Cabin Fever

     I know it's been a couple of weeks since I posted, but there really hasn't been any news to blog about.  In fact, it's so hot that I have not really cared for getting out the door much lately.  We've had two weeks of warm morning, hot by noon, thunderstorms through the afternoon, then rain into the early evening.  I am still planning to kayak down from Whitesburg on the Chattahoochee but with those afternoon storm cycles I haven't dared.  Looks like that has moved out so maybe I can get out there this week. 
     The past two weekends I have been working at the gate house while the regular guy was out.  It's not hard work and there is an air conditioner so not such bad duty, although I did somehow manage to get a spider bite on my shin yesterday.  Funny to me that some folks worry about me kayaking down a river or climbing a long trail and what might happen to me.  Then I sit still in a little guard house for the weekend and get a wicked spider bite.  Life's ironies make me smile.
     It has been a busy week for Gus at least.  On Thursday I gave him a bath and he looked so clean and white.  Most of the time his feet are orange from all the good old Georgia clay.  Late that afternoon I took him out to walk and do his business.  When we came back in I noticed something on his front paw so I put him in the shower to wash it off but it wasn't coming off.  He had somehow stepped in pine sap and gravel and the pads of his feet were all caked up with the sap and small gravel.  And the more I tried to clean it the more he tried to bite me.  I finally wrapped him in his quilt and took him to Petsmart where a couple of groomers helped me get his feet cleaned up as good as we could.  Of course he had to be muzzled because he was fighting this all the way.  Friday he pretty much layed around all day.   Then I went off to work all day at the gate house on Saturday.  I did come home at lunch to walk him and he seemed ok.  But after work I came home to find he had been sick.  At both ends, so to speak.  Even up on the daybed.  Yuckkkkk!!!
     Well, I just had to pull all the linens off and tossed them outside until today which has been housekeeping day.  Spent the whole day cleaning and doing laundry.  Now the house is back together and Gus is no longer sick.  I think maybe he chewed on his paw while I was gone and that pine sap upset his stomach.  Whatever it was I'm glad it's passed. 
     So the house is clean and all my chores are done.  The sun is shining and the sky is blue.  I really need to go somewhere.  I've got cabin fever!

Six Weeks on The Bend

     Well, it's hard to believe but as of this upcoming Friday I will have already been here on the bend of the Chattahoochee for 6 weeks.  Despite the heat I really have enjoyed my time here and can't believe how quickly the time is passing.  Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I am at the newest of the Georgia State Parks.  There are some great trails (with lots of geocaches along them) and the ramp for putting my kayak in the river is less than half a mile from my campsite.  Not as good as being right on the water like when I camped last year on Percy Priest, but the river current provides my own workout every time I paddle upriver.  Of course with all the heat lately a swim beach would be nice.  According to the Weather Channel we are looking at some relief soon, if you can call high 80s relief.  I've had to pull my slide in to reduce the area my a/c is trying to cool.  Maybe when the outside temps go down I can open back up. 
     So with 6 weeks behind there are only 6 weeks left here for me.  Still have about 8 caches to find to have all 26 caches done in the park. Also want to kayak from the river put in at Whitesburg down to the park - a 12 mile paddle that a lot of folks do.  The park managers here are really great but I do look forward to moving on down the road.
     Where to next?  I'll let you know soon.  In the meantime, here are some shots of my summer home.

Obviously this is my place.  Yes, I have a golfcart fot getting around the campground to check campsites and haul firewood or trash.

I think we have one of the prettiest visitor centers in the park system. 

The boat ramp makes it easy to put in and take out my kayak.  Sometimes I just go down in the late afternoons and sit on the swing to watch the river roll by.

We don't have any cabins or yurts - yet - but we do have these Adirondack camps which are wooden floored, roofed shelters with solid walls on three sides and screened fronts.  They are great for group camps, if you don't have an rv that is.

There are lots of deer and turkey in the park.  I almost tripped over this little guy who was hiding quietly in the grass just off the trail.  There are a lot of fawns running around the park this summer.