Wandering Dawgs

Our fifth wheel has a new look

December 16, 2015Posted in RVingTagged Custom Graphics, Fifth Wheel, Georgia Bulldogs Football22 Comments

Introducing the world’s only Titanium Bulldog Edition fifth wheel!

Go Dawgs!

Trio of Palm Trees

November 22, 2015January 20, 2016Posted in Georgia, PhotographyTagged Cabbage Palms, Nature, Palm Trees, Rainbow, trio, Weekly Photo Challenge14 Comments

I love wandering in our RV but I’m always happy to return home to this trio of cabbage palms in our back yard.

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: WordPress Photo Challenge: Trio

Fresh Crabs for Lunch

November 1, 2015November 18, 2015Posted in Georgia, PhotographyTagged Georgia Blue Crabs, treat, Weekly Photo Challenge17 Comments

Halloween lunch straight from a salt water creek to my boiling pot of water. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.

Fresh Georgia Blue Crabs – Caught, Cleaned, Cooked, and Eaten on Halloween, 2015

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Treat

The (Extra) Ordinary Iron Horse

October 20, 2015November 18, 2015Posted in Georgia, PhotographyTagged Athens Georgia, Green County Georgia, Iron Horse, Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm, roadside attractions, University of Georgia, Weekly Photo Challenge15 Comments

Henry and I have traveled north on Georgia Highway 15 between Greensboro and Athens at least once a year for over 40 years. And for over 40 years, the first one to see the Iron Horse in the middle of a cornfield north of Greensboro shouts “I see the horse”!

When the corn is tall the only part of the horse that is visible is the head. The rest of the year he is easy to spot.

The Iron Horse stands tall in the middle of a cornfield

I love the story about how the horse came to be in that cornfield. The horse was created by Abbott Pattison and was originally placed on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens in 1954. Students frequently vandalized the sculpture so a professor in the agricultural department agreed to set the Iron Horse up in the middle of his cornfield about 20 miles south of Athens.

The Iron Horse is so tall I had to look up to get this photo

The farm today has been renamed the Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm and is a part of the University of Georgia’s research farmland. The previous owners of the land have retained ownership of the Iron Horse. The University of Georgia granted an easement to the sculpture so people like me could get close enough to admire the horse and take pictures.

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: (Extra) Ordinary

Blue Ridge Parkway, Creek Side Camping and Barbeque in North Carolina

September 28, 2015November 18, 2015Posted in North Carolina, Restaurants, Road Trip, RV Parks, RVingTagged autumn, Blue Ridge Parkway, Devil's Courthouse, fall colors, Fifth Wheel, Heywood Smokehouse, Highest Point on Blue Ridge Parkway, Looking Glass Rock, Scenic Drive, Waynesville NC13 Comments

After two days of elk watching in Cataloochee Valley we packed a lunch and set out from our campground in Waynesville for a 40 mile drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway in search of fall colors.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile scenic parkway through the southern Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. The northernmost point of the parkway is Mile 0 in Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro, Virginia. The southernmost point is Mile 469 near Cherokee, North Carolina. There are scenic overlooks, picnic areas, hiking trails, and campgrounds all along the way.

Although we have traversed several sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the past we had never been on the area in North Carolina north of the Highest Point at Mile 431. On our journey this time we traveled south from Mile 408 at Mount Pisgah to Maggie Valley at about Mile 455.

The first order of business was a picnic at the Mount Pisgah picnic area at the top of a short paved trail. After lunch under the trees we started our journey south, stopping at several of the scenic overlooks. It was too early in the year for the peak autumn colors but a few of the leaves were beginning to change.

Looking Glass Rock got it’s name because sunlight will reflect off the granite when there is water collected on it.

Looking Glass Rock Blue Ridge Parkway in NC

There was beautiful scenery every where we looked.

Beautiful day for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC

We found a few more fall colors.

A few fall colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC

There are many folktales surrounding the Devil’s Courthouse. It was getting late and we decided to skip the trail to the top.

Devil's Courthouse Blue Ridge Parkway in NC — Devil’s Courthouse Blue Ridge Parkway in NC

The picture on the left was taken 8 years ago when we first stopped at the Highest Point of the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile 431. The one on the right from this visit.

Highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Highest Point on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The photo below is the view from the Highest Point.

A few clouds rolled in as we continued south,

Our home base for exploring Cataloochee Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway was Creekwood RV Park a few miles north of Waynesville and Maggie Valley. Our site backed up to a beautiful creek. It was a perfect place to relax after a day of wandering.

Beautiful Creek behind our campsite

Sitting by the creek was a great way to end each day

Duck in the creek behind our RV

Of course we had to try some North Carolina barbeque while were were there. The Heywood Smokehouse in Waynesville was recommended and the spareribs, chicken, and brisket were done to perfection. And it turns out the owners are originally from Georgia!