Sammy K: Amicalola Falls

Oh my goodness , I've been gone quite awhile, so I will just try to catch up with our latest family outing!
We have decided to try and camp at least once a month, so for our June trip we headed up to Amicalola Falls in the North Georgia mountains. I was a little apprehensive because of it being summer in GA and all...but the weather was just fine and we ended up having a grand time!

On Friday we set up our tent and took a hike to check out the area. We've been to the Falls many a time but this was our first time camping there. Friday night the park offered a "furry friends" program where the kids were able to touch "skins" of many of the animals in GA. It was great fun for them and the best part was meeting a real live opossum named Posey!

Saturday morning we had a great pancake breakfast and then took off to Dahlonega for ice and a little window shopping.

The next program for kids was called "snakes alive" where we learned about the 44 snakes which live in GA. It was very interesting and at the end we were able to touch 4 of the non-venomous variety! We found out that Jonah is a true snake lover and every picture I took at that event shows him touching at least one snake.

Since we were visiting one of the prettiest falls in GA we decided it was time to take the hike to see them. I can tell we've been hiking a lot as the kids seemed to run most of the way up! On the way back down those dark clouds that we had been watching suspiciously all day opened up and it poured! Lucky for us David was totally prepared and we grabbed our ponchos and rain jackets from the backpack and hiked in relative dryness all the way down.

In the afternoon, the park offered a scavenger hunt for the kids in their visitor center/museum. I have to say, I really am impressed with our state parks and the programs they have to offer the kids. I was a little worried that we would be unable to find many things to do, but our weekend was packed!

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at the campsite, reading, napping ( Ethan) and the kids playing their own version of "Meerkat Manor" ( let's hear it for Animal Planet!) After dinner we met the rangers and other campers for a campfire. We roasted marshmallows, sang songs, acted out a story and even got to pet Posey again!

The Astronomy Club from North GA college arrived with all of their expensive equipment and we spent the rest of the evening making our own solar systems, watching a slide show and seeing the moon, Arcturus and Saturn through a real fancy, shmancy telescope!