Blue Ridge, GA - Days 2 & 3

Friday, May 6

Today was the first day of our spring road trip that we dealt with inclement weather. I’d say we’ve been pretty fortunate thus far! Andi and I knew today was suppose to be rainy, and the weather forecast even threatened storms, so we planned to complete a good chunk of work and school in the morning hours. Andi took the Jeep to the library in town to do his thing while Tory, Aden and I stayed at the RV to work at the campground.

The four of us ate lunch together in the RV and then made our way to town around 1:00pm. Andi suggested we walk around downtown Blue Ridge — there are so many cute shops in town that weren’t open last night when we walked through. Tory and Aden picked out new stickers for the backs of their iPad cases and I got a Blue Ridge, GA one for our travel book. Aside from that, we just browsed in the shops in between spurts of rain.

Around 3:00pm, the wind really picked up in downtown Blue Ridge and all four of us started coughing and sneezing like crazy! The pollen in the air has been terrible in this area of the country. Andi and I decided we’d all go Jeeping — that way we could do something indoors. The weather has been so strange today — one minute it’s raining, the next minute the sun is shining and now the wind was blowing fiercely. Andi plugged our location into an off-road trails app he has on his phone, and we set off on the Georgia Traverse trail. It let us through some backcountry trails around Blue Ridge, McCaysville, and Cherry Log, Georgia.

Andi wanted BBQ for dinner, so we stopped at Carroll’s Bar-B-Q in Blue Ridge on the way back to camp. The restaurant had great BBQ and quick service, but it was so cold inside! The rainy weather brought in a cold front to northern Georgia and the air temperature dropped from the 80’s to upper 50’s. I don’t think the restaurant had time to adjust — the air conditioning was blasting inside. We were literally shivering through our dinner.

All I wanted to do when we got back to the RV is lay under the covers to warm up. Andi did convince me to go outside to watch the sunset with him, but there wasn’t much of one tonight since the sky was cloudy. We all watched a few episodes of a Disney show Tory likes and called it a night.

Saturday, May 7

Saturday, Andi suggested we go kayaking down the nearby Toccoa River. The rain yesterday brought in a cold front which probably scared a lot of locals away from being on the water, but as Wisconsinites we didn’t think the temperature was too terrible. Today’s forecast said the weather would be 55 degrees and cloudy with no precipitation.

Before we got going on our activity for the day, Andi took Aden to Dunkin Donuts in Blue Ridge. One of the many perks of traveling is having access to shops & restaurants we don’t normally have at home. Yummy donuts on a Saturday morning is one such perk!

We bundled up in sweatshirts and raincoats and drove over to Blue Ridge Mountain Kayak Company around Noon. The staff were so friendly and helpful getting us on the water. They suggested the kids take their own kayaks down the river as they’d have more fun paddling themselves. Andi and I agreed — Tory and Aden often complain when we all canoe together in one boat, so this would give them a chance to participate in the activity. The river trip was six miles long though; I hoped they could make it the whole way.

The Toccoa River is controlled by the Blue Ridge Dam, and the water is “let out” everyday around 3:00pm. For us, that meant that the river was pretty shallow and slow during our kayak trip, but later in the afternoon the water levels would rise and the current would travel much faster. The goal was to be off the water by then. The owners of Blue Ridge Mountain Kayaking assured Andi and I it was safe for the kids to kayak in their own boats because the water was so shallow and slow.

Around 12:30pm, we put in our kayaks at the outfitter and started off on our journey. The river was beautiful, and so peaceful. We didn’t see another kayaker during our entire trip, only a few fly fishermen here or there throughout. Andi and I were surprised to see how many private residences were on the riverfront. There wasn’t any place to stop off for a snack or bathroom break the entire six mile trip.

Aden absolutely loved kayaking! He handled the small rapids created by shallow rocks like a pro and was so calm taking in the scenery.

Tory, on the other hand, was quite panicked at the beginning fearing she’d overturn her boat. Honestly, there was no threat of danger other than getting wet. The river was shallow — so shallow, in fact, that there were quite a few spots where water flowing over big rocks created small rapids. It was best to navigate through those shallow areas with some paddling power so that the kayak didn’t get stuck on a rock. Unfortunately, Tory wasn’t paddling hard enough at the beginning and she got her kayak stuck on a rock. She cried and cried and eventually had to get out of her kayak, physically pull it off the rock, and then continue down the river. Due to the flow of the river, neither Andi or I could help her — once we were downriver of her, there was no fighting our way back upstream.

In the end, I think Tory enjoyed kayaking. It was a good lesson in not giving up.

We all enjoyed the day. It was fun to do something active together, to be in a beautiful area, and to laugh. We shared lots and lots of laughs throughout the day.

The owner of Blue Ridge Mountain Kayaking was waiting for us at the public landing when we pulled in around 3:30pm. He loaded our kayaks onto a trailer and we set off to return back to where we started our trip upriver. Unfortunately, just as we took off to leave something “popped” on their transport bus. Andi thought it was the tire or strut. Regardless, the bus was immovable, so the owner had to call for another transport bus to come pick us up as well as a tow truck to come get the broken vehicle. I felt so badly for the owner, but he handled it all with calmness and grace. We waited for about 30 minutes until the replacement ride came to get us.

Finally, we were back to our car and on our way. All four of us were cold and wet from sitting in kayaks all afternoon. We changed clothes, and then I promised the kids we would stop for ice cream on the way back to the campground. Andi drove us to the top-rated ice cream place in Blue Ridge called C-Boltz, but it was closed (well, they were open but they weren’t serving ice cream) so we ended up at Dairy Queen instead. Aden and Tory were hungry after all their hard work kayaking this afternoon so they each got kid’s meals to-go.

We returned to the campground, showered & changed into warm clothes. Andi offered to take the basket of laundry into town to the laundromat since we didn’t have laundry at this campground and wouldn’t at our next place either. While he did that, I stayed back at the RV with Tory and Aden.

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in Blue Ridge. It’s a cute small town with lots of shops and restaurants, and plenty of outdoor recreation to keep us busy. If the weather would have been warmer, we would have taken advantage of the beautiful beach at Morganton Point Campground. For another time…