Thankful Thursday, back from the mountains.

It’s Thankful Thursday again over at Truth for the Journey. I have a huge post today since I have been away. If you don’t want to read it all, just read highlighted portions and skip the rest. Of course you will be missing all my usual humor and I know you won’t want to do that.

The first thing on my list this week is that I am thankful for a great vacation. We had a great time in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina.

Our trip:

We stayed in a little town called Dillard Georgia. There isn’t much in Dillard but it is very close to some places you may want to visit and it is a very nice little town. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It is a little hotel that only has about 50 rooms. There were quite a few people staying there on Saturday night but after that there were only about 5 other rooms occupied. Nice and quiet, just like I like it. This hotel has an indoor pool and hot tub and they offer a full complimentary breakfast. They offered a mean biscuits and gravy and some other great items every day. That alone saved us about 30 dollars a day.

Day one, we took the short 15 minute drive up to Franklin NC to visit a ruby mine. We chose Masons Ruby Mine because they advertise that they are unsalted. That means that they don’t add any pretty rocks to the dirt to make you think you found something good. And they didn’t do that, believe me. I panned most of the day and only found a few rubies. I think the biggest one that I found was about a half carrot. That is what most people found during the day. There were about 30 of us panning for rubies. One local man did find a nice 12.7 carrot ruby a few minutes after he arrived. Talk about lucky. He arrived about 10:00, got a bucket of dirt and while talking with the owner found a really nice ruby. They made a really big deal about the find too. That kept everyone optimistic about finding a nice one too but no one else did.



One thing my son noted was that almost all the workers were missing most of their teeth. So maybe instead of a ruby mine this would be a better gold mine. (For the Dental Maven anyway.) Talk about land of opportunity. Get going Maven, there’s gold in them thair hills.

Day two we visited Tallulah falls and gorge. This very picturesque part makes one stand in awe over the wonderful beauty that God created.
So number 2 on my list is: I am thankful for all the beautiful things that God created including Tallulah Falls. I highly recommend visiting these falls if you are ever in the area.





As an added note, this was the site of some of the scenes from the movie Deliverance. Perhaps some of the workers from the ruby mine were in that movie. I'm just guessing.

While in the park, we took the long walk down the stairs to a suspension bridge over the gorge. I love swinging bridges and I was able to get this bridge really rocking. (Much to this dismay of my family and some other passerby’s) It is almost 400 steps down to the bridge so if you go down there, just remember; what goes down, must come up.


The climb wasn’t that bad though since I have been getting my legs in shape at my spinning class. Last night I had another awesome class thanks to our inspirational leader Mary. She again pushed us to new limits during the class.

So number 3 is that I am thankful for a great spinning instructor Mary who keeps us motivated and pushing ourselves. At the end of the class last night, she said: “let’s all do a few pushups to limber up our shoulders a bit.” I wanted to wimp out but all the girls did it so my macho ego wouldn’t let me. I dropped and gave her 10.

Number 4 on my list is that I am thankful for our boys in blue. I wouldn’t do their job if they paid me well and that job doesn’t pay well enough in my opinion. Our local policemen do a great job doing things like fighting crime and writing speeding tickets (right Mary), but when it comes to directing traffic, let’s just say, they leave a lot to be desired.

Last night on my way home, I got to the intersection of Main Road and Highway 17. All of a sudden a police car pulled right in front of me, blocking my path. Three other policemen showed up and began directing traffic. At first I thought the light wasn’t working but that wasn’t the case. The simply wouldn’t let our lane of traffic continue onto Main Road. They did however let the people on highway 17 go that way. Confusion set in and after sitting there for about 15 minutes, I decided to turn right and do a U-turn and get into that traffic. It worked and soon I was moving toward home again.

After crossing the bridge onto Johns Island, I was again instructed to turn off of Main road by a police woman. I still didn’t know why so I made a short detour and came back to Main Road and continued on. So did a lot of other people. This was making no sense at all. Then up ahead I saw enough blue lights to light up a small city. The first policeman to pass us, instructed us to pull off the road so we did. That policeman was followed by about 20 motorcycle police, then some other police cars, some unidentified cars, more police, more cars and finally another long string of police cars. Can anyone guess what/who this was?


Some guy named Joe B, who was leaving from his vacation on Seabrook Island. Apparently while we vacationed in the mountains, the Vice President and his family were vacationing here. I only have one question. Does this count as South Carolina’s stimulus package? I’m just asking.

The #5 thing I am thankful for is my children who have been helping out around the house this summer. Unfortunately, school starts for them next week. The party is over boys. For them anyway.

We are already thinking about taking another trip to the mountains. It is only 5 ½ hours by car which is almost a staycation. Close enough anyway. At least we didn’t have to take a private jet to get to our destination. Ahem.

Have a great day,
Greg

Comments

Deb said…
So glad you had a great vacation and time of rest!!! Glad to have you back!!
We are looking forward to our own vacation in 2 weeks!!!! Much needed....believe me!! :o)
Smiles!!
Deb
DEfinitely looks like a wonderful time. I'd love to go there and visit those places and hopefully Biden could find somewhwere else to vacation.

Glad you're back, you were missed.
Kelly said…
I would not be doing those stairs for anything. It the height, not the exercise. And that bridge - NO WAY!

Great list today, I read every word. I couldn't risk missing a good joke.

The part of Joe B was the craziest thing! Only you, Greg, could end up in the middle of a secret service processional.
B His Girl said…
So glad this was a refreshing time. The falls look beautiful. I have only been the Carolina's once for She Speaks with P31 ministries. lol on looking like a crazy blogger! My hubbie doesn't get it. I too am working my way out of my rut. They are easy to fall into but it takes work to get out of. Glad your are back taking care of the general store. B
larkswing said…
A great break and change of scenery! Tallulah Gorge has been a camping spot for us in the past - just love that area and have some great memories from there. Thanks for bringing them back to mind! :)
Heidi said…
This vacation looks terrific! Love the falls and the bit about the miners' teeth. Some parts of the story made my stomach fall to my feet inside my body- this is how I feel about heights. I cannot even go up into a lighthouse for the tour at this certain place in Northern Michigan, without getting sick.

Welcome home.

Heidi
It looks as if you had a great vacation with your family! I am hoping inthe near future that my family can take a large vacation as well and go on a cruise or something.

Hope you feel relaxed after your well deserved vacation!

Keep the Faith,

Steve
Carmen said…
Beautiful photos, as usual. Looks like you had a wonderful time. The place you were mining for rubies reminded me of Barkerville, in B.C. Although there you mine for gold.

So you're a bridge swinger, eh? Tsk tsk. I get sick just watching rides. %*? No thank you.

Oh, and that processional? Did they want to get shot? Talk about drawing attention to themselves. LOL. Not a great way to get votes. I'm just sayin'.

Great list Greg. Welcome back!
Heart2Heart said…
Greg,

I love how you incorporated your thankful Thursday post into a trip update with pics!

How great is that! The way down to the fall via that wooden walkway, talk about scary but beautiful!

Not only that the walk back up. I bet it was a breeze for you thanks to spinning class!

Love that South Carolina got that kind of treatment to see the VP of our country treated with such respect by all those boys in blue, I mean seriously is his life that much of a security risk that he needs a 20 car escort???

Nice to see our tax dollars at work. Good work Obama, right along with your beer summit!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat
Susan Skitt said…
Ah ha, Greg, your posts are always a quick and easy read because they are so fun - no matter how long! Keep writing, we all enjoy them so much. Swinging the bridge, now that sounds like something my hubby would do too - ha, ha!

And wow about that motorcade of officers - what-a-ya-know, huh?

One thing I left out about my trip to the mountain was the fire that happened across the street while I was at lunch... literally all the trucks in the mountains came, what a spectacle!

And loved those waterfalls - beautiful.

You had me cracking up with the teeth thing - LOL!
Glad you had a great break Greg. Those waterfall photos are amazing!
Love Collette xx
Nice pics Greg! And I'm glad you're back on the blogging scene...you were missed!
Thanks for the shout-out, but I think I'll stay were I am for a while. I'm blessed to service a community which actually cares about keeping their teeth--which is very satisfying.
Oh, and Joe B? You can keep him down there. We have enough problems with frequent motorcades and their attendant road blocks around these parts.
Edie said…
Welcome back Greg! Your vacation looked great. Well all except for the little traffic issue. See what happens with too much government? Chaos everywhere!

I loved the ruby mine and the falls! Looks like great places to visit.
Super list this week, Greg. And thanks for sharing some of your vacation highlights! Looks and sounds like a fabulous time. :)

God Bless,
Sonya Lee
sara said…
looks like you had a wonderful vacation!!

The falls were beautiful!
Beth Herring said…
Greg - you are always a joy to read! Your posts are sprinkled with just the right amount of humor.

LOoks like you had a fantastic time - hope you got some rest and are refreshed and ready to go!
Monogram Queen said…
Wow I was wondering what the heck was going on! Seabrook/Hilton Head etc. are very popular places for the politicians eh?

My parents have visited the Franklin Ruby Mine but I never have. I'd love to though!
I don't like the idea of those 400 steps though.... ugh. Yeah i'm lazy. No spinning class for meeeeee!
Kim said…
I'm from southeastern KY where swinging bridges are a way of life. Glad we never lived where I had to use one on a regular basis though!

Was the ruby place set up to polish any stones you found? Or do you keep them "as is" and rough?
ChrisJ said…
We were once checked out by the FBI at our harbor where we used to keep our sail boat. A guy came down and asked us some questions about our boat. Said he was interested in buying it. But we knew he wasn't. He had hard shoes on. Later we found out that a senator was holding a meeting at the harbor hotel, a stone's throw away.
Glad you had a good vacation.
Skoots1moM said…
well, if you'd a told us u were a comin'...
ha ha
i can't tell you how many times i've stayed in dillard...or eaten at dillard house...
and you know that gorge...her name is Tallulah, well, when I was in college (and 50 pounds lighter) I actually CLIMBED down into the river of that gorge with friends of mine. Then we hiked up river about a 1/2 a mile...it's gorgeous when you look up from the bottom, too! The bad part: climbing back out...thank goodness I was with some bodybuilders...half way up I got vertigo and they basically and to push and pull me to the top...but we made it with no injuries.
the falls are so pretty...there are a lot of great art galleries in Tallulah Falls due to the local college.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Terri Tiffany said…
I want to go to that Ruby mine! That sounds like a blast! And your picture of the waterfall ect were awesome!! Glad you had a great time!
My ADHD Me said…
Your pictures are gorgeous!

Two things especially cracked me up:

1."All the workers were missing most of their teeth." (a good Deliverance reference always cracks me up).

2."South Carolina's Stimulus Package"

I've missed reading everyone's blogs and am trying to get around and catch up on a few. Doing better but I think this may have been the straw that finally "broke the camel's back".

Have a great day!
OK you make me homesick. I grew up in Athens Ga. Been going to Tallulah my whole life, learned to water ski at Lake Rabun...sigh....memories.
So of course I LOVE your list!!

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