Our quest continues...

Amicalola Falls - That's actually a picture that I took with my camera!

Amicalola falls was the next stop on our All About GA tour, in Dawson County, GA. It was absolutely breath-taking and quite peaceful. Amicalola in Cherokee means "tumbling waters." It is the tallest cascade in the southeast at 729 feet. I have seen pictures of the falls a few times, but I had to go see it for myself.

Payton and Makenzie flexing their
muscles after climbing up 425 steps.

The drive to Amicalola Falls is about 1.5 hours from our house in South Atlanta. It is a pretty scenic drive once you make it out of the city. It is a wonderful place to go if you enjoy nature, fishing and light to strenous hiking. The hiker at every level there are a few trails to choose from. Since I have two small girls we hike the light to moderate trails and my oldest daughter, who is 5, was the trail leader. If I had to guess, I would estimate that we hiked about 3 miles. 



Payton sitting creekside
 after lunch.

We started at the middle of the waterfall and then ventured to the top of the falls. Once you climbed the 425 steps to the top, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and lingered by a babbling creek just to enjoy the weather. The weather could not have been any better, it was a refeshing 75 degrees, sunny with a light breeze. After lunch, we headed back down to the bottom of the falls to the reflecting pool. 

On the bridge over the
middle of the cascade.



Once we made it back to our car that was parked near the middle of the falls, we took the kids over to the playground. At the playground, we ran into a curious squirrel that enjoyed a goldfish that Payton dropped on the ground. Believe it or not, the squirrel waited patiently for PJ to drop another one.

All in all, we were out in nature for about 4 hours and we enjoyed every minute. Did I mention what it was only $5 to enter the park and enjoy the entire day!?







There's that crew again!

 


My trail leader





I've been to the mountaintop

Previously I mentioned that we were going to dive head first into everything that Georgia has to offer as far as state parks, museums, culture and history. Our latest installment of "All things GA" takes us to a hike at Panola Mountain located in Stockbridge, GA.

It has been on my list for a while but seemingly bothersome minute things like strollers, potty training, pregnancy and bed rest always got in the way of fun. Now that none of that above applies, the crew and I rose early (for a Saturday anyway) and headed for that giant beacon of granite. We walked the smaller self-guided hike that was just a little over a mile long instead of the 2.5 hour guided tour with a Ranger because our girls are still a little too young endure the terrain and the distance of a longer hike. My girls handled the 1+ mile hike like champs because that's part of our weekly workout anyway at a neighborhood park.



I love my hat because it is practical...



The weather was perfect. It was sunny with a few clouds and a gentle breeze, that was a relief when in the shade the tree's understory. The view from the summit was very pretty and I could have stayed longer to enjoy the view but I was starting to get hungry. Tonya + Hunger simply doesn't mix well and should be avoided at all cost. My girls most enjoyed watching the animals in their natural environment. Payton couldn't understand why the lizards kept running from her... that child is fearless and I like it!

After lunch we enjoyed another light trek around Alexander Lake. We watched the turtles sun bathe on a log in the center of the log. My husband was so excited that he scared the turtles back into the water to safety. Mike was convinced that he would capture a turtle and bring it home with us... Good thing for me that the turtles returned back to water in time. I am not interested in having a turtle. That's just one more thing to clean up after. No, thanks!

Next stop... Georgia's Little Grand Canyon!