ahaha! Nope, not quite yet. I had a wonderful weekend hiking with the trail dames once again. Our destination was: "The Len Foote Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls State Park. It is one of the newest and most unique of Georgia's state park facilities. If you enjoy wilderness hiking but prefer a soft bed, hot showers, and great food instead of camping, the Hike Inn is for you. The Inn is accessible only by foot over a moderate 5 mile hiking trail which originates at the top of the Amicalola Falls." (taken straight from the website http://hike-inn.com/ ) This place was so cool. It's a rustic, basic, charming, evironmentaly friendly, little Inn. Complete with solar panels, composting toilets, rainwater harvesting, and vermiculture (recycling organic waste using worms and worm beds.) I learned so much about the earth friendly Inn from the guided 1 hour tour that they provide to all guests. Nice to see how much work and dedication went into this Inn. Definetley makes me think that there is certainly more I can do for the environment.
After checking in at the Parks visitors center, (to get a map, and to find out where to park my car), I met Renee (a trail dame) and she was meeting S.
H.O.E. (whom I hadn't expected to see, but was so glad I saw her again.) They were only hiking in 3 miles and then hiking back out. It was about 40 degrees and around 10:30am when we started and I hiked with them a bit. It was nice catching up. As soon as I got my trail legs, I took off. To be honest, I like hiking alone. I mean, I like hiking with a group, but hiking alone in that group... does that make sense? I enjoy the social aspect of being of a group at the end of the hike, (at camp), but I really like challenging myself and pushing myself sometimes. I tend to stop ALOT, to snap photos every few feet. :) Plus, I just don't like slowing anyone down, or having to wait on anyone. I totally take to heart the motto " hike your own hike."
H.O.E. (whom I hadn't expected to see, but was so glad I saw her again.) They were only hiking in 3 miles and then hiking back out. It was about 40 degrees and around 10:30am when we started and I hiked with them a bit. It was nice catching up. As soon as I got my trail legs, I took off. To be honest, I like hiking alone. I mean, I like hiking with a group, but hiking alone in that group... does that make sense? I enjoy the social aspect of being of a group at the end of the hike, (at camp), but I really like challenging myself and pushing myself sometimes. I tend to stop ALOT, to snap photos every few feet. :) Plus, I just don't like slowing anyone down, or having to wait on anyone. I totally take to heart the motto " hike your own hike." The trail is only 5 miles , and in true Georgia fashion, had some PUDS. However, the trail was well graded and well marked. I was enjoying following the mile markers, snapping my photos, and pushing myself up each PUD. I caught up to the some of the group who started at 10am around mile 3. I said a quick hello and told them I'd see them at the lodge. I continued on and around mile 4, I met Latrice and we hiked the last mile u
p to the Inn together. What a great site, to round the top of the mountain and finally see the Inn! It is 1:30pm when we check in, got our keys (I was in room 7), linens, and towels. The front desk clerk tolds us to make sure we turn up the heat all the way in our room, b/c it takes a while for the heater to warm up. The room is pretty basic, a bunkbed, a little open closet, a shelf with a mirror and that's about it. Oh... a fan, but I would imagine that would come in handy in the summertime. It was freezing in the room, so I crank up m
y little heater, threw down my pack , and made my way to the dining hall for some hot chocolate and a snack. In the dining hall I find North Star and McGuyver and was so glad to see them again! We exchange hugs, hellos, and caught up. I poured myself some coffee, mix in some hot chocolate, and sipped on a glass of lemonade. This is when I learned that I was to label both the mug and cup because I would be using the same mug and cup my enti
re stay at the Inn. How enviromentaly savy is that!
p to the Inn together. What a great site, to round the top of the mountain and finally see the Inn! It is 1:30pm when we check in, got our keys (I was in room 7), linens, and towels. The front desk clerk tolds us to make sure we turn up the heat all the way in our room, b/c it takes a while for the heater to warm up. The room is pretty basic, a bunkbed, a little open closet, a shelf with a mirror and that's about it. Oh... a fan, but I would imagine that would come in handy in the summertime. It was freezing in the room, so I crank up m
y little heater, threw down my pack , and made my way to the dining hall for some hot chocolate and a snack. In the dining hall I find North Star and McGuyver and was so glad to see them again! We exchange hugs, hellos, and caught up. I poured myself some coffee, mix in some hot chocolate, and sipped on a glass of lemonade. This is when I learned that I was to label both the mug and cup because I would be using the same mug and cup my enti
re stay at the Inn. How enviromentaly savy is that! After warming up a bit, I decided to take a quick tour of the property, so I went back to my room, deposited the labeled mug and cup, grabbed my camera, and off I went. I walked down to the Star Base. "Star Base is our celestial calendar, marking the movement of the sun through the seasons of the year.The large "V" shaped rock with the hole in the center marks the fall & spring equinox, the time when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day of equal length in all parts of the earth." (from the website.) I checked out the sun room, which was a community room full of books, board games, comfy chairs and tables. I snapped a few photos of the amazing views and headed back to my room to unpack and make up my bed up. The room was still freezing, so I finished up my chores and took my book to the main lobby to read by the warm fire and wait for the 5 pm, 1 hour guided Inn tour. After the educational property tour, dinner was promptly served at 6 pm. I rushed back to my room to retrieve my cup and made it back just in time to grab a seat 
at one of the 2 long tables. Dinner was sooooo good! We feasted on roasted pork tenderloin, mashed potatos, green beans, mixed vegetables, green salad, and a cheesey skillet corn bread that, alone, was worth the trip up to the Inn! It was so good, but, you had to be careful to not overload your plate. As part of the "conservation tips", you were instructed to only put on your plate what you would eat. Any and all left overs were weighed to see what the total waste would be. If we (all the guests at the Inn that night) kept it under 4 oz, our group was given a smiley face on the dining room board. Well, I am proud to say our group weighed in at 2 oz of waste.
at one of the 2 long tables. Dinner was sooooo good! We feasted on roasted pork tenderloin, mashed potatos, green beans, mixed vegetables, green salad, and a cheesey skillet corn bread that, alone, was worth the trip up to the Inn! It was so good, but, you had to be careful to not overload your plate. As part of the "conservation tips", you were instructed to only put on your plate what you would eat. Any and all left overs were weighed to see what the total waste would be. If we (all the guests at the Inn that night) kept it under 4 oz, our group was given a smiley face on the dining room board. Well, I am proud to say our group weighed in at 2 oz of waste. After dinner, came dessert! A big brownie and a cup of decaf coffee with baileys irish cream. (courtesy of Muddbutt) Oh my, it was so good and a great way to top off dinner
. Afterwords, we all retired to the sunroom deck. We sat in the adirondack chairs overlooking a spectacular view of the mountains. We sipped on baileys irish cream coffees, and Scottish whiskey (courtesy of McGuyver) We watched the stars light up the sky, covered ourselves in wool blankets, and had a great time just laughing and catching up. Around 9pm, we went inside to warm up by the fire and I played a couple of rounds of scrabble with Cindy, Aissa, and Latrice. Fun times. I finally made it up to my room around 10:30pm, decided to take a nice hot shower, call boo, and then go to bed. I knew I would be awaken the next day by drums (Yes drums!) to catch the 7:15 am sunrise. Breakfast will be at 8am, and then back down the mountain to head back home. It was such a great trip and I had so much fun I can't wait to do it again. I hope I can take boo next time so he could experience the Hike Inn as well. Til tomorrow! Sweetpea going to sleep in her bunkbed!
. Afterwords, we all retired to the sunroom deck. We sat in the adirondack chairs overlooking a spectacular view of the mountains. We sipped on baileys irish cream coffees, and Scottish whiskey (courtesy of McGuyver) We watched the stars light up the sky, covered ourselves in wool blankets, and had a great time just laughing and catching up. Around 9pm, we went inside to warm up by the fire and I played a couple of rounds of scrabble with Cindy, Aissa, and Latrice. Fun times. I finally made it up to my room around 10:30pm, decided to take a nice hot shower, call boo, and then go to bed. I knew I would be awaken the next day by drums (Yes drums!) to catch the 7:15 am sunrise. Breakfast will be at 8am, and then back down the mountain to head back home. It was such a great trip and I had so much fun I can't wait to do it again. I hope I can take boo next time so he could experience the Hike Inn as well. Til tomorrow! Sweetpea going to sleep in her bunkbed!
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