Lake Oconee for 2nd visit & more RV modifications.
Trip Start
Nov 19, 2007
1
107
170
Trip End
Ongoing
Eatonton,
Georgia,
United States
Monday, October 20, 2008
Drove back down to Eatonton to have another look at Lake Oconee and to get out on the water for some kayaking. We contacted Marsha, the realtor who showed us a property we can't get out of our minds and asked her to set up another look.
One thing you see down here, that you never see up north is fire ant hills. While northerners are accustomed to 1" tall ant hills, the standard fire ant hill is 8" to 11" tall. My sister Betsy actually stepped into one of these as a little girl (in Mississippi) and the memory of the firey burning sensation caused by their bites is still talked about over 50 years later. We wont be stepping into any of these.
On our way to the house Marsha pulled through a Georgia Power campground to show us an alternative to the places we have already stayed. What a natural, private and spacious campground. Besides being situated on the water, there are 15 miles of hiking and biking trails that we have to explore. There's a beach, a boat ramp, a trail to bring kayaks/canoes down to the lake and a dock to fish from. Outstanding!
We went to see the property (as well as a couple of other places) and it is still pulling on our hearts. Marsha told us that she can borrow a pontoon boat and get us out on the lake for a tour tomorrow, so we are very excited about that.
The bad tooth is getting worse, so I asked Ann, Marsha's broker, for a recommendation and she gave me a name and number to get this taken care of.
October 20, 2008
Jodie and I went down the path next to our site and waited on the dock for Marsha, Ann and Alan (Ann's husband) to pick us up in the pontoon boat. As we were waiting, 2 otters poked their heads up about 50 feet away. One of them had a fish in its mouth and the other was just checking us out. They stuck around for about 3 or 4 minutes and rotated coming up with a new fish each time they surfaced from a dive. Jodie tried getting some pictures, but without a zoom lense it is hard to see them in the shots. In addition to the otters, a couple of blue herons were fishing on the shoreline and a kingfisher was calling from one of the trees...man, we are in trouble here (falling in love and losing all sense of rationality).
They showed up right on time and we motored off for a tour of the lake and a view of the property from the water. The area of the lake that we are interested in is mostly protected from development and the land is heavily forested with hardwoods and loblolly pines. It is the southern portion of the lake and the dam is located nearby. We have been told (by locals and the Realtors) that this is the least populated area of the lake, with the smallest number of motorboats because of its location. As the tour went on we kept heading north and saw the number of houses increase, golf courses pop up and places to dock for lunch, dinner and drinks, this all proved what they were saying.
After a couple of hours they brought us back to our RV and we decided to drive around to see if we were missing any other cool properties before we put in an offer. There was a "for sale by owner" (FSBO)sign posted one street over from "our house", so we pulled over to get a flyer. As I was walking back to the RV a woman and man (David and Julia)approached us and said they were the neighbors. We asked them lots of questions about the lake, the town, the neighborhood, and the FSBO, all of which were happily answered. They offered to show us the house and in we went. While the place was cool, it was too tight for us, but who knows what we could do with it? As we were getting ready to leave, they asked us to come back for dinner and a boat ride. What incredibly nice, friendly people!
We finished driving around and Jodie put together some smoked fish and cheeses to add to Julia's dinner of chicken salad sandwiches and the locally famous "honey crisp apples". We got to their house and jumped on the boat for a tour before turning the motor off for a delicious dinner adrift. They are friendly with the owners of the house we're falling for and they talked about the great view and shoreline that the house has.
As darkness overtook us, we docked the boat and went inside for a tour. David and Julia built their home and it is incredible! Julia is very artistic and fearless with her talents. The tilework around their fireplace and the sinks in the bathrooms were the best we have ever seen. Her sense of color and depth (how deep to set various tiles and how much grout to remove) was hypnotic. We kept on staring at and feeling her wonderful work. The house itself has an open floor plan and lots of height. The materials are all natural and the craftsmanship is excellent. The colors of paint, wood and tile all blended together and made us feel completely relaxed and desireous not to leave. At one point we told them that "we want to buy your house" and they laughed and said "there's not enough money in the world for that". It is so cool to find people that feel that way about their creation.
On our drive back to the campground, we looked at each other and agreed how good it would be to have Julia and David as neighbors. Another step closer to the hangman's noose!
October 21st.
We drove around and looked at more properties.
October 22nd.
Put in an offer on the house.
October 23rd.
Went to the dentist and stayed in the chair for 2 1/2 hours of root canal and crown preparation. Thank God for laughing gas! Since the tooth is too sensitive to finish the root canal, I have to return in 10 days. Oh well, that will give us a good opportunity to get to know the area.
One huge plus for this town is that they have a Shane's Rib Shack. We stopped for pain killers at the drug store and followed it up with pulled pork and chicken.
October 24th.
They came back with a counter offer and we countered back. Now we wait.
October 25th.
They said we are too far apart and rejected our counter. Time to go kayaking.
What a wonderful day to be out on the water. We paddled past the house (big mistake...we're getting in deeper), in and out of a few adjoining coves, and over to an enormous rock shelf on the other side of the campground where we're staying. It's almost Nov. and the sun is still very warm and comfortable. It's the weekend and we only saw 3 or 4 boats out besides us.
Went back to the campground, started a fire and cooked up some buffalo burgers on the grill.
Nov. 1st.
Pulled into a Home Depot to do some electrical modifications on the battery charging system. I figured that their parking lot is a good place to do the work in case we need some unforseen parts. This is the first time we have seen a Home Depot that has its own gas station and mini-mart. At $2.99 a gallon, the diesel was the least expensive we have seen in many months.
Glad we decided to do the job at H.D., since Jodie made 2 trips into the store while I raced against time (the sun going down). Everything was done within 20 minutes of sundown and we are now able to keep our batteries fully charged and recharge them in the shortest amount of time. I've included about a dozen pix of the modification at the end of the photos for our RVer friends.
Nov. 2nd
Relocated to another Georgia Power campground closer to town. This area is less remote than the prior campground and there a few more campers enjoying the great fishing on this lake. One couple comes here every year and fishes on their pontoon boat two or three times a day for a full week. Last year the fishing was so good that they gave away 400 crappies. They have been here for a couple of days and gladly showed off their cooler full of fish for the camera. These are huge crappies and the locals call them "slabs" since the filets are literally slab-like in size.
Nov. 3rd.
Went in for a second root canal and the dentist wants to wait 2 weeks before he'll install the crown. It's a great area, but we are getting very itchy feet.
We've decided to spend more time checking out the real estate in the area.
Nov. 4th.
Called Julia & David up to invite them over for kayaking and lunch at the RV. We met them out on the water and kayaked for a hour or two. They each have Hobie peddle kayaks that can be completely propelled by pumping their feet. We were amazed at how quickly they could move along. We were going to try them out, but it got cool and windy and we didn't want them to be uncomfortable standing in the wind, waiting for us to get back.
They brought us over to a large granite outcropping where we all got out of our kayaks and walked around on the sloping mass of rock. There are lots of "pool" areas on the rock and water, decomposing leaves (soil) and windblown seeds all mix together to make mini ecosystems peppered over the 5 or 6 (?) acre area.
Jodie made her famous chili (the turkey variety), along with corn bread and coleslaw. Julia brought a beautiful bouquet of home grown flowers and herbs, orange milkweed seeds to plant in our next garden and some honey crisp apples for desert. We had never had or heard of honey crisps before hitting GA and now they are one of our favorite apples. The lunch was great and the company was excellent. Once they left to peddle home, Jodie and I both talked about how we feel as if we have known them for years, instead of for 4 or 5 hours. They are a big reason we were hoping to get the house in their neighborhood.
Nov. 11th
Still no word on our favorite house, but we are looking at lots of other homes with our favorite Realtor, Amber. She is pretty new to the real estate game, but she is very enthusiastic and willing to show us dozens of places in the 4 counties surrounding the lake. This past weekend she brought her husband and youngest daughter along and we all had a ball. The nights are getting cooler, the leaves are starting to fall more and more every day and we are really looking forward to heading south after my final (oh please God!) dentist appointment next Monday the 17th.
Jodie has not been writing on the blog since her computer is getting terrible internet connectivity in this area. It's odd how we switch back and forth as to who is receiving well and who isn't. But don't worry, Jodie is alive and well, I swear.
Comments
Those pedal kayaks....
are awesome! They look like a ton of fun. It's great following you guys on your big trip.
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager