Desoto Falls

This weekend we escaped the heat and traffic and general schedule of Atlanta and made our way to the falls. We scouted out the site using a guide we picked up a year ago called 'The Best Tent Camping in Georgia'. Everything sounds great, secluded, near water, hikes, mountains. As always happens when we decide to go camping.. rain was in the forecast. We haven't had much (rain) in Georgia this year (wildfires in the south, etc.) and so Lauren and I thought we would do the region a favor and do our rain dance also known as a trip to the north Georgia hills.

We left on Friday and set off up 400 into the the abyss of rush hour. This is when the rain started... on and off until we arrived. Our friends Elizabeth and Adam joined us. We had great weather for our first night and into our second morning when we went for a hike to the two waterfalls. Then the rain started to pour down but luckily we had a tarp rigged over the picnic table and we could escape the storm and play some cards while it passed. A&E had to leave on Saturday to return home but we stayed up there. This was also Mali's first time out camping and she was a bit skiddish. Especially when some new Korean SCAD students set up camp a few sites down and decided that they'd just stroll through our site unannounced to look for wood.

After all the rain, Lauren and I headed back to the waterfalls to see if anything had changed with the rain but it was just about the same, except we climbed all the way to the top. All and all it was a pretty good weekend. In the end, we were able to get away and enjoy some time outdoors. One thing about the site is that it lies along a road that has been finished since our guide was written and is now a thoroughfare for motorcycles and semis. A bit loud but relaxed and scenic. On the way home we stopped by the wineries which are a must for anyone in Dahlonega.

Frogtown is my favorite but on this trip we also stopped by
Blackstock for our first time. The service was a bit slow but the view is amazing. Both looked like a great place to take a mother for brunch on Mother's Day.

When we finally arrived home we found that the rain had not only hit us but had also smashed the city; particularly our part of town. Lauren walked into the backyard to find that the gutter had been pulled off the house. Now we're trying to deal with it. It looks like the gutter company (who shall, for the moment, remain nameless) did not fix the gutter to the sturdiest studs and only fastened it to the facia. At the same time it appears that the people who re-did the house used finishing nails to attach the facia to the house. Stay tuned.