3-13-17  back up to the cabin!

Last night when we got back to our apartment and unpacked, I realized I didn't have all the clothes I had taken up there!  So Ken called the manager of the cabin and told them I left some stuff there.  Guess I was so excited to get outside and take pictures of the snow before it melted that I forgot to finish packing!  Anyway, the manager found my stuff and we told him we would come back up for it today.  It was still really cold and suppose to rain, but it was only about a 1 1/2 hour drive through beautiful countryside, so why not.  Now that we're retired, we can do stuff like this!  So we found another route that was about 2 minutes longer, and saw some different countryside.
Even saw a reminder of long ago---

 And another painted egg---this one by a high school.

3-12-17  time to go back home:

Woke up to a surprise---snow!  It was rather pretty, though, and not enough to cause problems driving.  In fact it was melting by the time we left.  So I got up and took pictures right away.
This one was from our bedroom sliding glass doors.

Then I took a short walk around the property, again.
 Our cabin (River Run) and all our cars.

3-11-17  a day in the cabin:

After a really mild winter, it decided to turn cold this weekend!  It actually worked out well, though.  We were able to really enjoy the hot tub, the fire pit, and even just hunkering down in the cabin all weekend.
We started today off with a great breakfast casserole and blueberry banana bread made by Carol. Then a lot of visiting.  Carol and I even spent a lot of time discussing the upcoming baby shower we're planning for Angie and Josh.  They have finally finished all the stuff to be approved for adopting a baby.  Now they have to wait for a baby to come available.  In the mean time, we figured we'd throw them a shower.  It'll be in St. Louis at the end of next month.  Yep, another trip to St. Louis is in my near future!
Even Max (Carol and Darryl's dog) joined in the visiting.

 I managed to get in the hot tub about 5 times in the 2 days we were there. 

3-10-17 on to Ellijay for the weekend:

A few months ago, Angie started planning a weekend to a cabin in Ellijay with Josh's folks and us.  We had gone with them once before (back when they lived here about 5 years ago) and looked forward to going again.  It was a fun weekend then, and it was a fun weekend this time.
So on the 10th, Ken and I took off early and enjoyed the ride through the countryside to the northwest Georgia area.
 One of the many horses we saw along the way.  There sure are a lot of horses in Georgia!  Wonder if this is a descendant of an Indians pinto horse.

 love seeing spring beginning to arrive.

3-8-17  Gibbs Garden!

20,000,000 daffodils!!!!  That's what they advertise.  So I HAD to go see for myself!  I LOVE daffodils!  I think subconsciously I started liking them because they're the first color we'd see after the dreadfully long dull St. Louis winters.
I had read about a garden north of SR20 between Buford and I-75, so I decided to look it up when we were on our way back from Knoxville a couple days ago.  That's when I saw the pictures of the daffodils and the claim that they have the most daffodils of anywhere in the USA.  Unfortunately, they're closed on Mondays, so we couldn't stop then (about a 20 minute ride out of our way).  But I texted Angie and asked her if she wanted to go with me later in the week.  She said yes, so we decided on today.   I wasn't sure if they would have many daffodils still blooming since it's been really warm this winter and they bloomed early, but my fears were unwarranted.  (Good thing we went when we did!  The whole next week we were hit with the coldest air of the winter with temps down in the 20 a few days!)
Our ride would have been a bit shorter if they hadn't been painting lines on the new part of SR20.  We were stuck at the light for 3 rotations before they let us go.

  The ride from Buford was about an hour, but it's through countryside, so it is pretty. 

3-6-17 heading back to Georgia:

Monday rolled around and the kids went back to work, so we hit the road again.  Love the views of the mountains from I-75 in Tennessee!

 some interesting views on the highway, too---such as this load on a tractor trailer.

3-5-17  back into the Smokey's:

I love riding up into the mountains, so on Sunday we headed into the Smokey's.   I was even able to fill some more of my photo addiction of unique barns along the way.