Summer 2015 - Georgia Camping

Summer 2015 – Georgia

Picasa picture link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109680126152114489330/Summer2015NCarolinaGeorgia?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCI6A6__riv_xXA&feat=directlink

Saturday, June 20^th – June 22^nd

Stephen Foster State Park, Georgia (Okeefenokee Swamp)
We left home on Saturday, June 20^th, to head north toward the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. The first night was just a one night stop to get us closer to Georgia. We stayed at a wonderful RV park in Lake City, FL. It was really nice and reasonably priced. We were even able to get a pizza delivered to our site!

The next day we headed north to the Okeefenokee Wildlife Refuge, a.k.a. Swamp, at the Stephen B. Foster State Park in Georgia. We were one of the few RVs in the park, no wonder it was over 96 degrees in the shade and humid. We picked a nice site and setup, only to realize that the flying bugs (horse flies, mosquitos, etc.) were off the hook. Kurt did kayak up the swamp into the headwaters of the Suwannee River. He was concerned about the aggressiveness and the vast numbers of gators there. This scared me and I decided it wasn’t worth the paddle, especially in this heat.  We had planned to take a boat tour in the swamp, but one of the rangers told us the boat tours were not being run this time of year, due to the heat. Well, we found out late the next day that was a lie and I was really not happy that I missed this tour. We decided it was not worth staying there the 3 nights we had planned, so we got a refund for one night.

Tuesday, June 23^rd – Thursday, June 26^th

Hard Labor Creek State Park, Georgia
On Tuesday, the 23^rd, we headed north to our next destination, Hard Labor Creek State Park. This park is southwest of Athens Georgia. We called ahead and they said there were plenty of sites available for us to arrive a day early. After arriving, selecting our site and getting settled, we checked out the park to see the layout and decide what to do the next 3 days. Our main interest here was the mountain biking, which we enjoyed all 3 days. There are 16 miles of beginner to advanced trails. Due to the mountain terrain and wooded forest, it was a challenging and fun course. The next day we drove into the nearby small town of Rutledge. The area is a step back in time, with everyday great people and stores. Our lunch was at the Caboose café. It was delicious and while there we were told of a Friday night concert in the town square/park. The musicians were a local and also a Nashville recording artist. We took our chairs, coolers and dogs with us to enjoy the gorgeous evening of musical talent! We really enjoyed our time at the park and Rutledge.