Camping? Cabineering.

I'm not even going to mention the fact that I haven't posted in forever.

Oh wait, I just did.

Me and Wanda (Wannis? Whassa?) on the deck of our little shack

This past weekend we headed up to the Ellijay / Blue Ridge area with the "Broken Bears," a first-year farm team in the Greater Atlanta Area Ping Pong League. We thought it was a simple R&R trip, but apparently it was intended to be a practice camp in preparation for the spring season. Unfortunately, the Ping Pong table advertised on the web site did not exist, at least not in a functional state. The team, now unequipped for practice, decided to hone their visual acumen and dexterity by watching football and shuffling cards during poker games.

Agility training "hike"


Fortunately, we had a rescue dog

Football players often take ballet to improve balance and responsiveness. Ping Pong players work to improve agility and reflexes by dodging cars. A small contingent of Broken Bears took a long walk along a busy Georgia highway (also known as a "hike"). Of the four who originally departed, only three returned. Fortunately, we had a rescue dog.

We parked at a church just above the trail, walked through the land of the dead (graveyard), and ended up back out on the highway. After walking down the highway for a bit, we spotted a sanctuary... a respite for the weary traveler... an oasis... a light at the end of our tunnel. You guessed it, it was the church we had parked at previously. After completing this circle, we finally found the actual trail (no, really) and hiked a couple of miles on the Benton MacKaye (father of the Appalachian Trail) trail.

Our team mascot holding the source of our inspiration: The Broken Bear

After such exertion, it was difficult to come back to the daily grind of cabin life: the wi-fi access was slow on occasion, the hot tub barely broke 100 degrees, the modded Xbox's front light was red and it's toggle switches were confusing.

But hey, I'm a survivalist.

Ellijay - January 2006 Gallery