Heading to chillier weather - Day 8

October 19

We are up and out the door on our way to Hiawassee, GA to visit my cousins Charles and Rebecca Camp.

Good day for driving, clear and chilly. We arrive in the town with no surprises, the the GPS takes us up Frog Pond Road. It resembles a mountain goat path in the Pyrenees! I was silent the entire drive so Rhoda could concentrate on navigating the hellish turns, uphill gradient narrow road and no guard rails. When we got to the top, we encountered a DEAD END!

I phoned Charles and we were informed we had turned one left too soon, so BACK DOWN we went. Me still quiet except for talking to Charles on the cell phone speaker.

Despite its many twists and turns, Ramey Mountain Road was not quite as harrowing as it was wide enough for a white line divider and had guard rails. Rhoda was breathing a bit easier until we came to the Camp's driveway. It's a 19 degree up gradient with two turns. We each almost cried. Rhoda is a trooper, she and her car made it to the piece of flat land at the top and we breathed for the first time in several minutes.

I had a rude awakening. For decades when the Camps spoke of "our place in Hiawassee," I envisioned this rural cabin with a loft from a small childhood memory of a trip. The reality is a beautiful home of over 3000 square feet with a great deck and a fabulous view of Chatuge Lake. See the read marker to your left for the site of their home.

After our visit, we headed back down the driveway and sped on toward Helen, over yet another mountain. This was a much less stressful trip. We arrived in Helen to find Oktoberfest in full swing. We met Rhoda's friends, lunch under the bridge at The Troll Cafe, walked a bit, shopped and bit and headed home basically pleased with our day.

As we drove over another mountain, we passed a sign noting the Appalachian Trail was up head. We turned off and walked a very, very tiny bit on the trail, just so we could say we'd done it.  We decided this was almost worth the harrowing experiences of Frog Pond Road and the Camp driveway.

We got home and fell into bed, read to head back to Florida, were friends informed us the 90's weather had finally vanished.