Kolb's Farm Loop Trail

In our quest to hike every square inch of the beautiful state surrounding us, we came upon Kolb's Farm Loop Trail a few weeks ago. Despite it's length {5.6 miles}, we thought it would be an easy hike for all of us.

I find it quite humorous that both East and West are pointed in the same direction. Way to try and throw some people off, guys! Yes, I do understand the sign. No, that didn't stop me from making jokes about "someone" not knowing their East from West. I guess I should also point out that my jokes were made funnier by the fact that I *technically* do not know my North, South, East, and West directions without consulting a GPS, so...

My brother, Walker, joined us for our trip this time and Canon was more than a little excited to have his uncle around to play with.

We found this forest's throne, which of course Canon claimed as his own. Under what authority I am not sure, but let's just say that his subjects {a.k.a. the animals} took him seriously enough to leave us alone during the entire trek. All hail King Canon!

While Canon was pretending to be a king, I was channeling Galdalf the Grey with my walking stick. My lower back has been bothering me pretty badly lately and this day was no exception. I relied so heavily on that stick that I like to think that I was cultivating my biceps and triceps with every step. You shall not pass!

While it was an easy hike in that it was relatively flat and without obstacles such as huge boulders to climb over, that distance is a little too much for a certain tiny mite in our family. The men took turns carrying him after we hit about 4 miles, and as you can see, he took the time to rest quite seriously. We were placing bets on when he would fall asleep on someone's head. Surprisingly, it didn't happen but his legs did fall asleep a couple of times so I guess that counts for something.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves and took our time soaking in the scenery and exploring off the beaten path. No, not too far. Don't want to mess with the flora and fauna too much after all.

During Craig's research of this trail, he came across some information regarding an old farm house that supposedly stood on the trail. I guess they use that term loosely since you have to cross a major road to find the house and the trail doesn't technically continue once you cross said road. We chose not to play Frogger with our lives that day, and instead drove here after hiking the rest of the trail.

The Battle of Kolb's Farm is another notch in the bedpost for the Union Army during the Atlanta Campaign in the Civil War. Casualties for the Confederate Army hit around 1,500 while the Union only sustained about 250, causing some to call it a one-sided slaughter. Though General Sherman technically won the battle, the attack had halted his plans of movement and forced him to reconsider another way to break through Johnston's Kennesaw line. The original farmhouse on this battle site still stands, though upgrades have been made to it such as indoor plumbing and central A/C. Amen. The government currently uses it as a "residence" for what I can only assume are rangers for the park. We did joke that it was a covert CIA base with the most amazing wifi technology...because that is the most important part of a CIA base after all. Of course, there would also be underground bunkers and magazines, but let's be honest : streaming Netflix faster than you can think is way more exciting than the same old song and dance of "guns and ammo everywhere".

I truly have no idea what I am rambling on about. I think I must need sleep. Send NyQuil. And a babysitter. Stat.

Since the cabin is "inhabited", it is not open to the public - a fact that we didn't know before arriving there. Apparently, Canon had worked himself up so much about seeing the inside of a real cabin that he was sorely disappointed to find that we couldn't explore it for ourselves. He still asks why we couldn't go inside. To this day. I wish I was kidding. Dude really wanted to experience some fast-streaming wifi. Can't say that I blame him for that.

I will admit that this particular trail wasn't our favorite to hike - not because of the length which really worked out fine - but because the scenery wasn't as breathtaking as some of the other trails we have taken. It is probably not one that we will be visiting frequently, but I am glad that we experienced it at least once.

Wanderlust Wednesday : Amazing Alaska

Craig and I were talking just last night about taking a trip to Alaska - one day. It is definitely a place that we both would love to explore. Climbing snow-capped mountains, admiring the majesty of glaciers, gazing at the wonder of the Aurora Borealis, whale watching at its finest...what's not to love about The Last Frontier?

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We are ready to go! 

So when are you booking your tickets? 

Just keep swimming

One of the perks of living near a lake is being able to swim in crystal clear water without having to share your space with predators that may mistake you for grub. I have never felt comfortable swimming in the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico knowing that sharks could consider me a nice little snack.

For the record, yes I know that sharks don't actually aim to attack humans and that once we are in their home we are fair game. Doesn't change the fact that I don't want to lose a huge chunk of my body while out for a little dip. Kind of kills the whole nature-loving mood for a bit, don't ya think?

I digress. Let's get back on track.

So we live near a lake.

Lake Allatoona, which I first introduced in this post, had been beckoning us to return and swim in her waters and we finally gave in. We decided to spend the day there, taking a picnic lunch, and even breaking out the tent for nap time. 

It is really quite amazing the good sleep that you can get outside under the trees. 

 Of course, most of the time was spent playing in the water. It was lukewarm and beautifully clear. Craig had actually gone out earlier in the morning to stake our claim at a particular spot on the lake because there is a "sandbar" of sorts jutting out from the shore. Canon was able to touch the bottom the entire time which made the experience much more enjoyable for all.

We swam, climbed over huge rocks jutting out from the water, and felt the clay between our toes. We played harder together than the three of us had in a long time. I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy having fun with my boys, but when Craig began throwing Canon up in the air I couldn't get to my camera fast enough.

This went on for so long that Craig got tired of it waaaaaay before Canon would have even thought about getting bored.

Lake Allatoona and Redtop Mountain State Park are quickly becoming two of our favorite destinations around here. The easy access to our house coupled with the thousands of acres we have yet to explore keep bringing us back for more and we couldn't be happier to oblige.

Kennesaw Mountain and a PSA

So I took a blogging hiatus last week. For any of you that noticed...thanks for noticing. For everyone else, let's just dive right in, shall we?

If you have have been with us for the last couple of months, you know that we have been exploring our new home and all of the amenities that it is affording us. Waterfalls, lakes, and mountain views have filled our weekends since we moved to north Georgia and we couldn't be more pleased with all that we have found. One such weekend, we decided to check out Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Being lovers of history, Craig and I were excited to see some Civil War battlegrounds. Being parents to a four year old boy, we were excited that Canon could run and play to his heart's content across the almost 3000 acres of land, and then pass out early that evening. At least some of that actually happened.

When we arrived at the park, we actually found that the 150th battle anniversary was being commemorated on that day. How lucky were we?! There were actual cannons being fired, battles being reenacted, and soldiers remembered that lost their lives in the battle for Atlanta. No, we actually did not know that festivities were going on. Yes, we are apparently that clueless as to our surroundings.

We began our hike where most do...at the beginning. Canon was our guide, and so naturally, had to read the map to find our way.

I included the photo of this fawn below, not because it is a good photo, but to tell you a little story about it. You see, as we were hiking through this beautiful stretch of land, we came upon a large group of people all crowding around this little guy. His legs were so shaky that it was quite apparent that he had JUST been brought into this world. He had somehow made his way down the hill and away from his mother where folks gathered to gawk at him and generally scare the mess out of him. As he tried to get away, people just followed closer. One middle-aged man then took it upon himself to "guide" the fawn back to his mother by bumping him with a stick in order to turn him around. WITH A STICK.

Let me just say that, for the record, if I ever see this happen again I will not keep my mouth shut. It infuriates me to no end that people think that they know so much better than nature what should happen. Fawns have been coming into this world since the dawn of deer and have always managed to do just fine without our "help". So please for the love of all things holy, do NOT try to "help" animals when they are not in danger. I can assure you that on this national park land, there is no danger to these animals other than stupid people doing stupid things like nudging them with sticks to send them the way they "ought to go". I mean, seriously?!

Craig and I both were ashamed of ourselves for not saying anything, especially since Canon wouldn't stop talking about "that guy hitting the baby deer with the stick". Why didn't we saying anything?! I still haven't figured that one out.

Ok, moving on. Once we made it to an upper level of the mountain, though still only about halfway to the summit, we could see Atlanta's skyline. It was really a lovely site to behold.

We had to play on ever single boulder that we came across. And by "we" I mean Canon. And Craig.

"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba, Sithi uhm ingonyama...It's the circle of life!"

Funny Face Canon strikes again! This jester was so excited to climb and jump and run and play that every picture I took involved him being silly in some way.

Aside from the fawn incident, we had a fantastic time on this trail. In fact, we loved the park so much that we have been back a few times since this initial trip. Also, Craig has been running here. Since it is only about 7 minutes from our house, this is quickly becoming one of our favorite places.

Unicoi saves the day!

Following our somewhat disappointing visit to Helen, GA, we decided to venture a little further and check out Unicoi State Park. More specifically, we wanted to see Anna Ruby Falls.

It was actually raining during our hike up to the falls so I didn't get a ton of pictures. Something about not wanting to get my camera wet since I can't afford to replace it was at the forefront of my mind. I did manage a couple of shots while standing under Craig's umbrella. Totally worth it. Even overcast and wet, the place was gorgeous. Bonus points for the fact that since it was raining we had the place practically to ourselves.

None of us are sweet enough to melt so we weren't extremely worried about the droplets. In fact, it was kind of refreshing.

The falls are actually part of a river system that extends from northern Georgia down to Florida. This particular section is a 150 foot drop, with a couple of shorter falls before and after this one. Unfortunately, the link that I provided at the top of this post doesn't give these specifics, but there was a park ranger stationed on the viewing deck and gave us the 411 on it all...in between laughing at Canon busting his behind every couple of seconds. More on that in a minute.

The rain had made the viewing deck pretty slippery and Canon decided he wanted to sing and dance in the rain. Like mother, like son. Since we were the only visitors around, we thought it was more than ok and let him wear himself out. Boy, did he. He ran and jumped and fell and slid and spinned to his heart's content. He played so hard that he fell asleep within roughly 2.3 seconds after settling back in the car. Thanks, Anna Ruby Falls, for a quiet ride home!

 Upon leaving the park, we came across this sign from days gone by and we not-so-secretly lusted after the gas prices that have since ceased to be. RIP affordable gas. You were under-appreciated then, but we now long for your return.

Even with the rain, our trip to Unicoi redeemed our otherwise 'bleh' trip and I am anxious to go back and explore again. Mainly to take more pictures, of course, but I am sure the boys won't mind having another adventure.

Wanderlust Wednesday

I stumbled upon this list of 100 Trips You Must Take In Your Lifetime according to Business Insider. Of course, being the obsessive stalker of all things travel, I had to take a look and well...they are right. You must see these, and oh so much more. In any case, I am adding a few events and destinations to my wanderlist. Who am I kidding?! Everything on this list is being copied/pasted to mine. 

A few of the must-do's on the list include:

Feel Inspired by Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square

Marvel at the majestic scenery in Torres Del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile

Navigate the backwaters of Kerala, India on a houseboat

Navigate through icebergs on a cruise to Antarctica

Sleep in an ice hotel. There's one in Quebec, Canada and another in Jukkasjrvi, Sweden

Trek to the Salarde Uyuni, the massive salt flat in Bolivia.

So yeah, just go ahead and add everything on this list to my list. The ones that weren't already there, anyway. I'm looking at you, Antarctica.

Go check out the list and tell me which locations have you lusting to wander these days.

**All photos were taken from the Business Insider website and are definitely not my own. However, I fully intend to take some shots of these places when I visit, so there's that.*