In the Mountains

On Sunday afternoon Randy surprised me by saying he wanted us to plan a spur of the moment trip to the mountains.  He had been told that the job he had planned for the next week had to be postponed because the building was being used for voting and he had so much work booked that he didn’t know when we would have another chance to get away.  I got on the computer and started searching for mountain cabins and chalets.  Most places were already booked (or out of our price range).  We found one cabin that looked really nice, was available, and was only $99 a night! Three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a game room and a hot tub for that price!   We reserved the cabin and left for our little vacation the next morning! (By the way, the priced was raised to $250 per night the day after we left) .

It was wonderful!  Just the getaway we have been needing.  We had lots of great times while we were away.  The highlight of the trip, and the main reason we went, was tubing down the Chattahoochee River. It was so much fun that John Charles chose to do it 2 days in a row.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures of that since we didn’t want to take a chance of ruining our camera or phones and we forgot to buy a disposable water camera.  We have lots of photos from the rest of the trip though!

The cabin

 

Randy and Me near the spot where he asked me to marry him 21 years ago!

 

John Charles

 

Zach

 

The boys gem mining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Charles at the water park

 

The guys in Helen, Ga

 

Randy and Me in Helen

 

Our Old Time Photo

 

Zach playing pool

 

John Charles

 

Randy at our favorite restaurant on the river

 

In the hot tub

 

Last minutes at the cabin

Beach Trip

We enjoyed a week long getaway to Florida.  We did have several sunny days, but the wind made it cool on the beach most days.

 

We had a great time and look forward to returning in the Spring when we’ll  be able to get in the water!

On Walton’s Mountain

Randy is now working a job that requires a lot of travel.  We don’t enjoy having him gone, but the good news is that from time to time Zach or I will be able to ride along.  Last week he had work orders throughout Virginia and wanted me to go on the road with him.

 

Before I go any further, let me remind you all that we love The Walton’s television series.  We gave up regular television about 10 years ago and only watch DVD’s so we buy the complete season series of our favorite family shows.  We love The Little House on the Prairie and have watched those shows over and over through the years.  But for the last few years The Walton’s has become our favorite and we watch an episode just about every night.

The Walton’s were from Virginia and while Randy and I were on our trip through Virginia we would see things that reminded us of certain episodes. We were very excited when we saw the Rockfish River (which is the River the Walton’s frequently talked about fishing on)!  When we saw the Rockfish River sign we had to stop and walk along the banks and take a few photos. 

We knew that we must be close to the real Walton’s Mountain, which is actually Schuyler, VA.  As we were driving to Charlottesville, we were talking about the trips the Walton’s took to Charlottesville to see a movie, go shopping, to the bus stop, etc.  Then we saw a sign for Schulyer, VA and the Walton’s Museum and knew that we had to take a detour.

The museum was closed for winter, but we enjoyed the other sites.  We saw Earl Hamner’s boyhood home (Earl created the Walton’s and the character John Boy was inspired by his own life). We bought a few postcards from a country store and then went across the street to the post office to have them post marked Walton’s Mountain.  When the postal worker learned that we had traveled from the Atlanta area and were big Walton’s fan, she called the museum owner to see if she would open the museum for us.  Unfortunately, she said she couldn’t because she was at the doctor’s office with her husband.  She said she would be glad to open it for us the next day though.  We would have loved that, but we were just passing through so we’ll have to stop in some other time.

We also stopped at a convenience store that was situated where the old Ike Godsey’s Store had been located. The entire trip was very enjoyable, and without a doubt the detour to Walton’s Mountain was the highlight for us!

When we make it back to the area we hope to have time to visit the Natural Bridge.  We didn’t try to squeeze that into this trip!