Georgia - Day 25 - in the Hartwell campground

Hartwell/Lakeside KOA, Hartwell

Monday, 17 through Saturday, 22 April 2023

One of the days we were here was Anna's birthday so Happy Birthday!

During the week, we encountered a variety of things.  

The campground

Until just a few years ago, this campground was a state park, and it still looks just like a state park and not at all like a KOA.  The road into the campground is still named Hart State Park Road.  But it's a nice place and quite large, which gave Dext and me quite a few options for walks.

The campground sits on the Georgia side of Lake Hartwell; it's one of the largest reservoirs in the southeastern US and South Carolina is on the other side.

More than half the campsites are ranged around the lake and had great views, and several people had their boats moored to their campsites.  They were more expensive than the others in the uplands, so I took one of the cheaper ones.  It was fine, though, because there were fewer people in my area and they were quieter than those along the lake.  I know this because Dext and I walked along there every day.  

Our section had occasional glimpses of the lake, but mostly what we had were trees, which I thought was just fine.

The campground map noted several trails that they designated "Nature Trails."  In actuality, they were just trails in the woods; "nature trails" typically have signs along the way denoting tree/plant species or maybe history, and these didn't have any signs at all - even directional ones (say it together: "Because it's Georgia").

Dext and I went on 2 of those, which is how I know what they were.  And with extra paths branching off here and there, signs would have been very helpful.  We were lucky - I'd memorized the map before starting the walks - but I wouldn't have wanted to be wandering around out there, even on a marked trail, without knowing where we were going.

One day we walked out to the cabins, which turned out to be at the top of a very steep hill.  The view of the lake from up there was great, the cabins all looked very new (looked more like KOA than like state park), and the KOA cleaner there said they're usually all booked up.

Nature/Animals

The first few mornings, we had plenty of warm sun, but a stiff breeze kept the feels-like temp pretty cool.

One day thunder and lightning started at 4:30, while Dext and I were on our first walk.  Soon after we got back the rain started and continued for much of the morning.  On the other hand, the temp got up into the 80s for several days, which was nice, even with the wind.

A lot of deer live here and it seemed like we saw deer - or heard them - on most of our walks.  On our early walk on our first day, Dext alerted (it was pitch dark) and seemed ready to charge off into the bushes, and it was then we both heard a lot of moving around in the brush, sounding like more than just one or two deer.  That was an early sign for me to keep a close eye on Dext on these walks.

The next day on our 2nd walk, a deer crossed the road not far in front of us, paused at the edge - and Dexter stopped with one foot still in the air.  I said softly, "How pretty" and then kept up similar comments and that seemed to help keep Dext from charging the deer.

We kept walking after the deer had moved down the hill and when we walked past that spot, Dext didn't see the deer at the bottom of the hill but I did, and she saw us.  Dext was busy sniffing something as the deer turned to face us directly, very watchful - and I said things like "We're going now" partly to Dext and partly to let the deer keep track of where we were by the sound of my voice.

I'm seeing more and more butterflies.  Often the ones I see are big yellow ones with a sort of tiger striping on the trailing edge of their wings.  I've looked carefully at the photos of the 40 butterflies said to live in Georgia and none of them looks exactly like what I saw.  But this comes the closest.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

This is the official state butterfly and is one of the most common in the state.  But it seems odd that, as often as I saw them and as closely as I looked at them, I should have gotten so many of their features wrong.  Anyway, I saw a lot of butterflies.

I also saw a lot of Blue Jays and Cardinals, and I heard quite a few woodpeckers and a kingfisher.  And the park had a very large number of squirrels living there.

I've got a couple more kitty photos.

I consolidated a bunch of financial papers and ended with this empty box. 
I didn't want to get rid of it because it's a useful box,
so I stuck it on the upper bunk where Bucky immediately appropriated it.

It was hot for much of our stay here, and this is Jimmy coping with the heat. 
The fan is on high and Jimmy's fur is getting ruffled.

One morning, Bucky started making sounds preliminary to vomiting - while he was on my bed - and luckily I got him to the floor just in time.  He threw up 2 lengths of string, that he insists on chewing and I haven't figured out yet how to keep it away from him.

Hartwell

One day we went into town to do some errands.  We went first to the local CVS so I could pick up my latest round of blood pressure meds, and then went back to that dog park.  We were joined there by a dog named Abby who reminded me a whole lot of Gracie.  It almost made me cry to look at her because it brought Gracie right back to me.  She and Dexter sniffed around and bounced around a little bit while I talked to Abby's owner, who said she liked living in Hartwell.

We then went to a laundromat I'd found online that was hard to find in real life because it didn't have a sign of any kind outside.  But it had a lot of perfectly adequate machines and seemed to be very popular.  The drier I ended up with got unusually hot - and I was fortunately warned about it by one of the other patrons, so I checked it long before it should have been done.  And then gave my unused time to that other person.

The town was named for Nancy Hart, an early frontierswoman of great renown.  This Wikipedia article   https://en.wikipedia.org/Nancy-Hart lists some of the many places and groups that have been named for her and the exploits that brought her this fame.   

A business had advertised in the campground brochure as selling propane, but when I got there the guy said they only filled bottles.  Still, he sold a few RV supplies and I bought a water filter, which I've been thinking about doing for some time, to try to avoid having to replace my kitchen faucet yet again.

That guy directed me down the street to the Tractor Supply for propane, and they did indeed sell it to me.

Back at the campground, I dumped the waste tanks and the trash, walked Dext, and then parked up at the shower house while I used the facilities.  We were back in our site by about 4:20, and everybody thought it was time for me to feed them.  I was just glad to have gotten so many chores out of the way.

Campground life

A couple days later I used the water filter for the first time, which was only complicated because I'd never done it before.  Their drawings showed there was a right and a wrong way to hook it up to the water line, so I had to be careful to be sure it'd work.  The directions also said that between uses I needed to store it in the frig.  If I'd known that, I might not have bought it because it's not like I've got a lot of extra space in the frig.  But I decided it made sense, if there was a filter inside the container that neutralized a long list of bacteria and such things - the cold storage would keep that stuff from multiplying or something, I guess.

Speaking of the frig, one morning I got up and opened it to find no light.  It had turned itself off during the night and the inside temp was above 40°.  It's a good thing I have such a strong constitution (usually) because otherwise I'd probably have gotten some kind of food poisoning or something from all the temperature fluctuations that go on in there.

One morning as Dext and I were passing a nearby camper, we saw a bag of marshmallows in the middle of the road.  The plastic wrapper had been chewed, and I guessed that the folks had left it sitting on their table and either a raccoon or a squirrel had stolen it.  I was surprised that most of the marshmallows were still in the bag.

The next day, in about the same spot, we found a plastic wrapper and an inner paper tray - like you'd find in a package of cookies - lying in the road empty.  Clearly these folks are slow learners, and clearly some critter likes sugar.

Although the bag of marshmallows disappeared, the cookie wrapper and tray stayed where they were for the rest of the time I stayed here.  I wanted to go pick them up myself and deliver them to those folks - but these days such reactions might not be safe.  I know I should have picked them up anyway but I was too peeved - and worried (stupidly) that they might also be vaccine deniers and I'd pick up germs if I touched their property.  Strange times we live in.

At first I was getting pretty good internet reception, but toward the end of the week it seemed to slow way down.  I spent most of one morning trying to get photos to load on a blog post.  I tried again later in the day and the reception was better.

Then on Sunday morning before 8:00 I could hardly get anything at all.  I knew it couldn't be too many campers using the internet because - well, most people aren't up at 8:00 on a Sunday.  I finally just gave it up and got ready to go on to my next campground where, unfortunately, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have reception.

But when the signal worked, I got 5½ posts published - and then moved that half-written piece to my word processing program so I could continue to write it even without a signal.  Most of the next week will be in state parks in far northern Georgia, in the mountains, and I'm not expecting to pick up anything there.

While I was here, I also edited all the photos I'd taken so far and figured out an order for them, to make using them easier when I had a stronger signal.

I also worked out directions for getting to everywhere I wanted to go in Georgia and then for getting to South Carolina at the first of the month.  That all took time.

I'm increasingly noticing a little numbness in my right arm.  There's no apparent pattern for when it appears - I can be driving the RV or reading or walking Dext or anything, really.  It's not debilitating, just a vague but specific feeling of numbness throughout my arm.

There are enough small things going wrong with my body that I'm starting to think my overweight is likely a contributor to all of this.  I'm willing to try to lose some of it but not truly sure how, since I'm not usually overeating anything; I could cut out sweets but don't want to lose them entirely and have trouble shopping for things I want.  Variety in the stores I encounter varies tremendously, making a specific diet plan almost impossible.

 And besides, it's likely at least some of the extra weight comes from feeling stress, which I've been feeling increasingly.  Much of that is the kittens; they're just not growing up as fast as I'd wish they would.  (Once again confirming my brilliance in not having children - imagine what their lives would be like prior to adulthood.  Hurry! Hurry! Grow up!)  I'm pretty sure stress is what's causing the muscle spasms in my lower back - no big deal but a real nuisance all the same.  Plus, my trip's coming to an end and I haven't got a clue what I'm going to do next.  A decision there would likely help relieve a lot of that stress, but I haven't even visited South or North Carolina yet so can't begin to make decisions about a future residence.  It'll all work out - things always do for me.  But in the meantime I'd love some quick fixes - and a little ice cream sure helps.