On Camphosting

Coming to the end of our stay at Ft. Yargo and thinking of the last 5 months. There have been some interesting moments, some hectic days, and some really terrific people in our lives. One of best things about being a camp host is that our job discription is to be nice to people. Well, OK, sometimes it is difficult, like when a cubscout leader is trying to burn two ten foot logs crisscrossed over a two foot fire pit and throwing piles of pine needles into the fire sending flames high into the trees during a drought. It makes you wonder what he is trying to teach these youngsters. Then you meet campers like Nardy & Brent Hudson who are the nicest people you would ever want to know. You also get to work with some of the best people you will ever meet, fellow camphosts Leo & Peg, Bill & Darline, Ed & Gail and Ed & Avis just to name a few.

It takes a special kind of person to dedicate his or her life to working with mother nature to protect and preserve the wonders that the rest of the world take for granted. The staff and all of the volunteers at this park and all of the Georgia State Parks are these kind of people and we are proud to call them our friends.

The Real Ft. Yargo

The couple shown here are members of the local historical society. Thier clothing was made by hand, following patterns as old as Fort Yargo.

Yes there is a real Ft. Yargo. What makes this small building a fort is the presence of rifle slots on the front and rear walls about shoulder high and to the right and left doors. The pictures shown above, clockwise are, the front of the building, an interior shot of the fireplace in the single room, a rear view and workers wearing period clothing and using tools from the early 1800s who are busy building a cooking shed. An interesting note; the materials for the shed are from a 100 year old barn that was severly damaged when a tornado ripped through this park. The tornado came through here following hurricane Katrina. Inside the fort is the single room with a stairway that leads to a loft for sleeping. It is said that the ghost of Mr. Humphries, a former resident, can be heard walking around in the loft late at night.

Easter Sunday

Cherry Blossoms and a Daffodil are our Easter Greeting to you. We are going to Eric and LeAnn's for dinner today. More pics of the southern GKs for the blog.

Love to All on this beautiful, but cool Easter Day.

Our park is finding it's way into spring. These are only a few of the flowers that are blooming all over the state right now. It just seems as though it's all happening right here. Above are (clockwise) oriental non-fruit-bearing cherry trees, southeastern redbud and my favorite, dogwoods, two views. This last weekend the temps were in the 90's and that caused an explosion of color, the most dominant being a very light green in all of the treetops.

Who's the Birthday Boy?

Another birthday? Already? We enjoyed this day basking in 70+ degree weather. Nan took Tom out for lunch at a new barbeque restaurant in town. Great ribs! Later we visited with friends here in the park. Tom spent the afternoon talking to friends and family on the phone, listening to his new Dixie Chicks CD and just reveling in the fact that he has reached an age where he is past the point of lying about his age but rather brags about it. Yep, he's 73 and still buys green bananas.

Springtime

What can I say, we love sunsets. This shot was taken from campsite 47, the far point of the walk-in campsites at Marbury Lake, Ft. Yargo S.P.

Spring is slowly making it,s Presence known. Daffodils are blooming and the Southern Red Maples are dropping their tiny red blossoms all over the park. Today the temps are in the mid 70s but tomorrow we are going to get rained on. This is spring break time here so the park should be full this weekend.

Sunset

The last day of Feb was a beautiful, peaceful sunset over Ft.Yargo. March 1st came in like a lion with thunderstorms, wind and heavey rain along with several tornadoes that ravaged S. Ga. & Alabama. Today is sunny and quiet again.

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

Victoria and Kaylee dropped by this weekend. They stayed here with us from Saturday till Monday afternoon when they had to go back home. They had Monday off school for President's Day. We had a great time even though it was cold and windy most of the time. They brought their bikes but didn't get much ride time because of the weather. They were very happy that they both got to drive the park Gator. We put out some corn for the deer but they didn't come up to our campsite this time. We did see some in another area of the park though. The girls are getting to be "S'mores Experts" . . . we only lost a few marshmallows in the fire this time.

Valentines Day

The day started with running errands and lunch at a favorite restaurant.

Then home to the park where dinner by candlelight was two steaks on the grill along with sauteed scallops, sweet potatoes, asparagus and baby mushrooms sauteed with onions, green and red peppers in red wine. I grilled the steaks and Nancy did all the rest.

The meal was complimented with a very nice merlot and a chocolate valentine for desert.

All in all a very pleasant February 14th.