Spring is Here! Lake Lanier, GA - Bald Ridge Campground

Hi all - Dianne here.   We arrived at the Corps of Engineers Bald Ridge campground on a lovely spring day; dogwoods blooming, beautiful views from all windows of our RV.  

Spring 

has always been my favorite time of year, mainly because it means the long, cold, gray days of Midwest winters are over.   If you've ever been to any of our homes over the past 37 years, you know my spring obsession has caused me to plant hundreds of spring bulbs at every house we've lived in.   (If you need a tulip fix, click on "Photos of our House for Sale" in the right margin).  I'm hoping to time this trip so that we enjoy spring as long as we can, following it north back to Indiana.

Our time here has been pretty laid back (even the "boys," as you can see). 

  Our view from our patio area is blooming dogwoods, early spring leaves, Lake Lanier as a backdrop, and sunny, blue skies.   We set up Roger's hammock,

 and both of us have made good use of it and our Kindles.  

We like it here so much that once our first 7 days 

were up, we reserved a second week, even though it meant moving to a different site.  That wasn't much of a hardship, because we needed to unhook and make a trip to the dump station anyway.

There are high

 hooks here to enable you to hang your food up and out of the way of lurking critters if you're tent camping.  The hooks are a perfect place to secure Charlie the Cat on the expandable leash.  He is in cat heaven here, rolling in the red Georgia dirt and

 stalking birds, pretending to climb trees, and sleeping under them.   We now have an orange-and-tiger cat

 instead of a white-and-tiger cat. 

  He gets a good brushing and wiping down with wet wipes before he's allowed back inside each night.

Speaking of birds, there are hundreds of songbirds right here, singing their hearts out.  I started a list of all the birds I've seen just sitting outside here, but can't find it, so you won't have to endure plodding through it after all!  Some of the more interesting ones have been male and female Eastern bluebirds, a small flock of cedar waxwings, blue-gray gnatcatcher.  Also, tons of mockingbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, cardinals, robins, gold finches, chickadees, chipping sparrows, rufous-sided towhees (male and female), the list went on and on.  There, you had to endure it anyway!!  :-)   There are probably more, but I'll spare you.

Our new camp site does not have a waterlogged fire pit.  After my chimney log success in St. George, last night I decided to try my hand again at building a camp fire.  Roger was very impressed with my fire-engineering effort!  

 I think the key is that there is lots of kindling around here, and unlike most campgrounds, you are allowed to gather it up so long as it is dead wood.  I am now the pyromania queen of our family.

There is a perfect place to launch the S.S. Minnow here, but after today it is supposed to rain and then turn cold, so it's doubtful we'll get it done.  Today is beautiful, but once again we have frittered away the day just relaxing outside.   

We had another house showing the other day!   Not only that, but our realtor called yesterday with news that a reporter from the Anderson Herald-Bulletin wants to feature our house in a weekly series that she does about homes.  We spoke with her on the phone yesterday and have an appointment lined up for May 11 for her to photograph the house, interview us, and hopefully give us some free publicity.   Since we arrive back in Indiana May 4, that gives us a week to make it perfect for her arrival.

I know, I know, we should be there now sprucing it up and planting annuals, but we're just not ready to end this winter journey.

In fact, our five-month trial of full-timing has gone so well that we are convinced we've made the right decision for us.  

 We've decided we don't want to move back into the house when we get home.  Instead, we'll camp in surrounding state parks and work in our yard at home during the day, returning to the motor home each night.   In other words, there's no going back to our former lifestyle!   

Our future plans so far include another week here, then up to Chester Frost park outside Chattanooga for several days, then home again, staying first at Summit Lake State Park starting May 4.  

Stay tuned 

for our future adventures, including a quick trip to New Orleans in late May, South Dakota, then various Indiana state parks.