Fort Gaines, GA (Lake Eufala)

This was a small trip, compared to most, but significant for a lot of reasons - first, it will be Hank (the new 2 year old Weimeraner rescue) maiden RV adventure; second, we have been on CoVid quarantine for 5 months and life is so different; and third, it will be another joint trip with Mitzi/Jim - so fun to have meals together and have buddies on site! Linda, and dog Maggie, accompanied me and Jim/Mitzi, with LabraDane Callie and Yorkie Winnie drove their 40 ft Class A RV with full comfort features (especially the supersize shower!). We left on Saturday morning when Stone Mtn had closed due to possible violent protests over the Confederate soldiers carved on the mountain. We were a little worried that freeways in area would be affected, so we planned an early departure while J/M left Friday afternoon and met us Saturday. Fortunately, there was no violence at the park this weekend, and we made good time to Fort Gaines. There is really nothing around this park, but it was 13 miles into Eufala, a very charming old south town with many Southern mansions along the main boulevard. But Cotton Hill Campground was an exceptional COE park - all waterfront sites, FULL hookups (except cable tv, but did get antenna stations), and dog park. We had 2 side by side sites on Pine Island, next to tent sites (which were not used), playground, and beach. Beach was roped off due to CoVid, but didn’t stop us from going into water on either side of ropes, and all had a nice sand beach. I had dreaded the humidity of south GA in August, but the breeze coming off Lake Eufala, which is fed by the Chattahoochee River, was constantly pleasant. We even had a couple fires in evening! Every day consisted of early dog walk, breakfast outside, longer walk, lunch, lake float until Jim delivered the “juice” in late afternoon while we struggled with the big decision of what to grill for dinner, another dog walk, then dinner and sunset! Early in the week, we discovered that Hank was a water dog, if he was chasing sticks, so we found a little site at the end of Pine Island where we could let the dogs fetch, out of site of Park Rangers. When we saw how much Hank liked water, we hiked through some wooded area to a lake inlet off park land, and Hank took his first known official swim - he accidentally went in a little too far, and looked terrified as he discovered the depth, but recovered with a frantic dog paddle...and a water dog was created! So Thursday, we headed for the “secret waterfront” to play fetch in water’s edge, had almost arrived when we saw Hank and Maggie leap in air - looked like snake bite? So I approached carefully, but soon found myself attached by hornets, we think! I think I had 5-6 stings on leg and arm despite wearing long pants, Linda escaping unscathed! I usually get pretty severe local reactions and swelling from a single bee sting, so I hightailed it back to RV and rummaged for every Benadryl I could find, only to discover they were all expired, some more than 2 years - but I figured just take more of it, cuz it could be weak, and gave the dogs the oldest drugs! Then laid back and waited to see if anaphylaxis would ensue, told Linda to dial 911 if I started wheezing! Jim sent over a great ice pack, and offered to drive their RV like a fire engine (Mitzi had driven their car back to Newnan to pick up a friend) to the closest hospital - I could just imagine that ER visit!!! But, amazingly, I didn’t even sleep after 75mg Benadryl and swelling was less than some of my other stings (although very ugly for sure) and the frequent stinging sensations made you think stingers or live bees were still active - thereby adding ibuprofen to the treatment!! The rest of that day was a waste, wasn’t even hungry, but felt better the next day. Dogs were fine, but we never returned to the “secret waterfront”. Look forward to another trip to Cotton Hill Campground soon!

Planned Dates

2020-08-15 to 2020-08-22

Countries

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