Our month of October in Blairsville, Georgia and the surrounding area has been a wonderful homecoming. We were anxious to reunite with our good friends and to enjoy the splendors of Fall. It has been all that we expected it to be. We will be excited to resume our travels and to reunite with our children and grandchildren in Florida, but at the same time it will be a bittersweet parting on November 3rd. Let's talk about what John and I have done since we arrived.

Our anchor point in Blairsville is at the Lake Nottely RV Park owned by our friends Dick and Sandy Bell. Chuck and MaryLou are the managers and they go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable. It is a beautiful campground located on Lake Nottely.  We highly recommend this park. If you have never visited this area, you should.

Two couples who were here last year are also parked near us.  Here is a pic of Tom, Bonnie and their nephew.  Tom and Bonnie will also be in Okeechobee, Florida when we get there.

As always, we have enjoyed our friends and the north Georgia mountains immensely. We have been amazed almost on a daily basis with the changes we have seen in the colors of the leaves. The red and burgundy's are gorgeous and when the sunlight hits the yellow leaves they sparkle like gold. It is now October the 16th and it seems like the transformation is moving fast forward. Our friend Cecile Doughty tells me the peak should hit close to the end of the month. Every year Fall brings renewed excitement for the overall beauty, cool breezes, and perfect sunny days. We have included a few pictures of the area for your enjoyment.

What else do we like about this area? The friendly people and their southern hospitality, real southern scratch biscuits, many delicious vegetables, barbecue, clean air, the wildlife, the quiet beauty, waterfalls, parks, etc. We also enjoy, like many others, the beautiful winding roads with names like Booger Hollow (our favorite),  Scataway, Sweetgum, Bugscuffle, Happy Hollow, Chicken Pit, Hoot Owl Hollow, Frog Pond, Mulky Gap, Bent Tree, etc. The north Georgia mountains are also a favorite destination of bikers and bicyclists. Two gentlemen parked next to us at the Lake Nottely RV Park drove 300 miles in just one day on their Harley's enjoying the roads and scenery.

We were thrilled to have our friends the Holders spend almost three days with us in Blairsville. We did our best to treat them to some of our favorite local restaurants; such as The Hole In The Wall, The Biscuit House, Pappy's Riverside and Steve's Steakhouse. The Hole In The Wall was Don's favorite for breakfast. Based on their comments they felt the southern fare was absolutely delicious. On their last evening our friends Pappy and Cecile Doughty came over with a feast fit for a king. Cecile had cooked all of the food for their grandson's wedding and we were treated to appetizers, salad, the best pork      roast I have ever tasted, vegetables and dessert. We had a wonderful evening and I think it was a nice send off for Liane, Don and Tommy Holder.

John has been involved with Pappy Doughty (K5PRE) and Tom Lourigan (WA4RBM) in working on the Ham Radio repeater that is located about 3,100 feet on Rocky Top Mountain. They have made many trips up to the repeater location over the past few weeks in a effort to fix a few problems that occurred with the equipment, so that they could get the repeater back in full service. As of mid October it seems to be working just fine. 

Our friend, John Mullinix, is a student at North Georgia Tech in Blairsville. The college has a restaurant on premise that is open to students, staff and a few invited guests. John, Pappy Doughty and myself were invited to join John for a meal prepared and presented by the cooking classes. The charge was only $5.00 for soup, salad, entree, dessert and drink. The menu choices consisted of the following soups: cream of broccoli, chicken and rice, onion and liver dumpling, Cucumber salad was served and we had a choice of two entrees: shrimp in dill sauce with mixed vegetables and Zurich diced veal in a white wine sauce with thinly sliced potatoes. Austrian chocolate cups with tiny cinnamon star cookies was to die for. It was the best and richest chocolate we have ever tasted. The meal was one of the most delicious we have ever eaten and in a restaurant it would have been priced at  least $40.00, not including the dessert. The interesting thing is that the student chefs served their individual dishes and we were asked to complete evaluations of the food quality and presentation. We won't forget this experience any time soon and we hope we have the privilege of going there again.

We also visited with two Winnebago clubs that we were once members of; Gone with the Winnies and the Metro Winnies. On Saturday the 14th we drove to just north of Dillard, Georgia to Rabun Gap         and visited with our club friends for about eight hours. We had such a great time. We found Howard and Catherine Griffin first who invited us into their home. While enjoying our visit with them, we noticed other members and soon the reunion moved outside where the group gradually grew. John and Polly Davis  took me on a tour of their new Brave, which was just beautiful, and told us they were going full time. We were also delighted to share hugs and conversation with  Esther and WC Stanley,  Tom and Betty McHaney, Hubert and Jo  Blankenship, John and Barbara Cain, David and Gail Nye, Walter and Delores Matthews and all the other folks who we might have seen but not talked to.  This group included an old cyberfriend, Kathy Champs and her husband, who have an RV lot in Blairsville and who frequent the RV America BB.

We had dinner, great conversation and laughs with our friends the Cokes (Albert, Joy and Megan). They also treated us to a scrumptious dinner. We ate outside surrounded by an assortment of Winnebagos and mountains adorned with Fall colors. We have missed our friends and it was such a joy to catch up on everyone's adventures over the past year. As we were leaving the club house, a full moon appeared directly in front of us positioned just above a mountain peak. What a spectacular sight.  The sky was almost clear with the moon  highlighting the mountains just enough, so that we could see their magnificent outlines crowned by an occasional star. The fact that I was holding hands with my sweet husband made it a perfect moment.

    We played golf at the Butternut Golf Course, which is very close to downtown Blairsville. At one time we were members with a family membership of $350 per year and a charge of $8 for 18 holes including a cart. I know, it is an unbelievable price. You would think even more so if you could see the course. It is gorgeous and challenging. It is very hilly and in some places quite steep. The view in the Fall is breathtaking. If you are not a member, it is $32 for 18 holes. We really enjoyed playing there again and look forward to its challenges next October. 

One of our first observations coming into town last month was how much Blairsville has grown since we left here last winter.  New buildings are popping up all over and many new areas are being leveled for more.  If this continues, one day we will come back and Blairsville will be flat like Florida!

Today is the last day we will have a phone line for a while, so we are going to stop our log here and get October posted on the web site while we still have dialtone.

Besides, we are afflicted with Ron Hofmeister's disease, itchy  tires.  It's time to move on and see what lies around the next corner.  The Rolling Home needs to get rolling.

Libby and John
November 2, 2000

Diesel Fuel in October    $0
Camping Fees in October  $310