought as we age we not only got just older, but wiser; more clever.  I used to drive our other RV ( it was 9 feet shorter, but hey, what’s 9 feet? ) and in the past I had the courage to tow very expensive show horses.  Now the thought of driving 65 feet of rolling machinery makes me a quivering mess!  It really hit home the need to get behind the wheel more often in case a real emergency happens but I dread even the thought of it.  

 

We got one of the better sites on the water.  Not the best view, but very flat and reasonably easy to get into. 

 

We finally arrived at McKinney Campground  another Army Corps of Engineering gem located on Lake Altoona, Georgia. This is a wooded campground on very hilly terrain, with many of the sites being small and quite unlevel, but those water-view sites makes this place so special. We didn’t like this place nearly as much as the last, though.  It had a lot of boat traffic, roads were narrow, sites were closer and the water was a lot further below our site. We do love getting into campgrounds that make us feel like “camping”, though.  I use the term very loosely, because the comforts afforded us in our motorhome do not come close to what the term “camping” conjures up!  No complaints, that’s for sure! 

We booked this campsite in the middle of no-where primarily because of the unbelievable low cost of the campsites, ( $13 with the magical powers of the National Senior Park Pass ) and the fact that it was along our route.  Not know when the service center could fit us in, and how long service might take, we needed to have reservations somewhere that we could then set a date to have all reservations going forward start.  At 13.00 a night, if we didn’t get there all week not much money would be lost. We only lost one night.

Thursday, April 27^th - 

The forecast was 90 percent chance of rain, and the skies looked too threatening to do much outdoors.  We certainly were not willing to go on that busy highway to sightsee ( if there was anything to see ).  Couldn’t kayak due to weather, and the park here was extremely hilly for us “flat-landers” to enjoy. So we just did a few chores and took it easy.  Resting up for what’s to come.

Friday, April 28^th –

Almost like an RV resort only wetter!

Friends from our previous neighborhood and fellow RV’ers recently sold their big, gorgeous motorhome and purchased an ever bigger and definitely gorgeous house boat here in Georgia.

Seeing that they were a mere 1 ½ hour drive away we decided to go visit, catch up on each other’s lives, and see what house-boating was all about.  Lois and Gerry showed us their new home, served lunch, and gave us a tour of the new summer neighborhood on Lake Lanier. 

This houseboat is gorgeous!  Stepping inside you would never know you were not in a beautiful home.  Just outside the doors, one can enjoy the heavenly breezes, and a fabulous bar on the top deck for socializing. 

Saturday April 29,2017

We decided to take advantage of a special event at nearby Red Top Mountain State Park.  They were celebrating the mining of iron 170 years ago. 

The park ranger explained how they mined for the iron and left this huge "bowl" in the land. 

 
We took a tractor driven hay ride tour while the young and nervous park ranger explained the history of the area and showed us the areas hidden in the woods where the iron was mined.  It was a pleasant time, and quite informative.

We enjoyed learning about the mining for iron in the era as we took this enjoyable hayride to the different mining sites. 

 

After that we went to a neighboring campground so I could get a National Park Senior Pass.  Becoming 62 years old a few weeks ago I officially “ came of age “ and for a mere $10.00 will have a life time pass to National Parks and certain other Federal properties!  It also gets us on tours for half price in national parks.

We both did some chores.  Norm polished the chrome mirrors to a blinding shine!

Norm and I decided to have a quiet afternoon doing some chores and perhaps lounge around and take a nice nap.  As we drove to our site we were happy to see all our neighboring campers were gone!  Yeah!  A peaceful afternoon!  Not!  Our immediate neighbors left their two dogs who incessantly barked ALL afternoon.  After a couple of hours, I didn’t need a nap, but a drink!  I can’t believe how inconsiderate some people can be! I really wanted to say something to them, but was afraid they might retaliate in the middle of the night. ( perhaps key the vehicle, or put a nail under a tire, or worse. After all, they have proven themselves to be not very nice people ). 

Most evenings we have watched an episode of “Nashville” to wind-down the night.