More of Our Helen Ga.Trip

I realized that I didn't even finish posting
about our Helen Ga. trip a few weeks ago.

We have a 2 bedroom condo and we visit once a year.
This is the view from our balcony.
Behind those trees is a beautiful pool. 
We had beautiful weather.  There is a clubhouse and we
are right on the river.  There is a bridge right down the road from
our condo that crosses the river.  I walked down to that bridge almost everyday.
It's not that far but I enjoyed the walk.  The river is beautiful.

We go with our BFF's and I asked her if I could put this picture on my blog
to show how creative she is.  I almost forgot to show you this. 
I go to JoAnn's and buy a jar to hold my yarn.
She made one from a coffee mate container.
Isn't she smart??/

And look at her dish cloths that she made!!
Aren't they beautiful?

There are not many places to eat out there that time of year so
we cook a lot.  This is a casserole that Vicki made and it was so delicious.
She is suppose to share the recipe with me. When she does I will let you know.

Crazy me!
I took the picture of my chicken enchiladas before they were cooked!!!

I got up one morning and cooked the guys bacon and biscuits  (canned - lol!)
before they headed out to go fishing!
Then I drove them to the place they wanted to be dropped off.
Normally they drive themselves
where they are going but they wanted to walk up the river that day.
Then I picked them up later on that day.

I stood on a bridge and got this picture. 
It was so beautiful that morning.

We just got home a few days ago from a different trip and when
I got home I found a box at my door. 
I opened the box and found this from one of my sweet
blogging sisters,  Karen!  You also need to visit  her web site!
She makes the most awesome things and has them for sale!  Go check it out!
It's so funny.  I can talk to my blogging sisters more than I can anyone!
She knew that I was going through a trial and she sent me this angel and the
sweetest card.  I will treasure this always. 
It made my day! 
Thank you Karen!!!

Today I am thankful for.....my blogging sisters!!!

Is This The Way It Happens?

If you saw my last post you saw where we visited
Fred's Famous Peanuts and these
life like dolls were sitting around everywhere.

I walked up to this one and she was the first one to wave at me.
Scared me to death!

I think I saw her in my mirror today! lol

I didn't even remember that they had a man until I looked at my pictures.
So they get old too, huh?

She looks like she is ready to go to church!

The man that owns the place told us that this is what Cabbage Patch dolls look like when they get old!
I thought that was so cute!

Today I am thankful for.........senior discounts!!!

A Special Week In Helen Ga.

Every year for the past 11 years we have spent
a week with our Best Friends in Helen Ga.
We each have our own timeshare condo that we stay in.

We visited  Freds Famous Peanut House to get some boiled peanuts!
I thought this was so cute. Their Gas tank looked like a cow!

These are our Bestest friends, Vicki & Eddie!
We have been friends over 30 years!
We don't have to do anything to enjoy being with each other.

See the woman sitting in the chair? 
If we would walk over there all of the sudden her hand would raise and wave at us.
It scared us to death. Then we realized that the man at the peanut stand was doing it.
They were so cute.

See the sign?
Please Park your butts here!
Vicki took them serious!!!

Love this picture!!!

On the side of the peanut house is this water wheel. 
It is so beautiful.

I walked in the store and took a few pictures.
We come here every year but I always see something different.

Of course I had to see this armadillo!
We have these at "our little Hilton"!
Scary looking!

I want one of these! I don't know where I would put it
but I have always wanted one. 

The people that own the store live right next door.
This is their porch. I just thought it was so cute.

We always have a lot of fun with our friends. 
We didn't go a lot of places because a couple of us didn't feel good.
I am still adjusting to my splints for my TMJ so I wasn't the greatest company, but I was just thankful to be able to be there with our best friends.  We have a close friend that is going through major health problems and it makes my little complaints seem as nothing.

TODAY I AM THANKFUL.........that we were able to go!

We Give In

Every night after a day of fishing in Helen Ga., we would meet our best buds and play Canasta. We give in!!! The guys are the best. There is a reason that us girls (women) only won 1 Canasta game the whole week!!!

Look at Vicki........she is freezing to death!!!

Look at me........I am burning up and fanning myself!!

Why do men not have to go through this hot and cold stuff? Its just not fair!! But we have to admit our sweet hubby's really do know how to play cards!!! We had so much fun! We can't wait until next year!

A Beautiful Day

This is the first time that we have ever brought the boat with us for our week in Helen.

We found the most beautiful lake and we enjoyed it so much.

This new dock leads to a campground that was so neat.

We read that it is a 32 acre state park.

What we loved about it besides the beauty was the cleanliness.

I wish I had took pictures of the campground.

There is a stream designated just for the young (11 and under) and the older (65 and older) with fish. It was beautiful. It had seats, a swing and a bridge. I just loved it. When we got back to our condo we read that they also have hiking trails and fishing for the disabled.

The name of this is Moccasin Creek State Park.

This state park borders Lake Burton. This is where we were going.

Oh it is beautiful and so clean. We need to learn the lake to fish but we will after a few times.

It was gorgeous.

We were sitting in a swing on the bank while our sweet hubbys were getting the boat ready to go. We didn't get that many fish but we had a ball.

What would we do without our sweet guys!
The day passed by so quickly but we knew that we had to get back so we could play Canasta with these guys. They have been on a winning streak so we were ready to take on the challenge again.

Can you see these fish? They are trout.

Right next to this campground and part of this state park is a trout hatchery.

One of the guys saw me taking pictures and invited me to watch them load up.

They scoop up the trout into this bag and then weigh them.

Then they dump them into a tank on to the truck.
Each June about 400,000 4 inch fingerling trout, 4-6 months old arrive from Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery. The trout are grown for about 9 months until they are approx. 9 inches long. The trout are loaded on to trucks specifically for this and transported starting in mid march through labor day to streams and lakes.

I tried to watch to see how many pounds of fish they were getting. I think it was 50 lbs for each tank. I asked them where they were taking the fish and they said that they stock all over Georgia. I thought this was so interesting. This hatchery used to be in charge of the campground but it became too much to take care of so the state took it over and made it a state park. Lake Burton was one of the first lakes in the U.S. created specifically for power generation. The 2700 acre lake was created in 1913 by completing the dam. This lake is surrounded by beautiful mountains. I honestly believe this is one of the prettiest lakes that I have ever seen. We will be coming back here. We all loved it!

Fun With Family & Friends

We have so much fun when we go on our once a year trip to Helen Ga. with our best friends. None of us require too much. Just give us some good food, and a fishing rod, and some playing cards. We all love to look at the flowers that are blooming and take walks. We love to be bored. It doesn't bother us at all.
We have been best friends for over 30 years with Vicki & Eddie.
That is a long time!
We can go months without seeing each other but when we do it is like we saw each other yesterday. That is true friendship. We are so blessed to have this special trip every year to be with them. We laugh so much. I sure have needed that lately.
Laughter is good medicene.

I caught 7 fish that day. It was fun. Notice my waders and my vest? I have it all now!

We were so tickled when Vicki & Eddies son joined us for a night.

Here they are sitting up at Bettys General Store.

The honeymooners also came to join us for a weekend.

Maranda finally caught a fish!!!

Here we are working a word search puzzle.

Granny would be proud!

And here we are playing Canasta. The honeymooners had never played before.

Eddie tried to teach them but me and Vicki kept chiming in with other rules and I think it confused them more. We just can't stay quiet for some reason!! Ha!

The honeymooners only played 2 hands and gave it up. Vicki & I were on a team and our sweet hubbys were on a team. We played until after 1 a.m. which is late for us but of course it is vacation, right? Who won???? We won't even go there. Tonight is another night!!! Get ready Boys!!!

A "Me" Day

I work so hard all the time that I decided that when I had the chance I was going to take a "Me" Day. Do any of you ever want to do that?

My sweet hubby took me with him on a working trip so while he worked I took advantage of the time and did nothing!!!
Well, as you can tell, I did something!!!

This is all I needed a nice fluffy bed, my computer, a coke & candy and a t.v.!
I was in heaven.

We stayed in Helen Ga. which is one of our favorite places to stay. It is centrally
located in the middle of the territory that he travels. He told me to do whatever I wanted to do. He told me to go walking downtown or by the river. Did I? NO! I was right where I wanted to be for the day. I had dreamed of this day.
I have a lot of people that are dependent on me. You know how it is with Moms & Grans. I just wanted a day that I had nothing to do and I got it!

This is what I saw outside of my window. Wow.

It is like taking a deep breath! A breath of fresh air!

I needed that so much. I bet my poor hubby wishes he had a "me" day. All he does is work too.

But he gave me this day. I am already ready for another one!
I am so blessed.