First Day On The Mountain

Ok, so too darn much happened on our mountain getaway furcation (took a furlough day, made it a vacation) to put into one post or several, so like any good sports team we'll take it one day at a time. Anna, Buxton and I left just after work on Thursday and picked up Buxton's cousin Eve. We headed out toward the mountains and a funny thing happened.



On our way we ran into the most wonderful woman, who let us spend the first night at her house (at no charge!) and even baked us biscuits on our first morning. Geography sure handed us a gem with that one. For my money I'll take the Georgia mountains with a stop in Craytonville over mountains in just about any other direction.

After we left Baba's house, a short drive and we were in the Georgia mountains. We checked into Tiger Creek Falls Inn and made a quick trip out to the local Chick-fil-A. There's something both beautiful and exasperating about watching two children celebrate at a fast food play area like you drove all this way just to bring them there. We just took it as another good sign for a fun weekend.




After lunch, which included our only run-in with a cow housing a person inside, it was back to the inn overlooking several waterfalls. But before we arrived, we thought the kids might want to take in Goats on a Roof. It's a general store with goats living on the roof, grass and all. You can feed them, take pictures of them, walk beneath their overpass bridge at your own peril. We thought the kids might get a kick out of it.



Buxton keeping lookout for the goats:



Mommy keeping lookout for the apple pile:




Eve keeping lookout for the wild bunny rabbit we just saw, "in nature:"



There it is!



Of all the attractions at Goats on a Roof, the kids most enjoyed two wooden boxcars they could play in, which despite what the pictures might indicate we did not intentionally dress Buxton to match.




Here Eve shows us that she and her cousin, who she sometimes calls "Buton Thomas Choo Choo" are in fact inside a "choo choo."



I can explain neither why in this picture Buxton thinks he's Elvis nor why I'm leaning in closer to the metal bear than toward my own son.



Did I mention that, like most everywhere else on our trip, they had gynormous mountain pumpkins?




We spent the rest of our first day in the mountains shopping for supplies Oregon Trail style, and enjoying the peaceful calm of the inn (more pictures forthcoming). We cooked dinner in and enjoyed the company of a beautiful little boy and girl that most everyone in several Georgia counties wanted to stop and tell us about. A great start to a great trip, even if getting toddlers to stare straight and smile wasn't the easiest part of it.