Switch It Up. Huddle, @ Talona Ridge. Ellijay, Georgia November 1 to 8, 2022

Switch It Up Huddle @ Talona Ridge,  in  Ellijay Georgia. November 1 to 8 2022.  PART 1

We arrived at Talona Ridge, wow did we climb a mountain to get up here.. Not bad though.

So beautiful. 

First people we saw was Harold and Cindy. As we were going in to check in. First thing I said was you changed our lives, then we took the opportunity to thank them and tell them quickly, how we just came from Affinity RV group in Indiana and how fantastic they were with us,  later we found out he called and thanked them for taking such good care of us. How sweet was that, thank you again Harold and Cindy Strange. From One Strange Adventure. We look forward to spending this week with you and your children Nick 16 and Michaela 18.

We got set up. Jim got golf cart put together. We kept it a convertible to make the setup quicker. Turns out the weather was perfect the whole week so we never needed the raincoat or roof. 

The beautiful building above our RV is where all the activities are located and where the pictures with a view are taken from. 

We took a ride, a lot of empty spots, this place will be full once the Huddle starts. Only a handful of RVs will not be with a group, we are told.

We talked to quite a few people we knew already that had arrived early. We saw Cheese and Nancy  her sister was along too. We also took some pictures of the beautiful views from Talona Ridge. 

FYI touch pic and turn phone for better view 

We also briefly talked with one of the owners Wes, we met him at the Tampa RV show in January, he  gave us  insight of big future plans they have for the place. Like putting outdoor kitchens on sites.. and buying the property across the road to  expand in about 3 years. It already has a big beautiful building on it, he said it's a dentist office. Although he mentioned he thinks it's more then just a dentist, some minor plastic surgery also might be going on, because there's way more cars over there than a dentist would have. LOL

Later I went for a walk all around the campground. And Jim had bought some firewood.

Laurence and Natalie are just three sites up from us.

Together they are the Brazen Brits. YouTubers. Jim yelled to him, he walked down said hi to us. He was drinking tea. Of course a guy from the UK is drinking tea. We chatted for a while the three of us. I asked if the dogs were there, he has a Doberman that we still didn't meet. He said they would come down later with them. 

Which they did after Dark we got to meet Opie and Jack's. The Doberman is huge he said 85 lb. We had a campfire and the TV is on with a hockey game. The four of us chatted for a while. They are so much fun we really enjoy their company. They were going to go pick up her sister Stephanie, that was flying in from the UK  tomorrow. So we get to meet her soon and spend time with her too. 

November 2, 

We woke up kind of early. Jim went outside and got a picture of a beautiful sunrise over  Talona Ridge and the Beautiful Georgia Mountains.

After breakfast Jim went to fill up the truck with diesel, we were really, really low when we arrived. He also bought beer and curtain rods. Another project for another day. The beer canceled out the curtain rods he said, so he can still keep his man card, he said. Lol

We didn't do much today we took a walk together. I think I walked alone too at some point. Talked to people we knew. And intentionally looked for people we didn't know yet to talk with. That's one of the things I find the most fun in this lifestyle, talking to strangers. Especially here, But these are,  are PEOPLE. We are the SWITCH Crew.

Of  Course we took a golf cart ride. It's a nice Hill for the golf cart to climb cuz the campground is on about four levels so they all have nice views of the mountains.

Tonight before everything gets underway they planned a chili cook-off contest, and potluck for all the people that arrived early to participate in. You can bring something to share if you like. 

There was a small table with the chili to be judged in the contest. The judges were Todd, Laurence, Harold and Wes the owner. Under this roof. Jim and Nick Strange and a few other's were playing corn hole. 

 There was alot more Chili in the back..Just to serve. Later they pick a winner and gave her a tiny little RV size trophy. They  had a lot of food , a guy that loves to cook for everyone, the official switch it up chef, also awarded him an apron too, he made a huge pot of chili, just to make sure there would be enough to serve us all.

 There was tons of sides cornbread and cheeses and jalapenos and chips Etc, tons of desserts too. our group can cook. It was a lot of fun,  here is a picture of Talona Ridge after Dark. 

What a great day and the Huddle didn't even start yet. Glad we came a few days earlier.

November 3,

Today we just hung out and talked with people before everything gets started.

Jim and I decided to go for a walk after breakfast  and ran into these two, walking the dogs. Natalie and Stephanie in from the UK.

Here Jim holding Opie, beautiful dog.

Later Jim and I went into the heated pool and hot tub. No one else was there. 

The views were fantastic from there.

Today we have official check in at 5 and meet and greet with heavy appetizers. After we ate, later...

Jim was wearing the same Brazen Britt shirt as Laurence, the Brazen Britt himself. Someone thought it was funny to take duct tape and put it over May. And it was,  Because they both definitely contained alcohol. I think them two are starting up bro Mance.

Here Laurence and Natalie with us.

Here is Todd and Sheila starting things off. 

Later the party continues outside and both fires were going and a few other fire features were lit.

 Beautiful out back after dark. What a great first day.

Friday November 4, 

This morning our group a had breakfast with Todd and Sheila. Then we did a gift back for local teachers in the area. We filled small paper gift bags with pencils, highlighters, can of soda, hand sanitizers, snacks, gift cards, Sharpies, etc, they had round tables with each of those items on then you picked up a bag and went to each table and filled it with the appropriate item and then inserted a card that you wrote for a teacher after you filled the bag. We made over 350 bags to donate a very short time we were finished. 

Here's a picture of all the tables before they had the items placed on so you could see the amazing view out the windows from that building. 

Then we went to have lunch on our own while Group B had lunch with Todd and Sheila after lunch I went with Ann and Tonia Rode Along to the waterfall for the hike.

 Here's a picture of Jim he stayed behind and  set up the drums outside and played while we were gone.

 We climbed over 200 steps I believe. Here's some amazing views of the Fall. I got someone to take my picture. 

When we returned from the hike we took showers and got ready and went to dinner here in the building. they had a catered meal, salad with meat lasagna chicken parmesan  and a wonderful desserts. Then the party again continued outside by the fire.

I can't remember his name, but one of the co-writers of switch it up theme song, he is from there home town church in KC, he was there and played guitar outside for everyone by the fire as part of the entertainment for the evening. He is so good.

Since today was our first official start there are lights at the end of every site. Later on when they get them programmed, the different colored lights will mean different things, like if the sites are occupied or not Etc. But for the rest of the week they will be green for switch it up, their colors. 

I thought that was really cool.

To be continued....

Diamond Mammoth Cave TT, Kentucky October 30 and 31

Diamond Mammoth Cave TT, Kentucky October 30 and 31

So in my last post I realized I put up a picture of Tennessee. We were not there yet. I was looking for a different picture. Didn't realize till after I posted, and afraid to mess things up and try to edit last post. 

Here's the picture I wanted to post,  but still would not have been  right, because it was Nashville Tennessee and we were still in  Kentucky. Hard to remember what state your in when you travel.  We call it the  Batman Building but it's really the AT&T building. In center of picture. 

Another's pretty driving shot.

So here it goes. 

We stopped at Diamond Mammoth Cave Thousand Trails in Kentucky to regroup do laundry, rest, and  clean the RV. We really didn't go anywhere, but to Lowe's. The weather wasn't that great one day was pretty rainy. We did get these back curtains up finally. the one's that Jim picked out. Still have to do the two side windows. 

I had more to clean than I thought I did.   I did about seven loads the first day and close to that the second. Remember mine are a little smaller loads.  It was a good break,  got a lot done. Now we head  to  the Switch It Up Huddle in  Talona Ridge in Ellijay Georgia. Yea

Travel Day October 29, 2022

Travel day October 20, 2022

This morning we we got ready to leave Affinity RV Group in Goshen Indiana and head towards Georgia.

 We left around 10:00 a.m. and had a great travel day. The traffic was light the weather was great. 

We went through this little town where the whole town came out for trick or treating fun there was people everywhere. Looked like a lot of fun for that community. Food trucks etc, very festive. 

Alot of fun costumes to look at.

 We arrived at Cabela's. It was just North of Indianapolis, Indiana.  Found a spot we thought would work.

 Went inside to make sure it was okay to stay there. She said absolutely, they were very friendly, I said okay now we're going to shop,  she asked what we were looking for, I said we want to see everything, she said oh goody, that's what we like to hear.

 We were looking for hiking boots for our upcoming hikes we would like to do over the winter. We found a wonderful sales guy named Dennis, he showed us a cool way to tie the shoes,  we each found a pair for total of around $100 for both. We were in there about 3 hours. 

It was alot smaller store then the one we are used to in Pennsylvania. Fish tank was very small.

Came out and had pre-made food I had for dinner. Now we can put all  the slides out, Jim got the generator going. 

There was a lot of really cool stores nearby I wanted to go to. But we just never got the chance. Right behind us was Steak and Spirits. And they had a live band and the music was quite loud. We were ready for bed at probably 9:00 p.m. Jim said he thinks he fell asleep during a break and woke up again later, and still heard them they probably stopped at 2:00. But other than that it was a great stopover. And free, except for the hiking boots, we wanted them  anyway, lol.

 Here's a picture of the area we were in of the parking lot. Nice and out of the way no traffic really. 

A few people drove by and looked at us when it was still daylight. We didn't need heat or AC so that was good. 

We were up pretty early, Jim got some beautiful pictures of the sunrise. 

Then he got the generator going again. We never leave it on overnight. We got the coffee going and headed out, shortly after breakfast etc. 

Here's a picture going through Nashville. 

And another pretty Waterview from the road. So excited to arrive at Talona Ridge in  Ellijay Georgia. For the Switch It Up Huddle. 

PART 2 The HAPPY ending

PART 2 The HAPPY Ending 

Saturday October 22, 2022

We had an appointment at Sycamore Hill RV to get the camper inspected at 9:00 a.m. Upon arrival they took care of us and we were finished by 10:22 a.m.. We talked with Jim a lot about full timing. Didn't realize he wanted to do it too, in about 10 years.

The drive was beautiful with the leaves changing colors.

We stayed on the Ohio Turnpike again for another night. I love the set up there. We had same spot as last time. We can back up more to give us more space and allow us not to have to unhook. 

So exciting the anticipation of arriving back in Indiana to finally get our much-needed work done on the RV. Jim grilled some chicken, for the next couple of days in the hotel.

Sunday October 23, 2022

We arrived at Affinity RV. We had the gate code to enter the facility, as they are not open today. We packed up what we felt we needed left all the slides in. We plugged in the RV and said goodbye to her until tomorrow morning. 

We headed over to the Quality Inn, so excited for our new adventure. We have no suitcases in the FW, just alot of bags you get at RV shows, so luckily we were able to get a luggage cart out the side door and sneak back to our room after we checked in, that no one could really see us. We had a lot of stuff for a week. Pillows and food and clothes and way more than I thought it would be. We got settled in unfortunately the pool was not open. Made quite the list of things that we forgot, we will get them tomorrow. After that we were good.. We had food that we packed for dinner. Jim thought the bed was hard I thought was soft, we got used to it. 

Monday October 24th we went to the breakfast that they had. We lovingly called the hotel quality not so Quality Inn. But the breakfast was top-notch for Jim, first class all the way he loved it. Here's a picture of him in line. 

 The man loves his breakfast food.

I just drink coffee and watch the man eat, I had my little steel cut oatmeal and Greek yogurt I make in the instant pot with fresh fruit everyday. They had scrambled eggs and bacon biscuits with sausage gravy. A Belgian waffle maker bread English Muffins with a toaster, almost anything you could imagine. We watch the news and weather while we enjoyed our coffee for a good hour. 

Then we would head over to Affinity RV group to check on the campers progress. 

The above picture has 1 of 4 of the stress cracks circled. 2 on each side above slides.

Till we got there they had the fifth wheel inside and the progress was underway. Amazing how much they had done already.

 The slide was out already.

After we left the first full day they worked, we were leaving as the welder was coming in. He welded for hours we were told. We believe he unplugged the RV and forgot to plug it in when he left, when we arrived the next morning it was at 67% battery. But they must have caught it before we arrived. Was probably a little lower than that but it was okay.

We would hang out for a bit and watch them work, and then we would take off and go find something to do. 4 out of 5 days we walked at the beautiful Fiddler Pond Trail. 

In 4 days we walked 10 miles. A great path around the lake.

It was a little chilly and windy but beautiful. Saw some black squirrels.

 Then we head back to check the RV one more time by 2 or 3:00 before everyone leaves at 3:30. Then we would go back to the hotel and have dinner. The next morning we do it all over again. 

We had a cup of coffee in the room, got ready. Went to the breakfast room had a fabulous breakfast, well Jim did. After I ate we would go check on the RV  about 10:00 in the morning or so. One day we stopped at Dunkin' donuts and took two dozen over to the guys working.

Then maybe go to a store and go shopping our favorites were Menards and Meijer. Couple times we went to Taco Bell, and he did Burger King once for lunch. Other than that we ate in the room with all the food I brought. It was very convenient to have the fridge and microwave and way cheaper and healthier.

 Then we go back to check on the RV before they closed up. The one day the guy was up the ladder and he asked Jim if he wanted to go up the ladder and look. So he crawled down and Jim went up to check the progress. 

I was inspecting from the ground. 

You can see new piece above slide before it was painted 

before the slide was out.

Then got messier and messier inside.

I kept seeing things and would say to myself, well I can get rid of that. And that.

This is what Jim saw when on the ladder.

           They replaced on both sides above slides.

You can see slide on  Left, laying on it's side with old floor.

Then the new slide floor here. They took everything out of side and layer it down. Then had to put it all back in. Above ladder you can see new replacement glass that will be painted later.

By Wednesday and into Thursday things were starting to come back together. And the slide was back in. We arrived one day and they went to show us the slide coming back in. And it didn't work. I broke into a flop sweat. They started working on it again, they had to change out the way it was beveled on the floor. Here's a picture of Rod and Jim together. 

 A few years ago when we stayed at our friend's house in Jonestown, we painted the black trim at the edge of the top of the roof line, because it was peeling so bad. When they did all this work they had to peel the rubber roof back. Jim and I were so concerned about how it ruined the paint. The painter they hired is fantastic,  and it was painted on both full-length sides, even better than we had it. I think that's what they were doing in the above picture with all the scaffolding.

He told us to check everything and if something isn't right to tell the one guy and they would take care of it. First thing Jim saw was the strap for the recliners was no longer attached to the new floor. He told me don't say anything I'll just do it quick. And then Jim started looking around and spotted three different things that needed attention. The main thing was above the slide the paper was all wrinkled. After they investigated why they realized it was rotten under there they had to pull all the paper off, replace the wood and put new wallpaper up. Now I call that my accent wall. They did an amazing job cleaning up putting things back together. They paid Attention to all our concerns. They cleaned the outside and Polished it. They even cleaned the hard wood floor and Polished it, so much that I almost took a wicked fall, some of the workers almost did too.

 There was so many bugs in the front nose when we arrived and they got all them cleaned off it was amazing. We can't say enough good things about them. They did an amazing job, I guess that's what 35,500 gets you.

Between the two of us we took so many pictures of all the progress. So many more...

here they had to take the window out, fix broken wall inside, put up new wall board. Part of my new accent wall.

Above picture is my new accent wall with a new wallboard and window back in. I asked Rod if they could not put the window boxes back up, just throw them in the dumpster. I want to have Jim help me put curtains up on the back three windows, ASAP. He said sure we don't have to put them back.

By Friday they had everything together. And we watched them pull the fifth wheel out of the Bay.

 They parked it in our spot we've had so many times now. We were able to move things back in from the hotel. It took a lot longer than I anticipated, because I still needed to clean up certain things and put stuff away. Once they left for the day I had full hookups and I think I even started on some laundry. 

He can't say enough good things about Rod and Affinity. They have been fantastic to us taking such good care of us and are home. We would highly recommend them. 

We were just so happy and thankful feeling so blessed everything was finished. He stay the night tonight, head towards Georgia tomorrow for the  Switch it up Huddle.