With crisp Fall weather in the air we set our focus on doing a corn maze/pumpkin patch type of activity with friends. We decided to target North Georgia mountains and our friends Tim and Karrie flew up to join us from Orlando area with their two daughters. My hockey buddy drove up too and also brought his two daughters, so we had a whole gaggle of 4-7 year old girls. I had been wanting to check out this airport, GA87, for a while now as it looked promising for a great camping experience. It exceeded my expectations as the site was well maintained and beautiful and the food and friendship was epic.
We started the journey by flying into the little 2,000 ft grass strip just north of Dahlonega, GA. Tim caught some amazing footage with his quad copter of me coming in for a landing.
The owner kept up the grounds and flew a Just Aircraft several times per day, while his wife ran the business/food side of things. We enjoyed a really amazing dinner that the restaurant on site prepared buffet style and got a nice bottle of red wine to enjoy with it. Brandi brought a boatload of glow sticks and after dark the kids ran around playing with them and just being kids. They were having so much fun. We managed to get a campfire going despite the mostly wet wood, thanks to a commandeered bottle of starter fluid. We stayed the night in a yurt, which was a big fancy tee pee style tent, but it actually had a king sized bed and was a super cozy way to camp out. Even if glamping is a bit like cheating, it sure makes for an easy and comfy experience!
Saturday morning after a really big and delicious breakfast we all flew over to our home field, KCZL, and then drove to the Copper Creek Farm. It was really packed, and for good reason because they had so many activities to see and do! The kids mined for precious gems, which turned out to be a huge value the rest of the trip with lots of gem trading and organizing taking place later. They rode on a zip line, watched a pig race, went through a corn maze and checked out the pumpkin patch. Whew! We left out of there and headed for a rock garden nearby that I just randomly saw on google maps. It was really great! We then had a little excursion to Buc-ees, because Tim is a huge fan and for good reason!
We all flew back to High Valley airport and I had a really great time flying my friend Martin and his daughters for the first time. We had 10 people and 2 RV-10s, so I shuttled Brandi/Lucy over then picked up my second load of passengers. This gave me some extra landing experience at the field, which was a little sporty since it was fairly short and had trees on either side, but very doable, and very fun.
After a jam packed day, we enjoyed some beers and a wonderful steak dinner and another evening of glow stick kids running off what little energy they had. The next day the dads and kids went on a short hike on a segment of the Appalachian trail, while the moms stayed behind for some quality relaxation and mom time. Sadly, it was time for everyone to get home and brace for another week in the real world. This camping adventure was a magical time.
On the flight home Lucy reached up and grabbed the controls, gave it a little jiggle and said "My Controls". I chuckled at this un-prompted action and said back "your controls". She proceeded to fly us all the way back to KCZL, of course getting in some "up downs" (oscillations) along the way. I got a short video of her having a blast.
