Kyle Lake - BenjiBear Again

Kyle Lake - Benji Bear Again

It's the last day of December and the weather was going to get up to almost 70 degrees.  BenjiBear needs to get used to paddling with Scotty so we took advantage of the day and headed to a calm lake.  As soon as we got to Kyle Lake, we spotted a bald eagle in the tree!  Love when that happens.  BenjiBear was thoroughly excited about the trip in the truck and the preparations of the kayak on land.  And then he got into the kayak with Scotty and I wasn't with him.  The whining began and Scotty kept feeding him treats.  He didn't seem to whine as much as last time, but he still wanted to get over to me.  We did discover that if I paddled behind Scotty, out of sight, Benji did a little better.  The silly dog seemed to enjoy it at times and looked on shore and even laid down at one point.  I've got to break this separation anxiety of his!!! 

Dyer's Creek - BenjiBear's Inaugural Paddle

Dyer's Creek - BenjiBear's Inaugural Paddle

About 70degrees

It was an unusually warm day so we decided to do a short nearby paddle, with the sole intention of getting BenjiBear into the kayak.  He enjoys riding in the truck as he has a whole cushion covering the back and can crawl up to see us when he wants.  He enjoys riding back there more than even sitting on my lap, which is good.  There were a few other people out enjoying the water.  We got into the kayak and BenjiBear came with me.  Within only a few minutes he kept trying to jump out.  I let him and pulled him back into the boat.  He was not happy.  He seemed to be shivering so I dried him off with a blanket, but I'm hoping that will keep him from jumping out again.  After awhile, he seemed to enjoy it and was looking all around the creek - at the birds and the floating leaves.  The water was very low today in the creek and our paddles could touch bottom.  At times, it only appeared to be about 12 inches deep.  We decided to let BenjiBear ride with Scotty and that's when the whining began.  He wanted to be back with me, but we definitely want him comfortable with both of us.  We gave him a few cheerios, but that wasn't enough.  Next time, we'll bring a better treat to lure him in with Scotty.  Overall, for his first paddle, he did well!

 

Camping - Bald Ridge Campground

 Camping - Bald Ridge Campground

We had a lazy day at the camp site - MOSTLY due to my injuries.  It hurt to walk so I didn't want to go anywhere.  Also, I wasn't anxious for the puppy to be on the ground where other dogs had previously been.  A short 2-day, lazy camp stay is okay!

Amanda and Tyler arrived mid-morning and brought bagels, cream cheese and salmon.   It was a delicious snack!  We hung around the camp site and caught up on 'life'.  Phoebe came with Amanda and Tyler and it was fun watching her run into the woods and back, mostly chasing a ball.  This dog has really progressed from the last time we saw her.  She used to have extreme social anxiety and would hardly leave Amanda's side, but now she's much more bold.  The two dogs had little to do with each other.  We hung the hammocks and Amanda and Tyler went for a walk around the campsite.  We prepared dinner.  I had brought along the fixings for a Black Forest cake so I put that together.  Scotty and I made schnitzel.  Dinner was good - schnitzel, warm German potato salad, salad and cake for dessert, accompanied by Blues Beachhaven wine.  This is the last day that this camp site is open, but it's very nice and since it's close to Amanda, I hope we're able to return!

Camping - Bald Ridge Campground

 We’re at bald Ridge campground which is a Army Corps of Engineers campground. It is on Lake Lanier, about an hour north east of Atlanta. It’s a beautiful campground and the majority of the sites are on the water. We had to back down a small hill to get to our campsite. But the site is level, and there are trees around us and you’re actually a bit set off from the road because of backing down into the site.

The one major difference in this camping experience from all of the others is that we have a new camper with us. I would tell you this new campers name but that’s to be determined. I will tell you that he is the cutest camper you’d ever want to see. He’s a little eight week old, black puppy, a cross between a Shih Tzu and a bichon frise. Because we have this new little puppy we shortened our nine day trip, to a two night trip here. It turns out puppies that haven’t had the full vaccinations are very susceptible to the parvovirus. He’s only had his first set of shots I won’t be fully protected until he said all three sets. So he has a little playpen. He will have full reign of the trailer, and if he poops and peas inside for these two days, all is well. I also have a sling carrier and he’s great right now when I walk him around. Scotty’s been great about me getting a new puppy, as we both know this could hinder our travel freedom. But I’m determined to teach this little guy how to hike, kayak, and camp. Stay tuned for further progress. Hopefully the dig is still with me, and more importantly - I hope my husband is still with me!!

Kayaking - Burgess Falls

 We headed over to Cane Hollow Road and we were in the water by 9 o’clock.  John from Paddling Buds joined us and his little dog Chewy. The water seemed very still today but was still manageable. We paddled the 2 miles up to towards the falls and had to pull our boats on shore and walk along the rocks and shore up to the waterfall. As always, it’s a beautiful fall and we appreciate it even more knowing that we kayaked to it. We were the only ones at the base of the fall which was nice because within 30 minutes, lots of other people started to arrive. That was our cue to leave and we headed back downstream. With the water being so still, it’s a pretty paddle because of all the reflections. We were out of the water by 12 o’clock.  At camp we had leftovers for lunch and then later that night we had crackers and cheese and lemon blueberry cake for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. A healthy day - ha! I probably didn’t do enough paddling for all of those calories. Oh well.

And now here’s a warning about making campsite reservations. It gets to be very confusing when your reservations show the check-in day and the check out day.  You want to be sure that when you check out, you have a check-in day that same date so you have a place to park your camper. So after 30 some days of camp reservations, we goofed up. We were actually supposed to check out on Sunday and in our heads we thought we were checking out on Monday. Our neighbor knocked on the door that evening and said he had the site reserved for that night but luck was with us as our previous neighbors had reserved his lot for the night although he never intended to stay, he just wanted to avoid enjoy the lot during the day. So the new neighbor stayed on Site 55 while we were squatters on site 54. Fortunately, the new camper was nice AND he had a driving camper that didn't need set up. If that sounds confusing, that shows how we easily get confused when making our reservations.

Kayaking - Caney Fork River

 We took our boats down to the boat launch at the Long branch campground. Slowly the other members of Paddling Buds started to show up. A few of us waited with the boats while the others shuttled down to the takeout. Everybody returned and we got on the water. It was another beautiful day on the Caney Fork River, but this time it was nice to be paddling and chatting with old friends and new friends. We stopped after 6 miles past the bridge on a gravel bar and had a lunch break. We finished after 8 miles and got out at Betty’s Island. It’s a narrow lane down to the boat ramp and cars had to do some maneuvering to get down and pick up boats. We headed back to our campsite, but this time we had a little dog, Chewy with us. His owner John was going out to eat with some of the other paddlers and since we had already taken out some meat for dinner, we were headed back and offered to doggy sit. It was a scrumptious dinner - hamburgers, salad, mac & cheese and a seltzer after dinner. John came back and we chatted for a while, played phase 10 and retired in our comfy home away from home.

The view from our dining room table!