Weekend in Ellijay

Our weekend in Ellijay at the Bearitage cabin was as amazing as we'd hoped! The hikes we took were both beautiful and exhausting (in a good way), the four dogs all got along great, and we definitely had some good times and made some great memories with our friends!

Thursday: Day 1
We didn't actually get out Atlanta until kinda late that evening so Thursday night we pretty just got there in time for bed! Here are some pictures of the cabin:









Friday: Day 2
Kid & Krista had breakfast detail and afterward we packed our lunches and hit the trail at Amicola Falls. The Falls were really pretty and the funniest part was that the bridge was see-through to the bottom and it turns out that Tucker and Barley were both either afraid of heights or just didn't like the way the waffle iron bridge felt on their paws!

Pretty much what everyone had to deal with all weekend! Cookie? Treat?
Kid & DW:
Krista & I:

Up? Or Left?
The Walker Family:
The Gonce Family:
An 1930's-ish truck that was stuck in the trees on the side of the Mtn:
What are the chances of all 4 people & all 4 dogs looking at the camera?
The trail to the Falls:
The Base of Amicola Falls:

We stopped by a Pumpkin Patch on our way home to the cabin for a good photo op and picked out pumpkins for our Couples Carving Contest (to be posted for voting later this week)! DW and Daniel also took bets on who could find the most expensive pumpkin and, sorry D-dubs, Daniel totally won that one!

Modeling the T-shirt selections from the Pumpkin Barn:

DW pointing out his pick for the most expensive pumpkin:

Daniel won with the $85!!! Pumpkin! See? And you thought I was kidding:
Hiding from the boys:
More Tomfoolery:
Stealing Kisses...
Our pick of pumpkin for the Couples Carving Contest! Oh, they so think they're going to be the winners...weiners maybe!?

When we got home, we relaxed on the decked by the creek and let the dogs play out in the water. Dusty and Daniel walked out into the middle of the creek across the rocks and managed to stay dry until Daniel slipped into the water on his very last rock on his way back in! Funny stuff! Barley and Cooper also bonded and became BFF, playing ball and chasing eachother through the water at full speed until we made them come back to the cabin to dry off!

For dinner, we cooked grilled chicken and vegetables out on the grill and, after stuffing ourselves, we settled in for a game of Monopoly by the fire - which I DOMINATED!

Seriously, I NEVER beat Dusty at anything and I totally won! It kinda sucked, though, at the end because Dusty didn't just let me get ahead and say, "Oh yea, you totally are going to win!" He played and played, hoping for a comeback until the very end. I was SO done by the time I won! I earned that win! The fire had even died by then! We finished off the evening with some great conversation in the jacuzzi and called it a night!

Saturday: Day 3
DW and I had breakfast duty and then packed our lunches and drove to Springer Mountain, located in the Chattahoochee National Forest. It's the southern entrance to the Appalachian Trail and the views were just amazing as you can see in the pictures below!!!

Finally, the perfect shot!!!

Seriously, it's bad when the dogs are starting to look annoyed with picture time!

I was trying to ignore the fly on my face! Guess I didn't smell too great... ha!

Don't let him fool you...he LOVES it!

Wow, look at that view!

Our lunch spot:
We two Kings:

The Walker Pups:

The Gonce's Pups:

It was a long hike and shortly into the drive back to the cabin, we looked into the back of the car and all four dogs were completely passed out all over each other!

For dinner, we cooked Blue Cheese Burgers (crumbled blue cheese mixed into the hamburger meat before being made into patties - YUM!), grilled up some fresh pineapple, and finished it off with some chocolate cheesecake! As soon as dinner was over, the guys headed into the theatre to watch the Auburn game (oh yeah, we had to verify there was cable up here) while us girls got ready for our departure tomorrow and then spent some time hanging out in the jacuzzi, of course!

Oh, Krista and I also set Tucker up with some bread on the counter - which he finds completely irresistible - because her and Daniel wanted to see him "smile" like he does when he gets in trouble. No kidding, he shows top and bottom teeth when he's done something wrong and knows it. It's absolutely hilarious and they loved it! (Krista, don't forget about how we got "busted" trying to "bust" him! He's stealthy!)

Sunday: Day 4
Basically, we got up and made a quick breakfast, cleaned up the cabin, and hit the road. Daniel and Krista had a long trip back to Orlando and we drove our short trip back to Atlanta. We definitely got the better end of that deal so we'll have to make it up to them back making a trip down to Orlando sometime soon!

Definitely a weekend worth repeating...I hated to come back to reality!