Georgia Veterans State Park - Another Tribe Adventure

PB&J Adventure Journal - Read the full article for lots more pictures.

Entry Date: February, 2010

This adventure turned out to be just that, an adventure. The expected became the unexpected, and the unexpected became the expected... rather unexpectedly.

Ok, so the plan was to head South with some friends last February. South to a warmer climate. What better time to visit hot sweaty South Georgia than in the Winter. As the departure day neared, the forecast became very unusual for the region. Snow! Snow in Cordele, Georgia! This was a rare event indeed. We bought some tubes and took off work early to get ahead of the weather. We were stoked! Snow in South Georgia!

It snowed hard on us most of the way to Cordele, but the roads were pretty warm and stayed clear right up until we arrived at Georgia Veterans State Park. We found our site and began setting-up. Flakes were the size of golf balls, and splatted when they hit the ground. It was a wet snow, and it was stacking-up fast.

By the time I'd finished hooking us up it was snowing very hard, it was really cold, and the sun was gone. I had the unpopular task of sending the kids inside, assuring them that the snow would be piled-up good in the morning ready for play. Tubing, snowmen, and snowball fights would fill our day. They were excited, I was optimistic, I was sadly mistaken.

When we got up Saturday morning, all the snow was gone. The white precipitation had turned to rain sometime during the night and washed the snow away. It was cold outside as well as inside. Daddy was not the most popular resident at the campsite, at least for a while. All was soon forgiven though, it was, after all, my Birthday.

We spent the remainder of time at the park fishing and exploring the museum. It was a very cold weekend, so we kept a fire roaring all the time. We celebrated valentines day and Lee Thomas' Birthday while on this trip as well.

On President's day, we hopped on the Sam's Shortline Train to Plains, home of former President Jimmy Carter. It leaves from the park. There was an actor on the train impersonating Teddy Roosevelt. He spoke at an auditorium in Plains, and was entertaining although he probably should have rehearsed a little more. We had previously visited the childhood home of President Carter, so this was more about the train ride than anything. One thing of note regarding Plains, there is no ATM. Yes, that's right, as of the time of our last visit, Plains has no ATM, anywhere, not even the bank. Be prepared.

In Summary, Georgia Veterans State Park is an awesome destination with a good many nearby attractions. In warmer weather, I would think getting a lakeside site might be a bit more difficult because fishing and water sports are what this place is made for. The weather's usually pretty nice this time of year. We just happened upon an unusual weather event. On the bright side, we didn't see a single gator.
                          The Richardson Tribe