Ocmulgee (Pope's Ferry to Waterworks Park)

 
Mom came up last weekend and brought Nico for a kayak trip.

 

We got up, had breakfast a la Eric, and loaded the vehicles.  Off we went to drop the last vehicle at Waterworks park.  We put in at Pope's Ferry, the river was listed at 4.5' at Dame's Ferry and around 1500cfs.  The run started out pretty good, but we quickly started running into shoals which became the story of the day. 

 

 
 We stopped less than an hour in when we found a swimming hole.  What a great way to cool off!

 

 

We have piece by piece completed the length of the Ocmulgee from Jackson to Macon.

 

 
Check out this strange flower we found on the island where we stopped to swim.

 
What we thought would be a 3-4 hour trip kept getting longer and longer, eventually ending at 7 hours.  What took the most time was Clay and Eric and mom getting stuck on rock after rock.  Mom and Eric dumped out at one point, losing her glasses and her chewbacca shirt.   Even though it was a long stretch it was one of the prettiest parts of the river.  I would like to do it again, but Clay isn't so sure.  He thinks maybe if the river was another 1.5 feet higher.

 
There were beautiful rocky outcroppings and sections with homes on the banks which provided some eye candy.

 
By the time we got finished we were so hungry we each devoured Five Guys burgers and fries in record breaking time.  

 

Weekend Shenanigans

 

We had a full weekend: Eric came up Friday night, mom came up Saturday, and Sarah and Drew came up Sunday.  Eric, Clay, and I took Lily to the Towaliga River right up the road on Saturday.  It was her first time at the river.  The weather was warm but the water was still cold but she hopped right in after sticks.  She seemed to have a great time!  Eric and I both ended up in the mud.  There was some slippery mud hiding under leaves and he slipped and landed on his butt and I slipped and landed chest first ( which is why my white zip up in brown).  Clay and Lily laughed at us.

 

On Saturday night we went to Hampton and Clay and Eric went to the Jailhouse Brewery.  Mom and I looked around the town and took a few pictures.  We stopped in the bookstore there and had a nice chat with the owner.  When Clay and Eric were done left there and went to Morrow to VN Pho for some food and avocado milkshakes while being serenaded in the car by Clay.  

When we got home we made a fire and literally chilled out around the fire.  I made a sore attempt at making pretzels, I will have to redo them some other time to redeem myself.  They may or may not have been called salt-dough ornaments.

 
Mom and I got up Sunday and went to work-out with Joey.  We did a tough ab workout and I took Lily for a 2 mile run when we got home.  Clay made some delicious food for a late lunch and he and Eric watched the Falcons.  Sarah and Drew got here later (she is staying here for photography classes in Atlanta).  It was GREAT to see her and Drew.  I got up this morning with them and had breakfast and coffee before they headed out.  It is just 0730 and I have already been up 3 hours, I am alone with the dogs now just chilling with my coffee and the fireplace since Georgia decided to give us a little wintry weather for a day or two.

Log Stove and Tasty Pear Bread

 

Clay found this idea on his outdoor trader forum and decided to give it a try this weekend.  Eric came down to hang out and they got to work making it happen.

 

I was trying to stay out of the way I just was the waitress bringing things in and out of the kitchen.

 

  I love the way a house looks so cozy and welcoming at night with the lights on inside!

 

Initially it had a hard time getting going but after it started they were good to go.  

 Lily was in charge of supervising the menfolk while they worked.

 

I made 2 loaves today, the one on the left is banana, apple, cinnamon, pecan and the one on the right is banana, pear, cardamom, and almond.

 

I liked the pear one better.  The recipes are as follows and the baking/mixing instructions are the same for both and listed at the bottom:

Apple Cinnamon Bread

DRY

1.5 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1tbsp cinnamon  

1/4-1/2 cup pecans

 

WET

2.5 very ripe bananas smashed

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 eggs 

1 apple finely chopped

Pear Cardamom Bread

DRY

1.5 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1tbsp cardamom

1tsp cinnamon 

1/4-1/2 cup slivered almonds

WET

2.5 very ripe bananas smashed

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 eggs 

1 ripe pear finely chopped

Combine wet and dry ingredients separately in different bowls, add dry to wet ingredients slowly mixing in. Then pour into greased (or pam sprayed) 9 inch bread loaf pans.  Cook at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until firm.

 

Where have I been

 

The last week and a half has been very busy, plus my laptop went on the fritz so I have been a little absent in the blogosphere.   Clay and I attended another Yelp elite event at Lime Fresh in Atlanta.  We had a good time and visited with 2 other Yelping couples.  The spread there was great!  Guac, salsa bar, tacos, burritos, key lime pie, sangria, and margaritas for free.  We also spent some time just running around ATL on last Saturday.  We hit up Petsmart and visited with the humane society puppies and got them some chew toys, then we were going to go back to the Book House Pub, but sadly we were too early and they weren't open yet.  Next, we found ourselves in Inman Park and decided to hit up Fritti, which we had seen before when going to Dad's garage theater but never tried.  We have been missing out, what a fantastic meal.  We ate out on the patio and didn't even mind the heat because the food was that good!  We started with calamari which was crisp and not chewy and sausage risotto balls that were innovative and delicious!  We shared a pizza with several cheeses, ham, artichokes, and olives.  Yummy!  1 pizza was 8 decently sized slices, so it was perfect for sharing.  It was so warm that we couldn't turn up the opportunity for gelato and we were very glad we didn't.  The pistachio was the most flavorful that I have ever had and the lime-raspberry was sweet and tangy and so refreshing. 

 

We decided that evening that we would come back on Friday for a Braves baseball game and headed south to go pick me out a kayak.  I tried the one that I thought would be my favorite but the foot pegs pushed in on my ankles and were very uncomfortable so I tried on the small and cheapest *yay* just for giggles and it was so much more comfortable and it was super light.  I can actually pick it up over my head to carry it.  Plus, it is green and looks like a watermelon.  We strapped that baby to the roof and headed home.  I spent the week working and hanging out with Stacie.  It was Claire's last week in Georgia so we had a little festivity for her at work and then I went out to eat with her and Bekie on evening.  

So, when we made our plans last week to go to the Braves game little did we know we were going to be in the midst of a heat wave, but we are hard core so off we went Friday into the 100+ degree temps to cheer on the Braves.

 

We arrived and met Eric and bought our tickets *cheap nosebleeders* and headed up into the rafters of the stadium.  Profusely sweating but still having a good time we proceeded to watch the Braves get their asses handed to them until the 7th inning when they got 4 runs to tie it up.  Unfortunately the Nationals brought scored again and the Braves weren't able to come back.  We all had a good time and enjoyed ourselves and it wasn't that bad considering the scorching temps.

 

After the game I was a bit peckish so we were trying to decide on somewhere to go eat and since we attempted to go to the Book House Pub the other day and they are open until 0200 we headed over there.  We encountered a sketchy parking situation but managed to get in and get a table.  The vibe was different than when we were there at dinner time but other than having to yell at tablemates to be heard it was a nice time.  Our waitress even scrounged up some house made chips for us even thought the kitchen was closed.  I enjoyed a spicy bloody Mary while Clay and Eric tried a few beers.  Clay was disappointed that they didn't have the banana nut bread beer that he enjoyed so much the last time we were there but found a new favorite, the watermelon beer.  We tortured my sister with pics of this beer because I remembered her Facebook post from earlier in the week lamenting her lack of access to said beer.  We were still munchy when we left, the chips didn't quite count as dinner, so we hit up the Zesto close by for our first experience there, then we headed home, surprising Killer at about 0300.

 

Today was even hotter and Clay attempted to talk me into doing yardwork, haha haha.  Needless to say that didn't get done.  Tomorrow is supposed to be around 104 but our crazy selves are heading out for a kayak excursion on the Ocmulgee.  We are going to put in at Lloyd Shoals Dam and take out at Wise Creek.  We are taking lots of water and hoping that the whole river hasn't evaporated or we will be miserably portaging a whole lot.  This run is supposed to take about 3 hours, I am betting on more like 5-6 counting a picnic lunch for us.  We shall see!  Me and my watermelon mobile will be hitting the water for the first time. 

Eric's Birthday

We went to Savannah this weekend to celebrate Eric's 40th birthday. We got down there Friday evening and checking in to the Days Inn Ellis Square. Decent hotel, great centralized location. We went out in search of dinner and ate at Molly McPherson's which was a little underwhelming compared to our last time there. We strolled around and looked at the Christmas lights up everywhere. We went in the AT Hun gallery where we got our Pete the Cat, an were pleased to see that we made an art investment. The same sized pieces are selling for 300% more now. Pretty neat!

I got my exercise in so that I wouln't feel bad about imbibing and so I wouldn't gain 5 pounds on the trip. Also, I needed to get in m long run, so I did a total of 9 miles walking around town and running on the hotel treadmill.

We went to Kevin Barry's the second night and shut them down. I had noticed a post from a high school friend that he was in town to run the bridge an we ended up all getting together for a while and caught up which was really nice, I hadn't seen him but once in the last 10 years.

Clay insisted on wearing his Hawaiian shirt, it was too painful for Eric to look at, obviously!

We checked out the crafts show that they had down on Riverstreet. We got the most amazing smelling candle, it smells just like the inside of a coffee house.

We watched the boats go by. We could actually see the river from the hotel since we were on the 5th floor even though we were back on Bay street. Before we left we browsed the stores on Broughton and ate some delicious food at Papillote (a small French Cafe on Broughton). OMG yum! On the way home, we stopped in Statesboro and visited with Scott, Blair, Kevin, and Anna and ate dinner at the wonderful Holiday Pizza. A stuffed pepper, some of their delicious salad, and ziki sauce later I was a happy girl. It helped that I brought home a giant mason jar of their house dressing too!