November 19 thru 22, 2009 -
Old
Stone Fort State Park - Manchester,
Tennessee
A friend of Daddy's told him about
Old
Stone Fort State Park, a very very cool place about an hour South of
Nashville, Tennessee. It is the site of a 2000 year-old Woodland Indian
ceremonial site. What is amazing is the fact that the 50 acre perfectly
flat hilltop is almost completely surrounded by a rock and dirt wall.
Where there is no wall, cliffs and rivers protect the area. As with one
of our favorite places,
Fort
Mountain State Park, the first non-natives to visit the area assumed
the enclosure was a fort, and understandably so. Although no one ever
actually lived on the site, it was constructed, maintained, and used for
a period of around 400 years. The wall contains no rocks over 70 pounds,
in other words, nothing placed in the wall was heavier than a single
person could lift and carry. There is a very nice museum on-site that
describes the archaeological processes and findings very clearly,
including a time tunnel that demonstrates what was happening elsewhere
on Earth at simultaneous times related to the building of this old
ceremonial ground. Although some of the Tribe didn't think they wanted
to hike, the 1.2 mile hike was very easy with lots of neat things to
see. By the end of the loop, everyone wanted to go around again, but it
was time for lunch. After lunch, we played around the campground,
then drove about 20 minutes to Morrison Tennessee for some unusual fun
that Daddy thought we'd all love, a
MONSTER TRUCK RIDE
(scroll down).
The campground: The campground at Old Stone Fort is accessed by crossing
an old-fashioned truss bridge that, at first sight, seems too small to
fit or/support a large RV. Daddy was assured that the Tribe's Homer II
would fit through the ironworks, and it did. Camping is just $17 a night
($14 for TN seniors), but don't expect any full hookups or pull-throughs.
All sites are back in but most are pretty big and very level. There is
water and electricity, but we were unable to get any television
reception, which was just fine.
Side Adventure - Monster
Truck Ride
After our hike and lunch on Saturday, Daddy and
Mommy took us to "Cobra Monster Truck Rides" in Morrison, Tennessee
(931-635-3123). The initial interest was mixed until we got there and
saw the truck. Suddenly all the Tribe wanted to ride. At first we
thought it would be just a short ride, but it seemed Mr. White (owner
and driver) was having as much fun as us. He'd look back to see if we
were smiling, and he'd grin ear to ear. We drove over old cars, through
mud, went fast, went slow, went up, went down, every which way. Everyone
had a blast and wanted to do it more. The cost was a very reasonable
$30.00 for all six Tribe members (multi-passenger discount). The regular
cost is $6.00 per rider. The pictures tell the story. Sorry about the
blurred pictures. It's hard to focus when you're laughing and screaming
simultaneously.
November
13 thru 15, 2009 -
Fort Mountain State Park -
Chatsworth, Georgia
In the days before white men, and
for some time after their arrival,
Fort Mountain was
known as "Cohutta", which most closely translates to "Mountains that
Hold the Sky" in Cherokee. After some research, Daddy discovered Cohutta
mountain is the source of several legends about a lost Native American
gold mine. he also discovered proof that a working gold mine was
producing significant ore on the mountain in 1906. Gold had apparently
been successfully panned there prior to the discovery of the veins and
the opening of the Cohutta mine around 1905. Mysteriously, and to the
surprise of USGS surveyors visiting the mine, by 1910, it had been
closed. 19 years later, Ivan Allen, a wealthy man from nearby Dalton,
donated the top of the mountain to the state of Georgia as a state park.
Sometime between 1906 and 1929, Mr. Allen acquired the land.
(Note: For many years, trucks hauled load after
load of "talc" from mines deep in Fort Mountain. Wouldn't it make a
great novel that somehow they were actually mining gold, and Ivan Allen
donated the mountain to the state to keep nosy prospectors out?)
This whole scenario, to Daddy, seemed like a perfect mystery and
challenge. Somewhere on Fort Mountain is gold. Daddy planned this trip
for the purpose of doing a little prospecting. Saturday afternoon, with
gold pans in hand, Daddy and Super Dave began the hike up Gold Mine
Creek. Unfortunately, no gold was found, but fun was had anyway. Daddy
hasn't given up yet though!
While at the park, we hiked around the
lake, casting our fishing lines in from place to place. We played ladder
ball and Frisbee golf, build a little bridge over the stream behind the
camper, and found lots of insects hiding in old trees. We sat by the
fire and talked until we all got a little chilly.
November 08, 2009 -
Yellow River Game Ranch -
Lilburn, Georgia
The
Yellow river Game Ranch,
located just a few miles East of
Stone Mountain, is a great place to visit when in the area. When the
Tribe visited, the facility had been hit hard by the recent flooding of
Yellow River, and some habitats were damaged or destroyed. frankly,
there were other aspects of the facility that were in need of repair and
maintenance unrelated to flooding, but none that should discourage you
from visiting. All the Richardson Tribe loves animals, and this place
did not let us down. We could go on and on, but we think the pictures
tell the story.
November 07, 2009 -
Lula Lake Land Trust - Lookout Mountain, Georgia
This is a place that Daddy
has wanted to visit for a long time. The
Lula Lake Land Trust,
a privately owned preserve, has a lot to offer as far as natural beauty
and neat things to do (hiking, mountain biking, wildlife watching,
fossil hunting, etc.). The land is open to the public the first and last
Saturday of every month. Just show-up and enjoy. If you want to make
arrangements for a group field trip, the land manager will let you in on
other days. The property was the home to a coal mine around the turn of
the 20th century, and the old mine tailings have tons of fossils. The
part of the property that contains the mine tailings is not typically
open to the public, but the Land Manager told Daddy arrangements could
be made for small groups. On this day, a high school geology club and
the Rome Georgia Mineral Society were there. The Tribe was unable to
participate in the fossil hunt, but we'll come back. We did have a nice
little hike to Lula Lake and Lula Falls just beyond. Daddy climbed down
to the base of the falls and took some pictures. Then he complained a
lot about sore legs after climbing back out. We saw a snake and some
other critters too, but not nearly as many as we saw on Sunday.
Side
Adventure - Chattanooga, TN
After the nice little hike, we drove down
off Lookout Mountain and discovered that there was a huge rowing regatta
called
Head of the Hooch happening
on the Tennessee River. We all marked this experience up as a new and
unique one. Seeing all those sleek hydrodynamic boats slicing through
the water was awesome. After a couple of pizzas at
Lupi's, we headed home.