Monday, August 29, 2011

Hemlock Falls & Amicalola State Park

So, we left the lovely Wildcat Creek  camground headed to find some waterfalls.
Tripp wanted mountains and waterfalls.
So, he got it!
We happily obliged, too.





This part up the mountain was easy and wide.
But it was quite a trek. I was sore the next day.
It probably didn't help that I busted it on a rock at the waterfall.
Prettiness along the trail
Tripp wondered it this was the start of a bear cave.
Nice, cold trickle for a much needed break from the heat.

We crossed over a little bridge and saw this nice teaser waterfall.
Our little hiker in action
Ah! We made it!
It looks small in the pics, but it was pretty high. I didn't think to get a picture with one of us by it for perspective.
The added loveliness was the perfect pool in front of it to swim in before it plunged down the mountain again behind us. It was such a treat after the hike up.






And, there would be more pics than these, but remember when I said I slipped and fell on a rock?
Yeah, well that was here.
On a rock that shifted
In the water
And me and the camera both went under.
So, no more pictures until the now disassembled camera dried.

From Hemlock Falls, we drove through the cool, albeit touristy, German Alpine town of Helen, GA and on towards Amicalola Falls.
We decided to go there to see the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River and because it had a lodge at the State Park.
We added on this night of our stay b/c we were really enjoying ourselves and wanted to explore a little more. It poured on us when we camped the night before at Moccasin Creek. Between that and adding on to our stay, everything was wet or extremely dirty.
So we upgraded our camping to the lodge and it was a treat.

The whole back of the lodge is essentially a window with the most gorgeous view!
Let's just say, We'll be back for those Autumn colors!
Can you imagine that view?!

After several days away from home and taking entirely too many pics as well as being "off the grid" some of the time, we spent our final day exploring sans a charged camera battery. We even plowed through the juice in the spare. I was disappointed but at least we had the phone!!
 The only picture with the real camera...along the trail to the waterfall, up on the mountain, you can see this old moonshining truck that crashed and tumbled, and subsequently got stuck, trying to escape the cops.
Pretty cool.

 This camera phone pic doesn't even do the beauty and size justice...
Check out more pics, that aren't mine, here.



 looking down on the top of the waterfall.



You can hike to the beginning of the Appalachian Trail from the state park.
This approach trail is a mere 8.5 gorgeous miles. You can even stay here at the Hike Inn.
A quaint lodge only to be reached by the 5 mile hiking trail.

So that concludes our North Georgian adventure.
We will return.
Sooner rather than Later.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

North Georgia Camping Part 1: Wildcat Creek

I'm going to attempt a blog catch up and summer round up over the next few days. 
Our most recent adventure revolved around me attending the The Big Push for Midwives' 2011 Push Summit in Cary, North Carolina. We got to spend some extra time with friends while we were there which made all the little bumps in the road along the way much better!
To top it off, on our way home we took the scenic route.
And we stayed for a night or 2...
It was lovely!

We left from our friend's in Chapel Hill and meandered down towards Asheville, NC and finally ended up in the moutains of North Georgia. 


After enjoying our lovely scenic ride through the mountains, we stopped at Wildcat Creek  to camp. 
It is a beautiful (and that's an understatement) primitive campground with a fabulous creek running through it. You could literally reach in and grab the trout. 


 He's so proud he made it up with his brudder.

 Gosh, I'm a lucky lady!
 Playing in the creek before bed!

 Charlie meticulously stacked his rocks.
 Breakfast!
 Our cozy little $8 campsite...what value!!
 You can see the creek (a smaller, shallow and calmer section) ran along the backside of our tent.
The sound was lovely music to our ears.
And there's a little pool that was filled with trout. We'd come back here for the fishing alone.
 A lovely morning walk down the trail that followed the creek from our campsite.


Okay, this was too cool.
An au naturelle waterslide.
And that picture makes it look small, but it wasn't.
Your also probably thinking, how fun?! And so refreshing for mid August!!
Um, folks, that water was COLD. Frigid.

From here, we headed a few minutes down the main road to Moccasin Creek State Park to hike up to Hemlock Falls. I'll post those pics tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Get Outside, Y'all!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

I have a million and 1 things to say about breastfeeding and wish I had the time to really type and post the 1,000 blog posts I have in my head in honor of World Breastfeeding Week.
But, life is hectic.

So, instead I'm going to share a few of my favorites...
and besides all the scientific benefits, there are all those bonuses. 
For example, calming a tantruming 2 year old...yeah, BIG bonus. And you'd really only understand that if you've had said tantruming 2 year old and then, experienced the immediate peace and calm once your little one is nursing. 

Sure, you can! In fact, it,too, is normal. 
The average age of weaning across the globe is anywhere between 2 and 7 years of age with 4 being the most common age.  The benefits are innumerable.

Breast is Not Best, It's Normal because it is, you know. That's what breasts are for, people! 
The rest is just extra ;)

Just a few generations ago, EVERY woman breastfed and it goes without saying that every little girl, teenaged one and pregnant mama had seen it and been exposed to it. 
And it was NORMAL.
Why are women today having so many issues with breastfeeding? 
Likely because they don't see it, thus they aren't educated nor do they view it as the norm.

 My favorite sources for information and support:

And besides find your local LLL group (there are several in Mississippi) make sure your hospital is Baby Friendly!
Also, if ever you have a problem arise or just need support, go to the specialists!
Your local LLL leader, a Certified Lactation Specialist OR a Doctor that SPECIALIZES in Breastfeeding Medicine.

What are some of your favorite blogs, website, books or personal supports for breastfeeding?

Mandi- breastfeeding mama to 2 vibrant and health boys! Tripp self weaned a month before his 3rd birthday and Charlie is trucking on along at 19 months (and hopefully, lots more to come!). And yes, for those that did that little math problem in their head. That also means that I breastfed while pregnant and tandemed nursed as well...again, perfectly normal folks :)

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I’m celebrating World Breastfeeding Week with Natural Parents Network!
You can, too — link up your breastfeeding posts from August 1-7 in the linky below, and enjoy reading, commenting on, and sharing the posts collected here and on Natural Parents Network.

(Visit NPN for the code to place on your blog.)