“We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.” -Anonymous

I am Magic, an American Fox Hound, living and traveling with my humans in our motorhome. We have been parked in the north Georgia mountains, near Blairsville since April 1, 2021. The road we lived on was called “Foggy Mountain” and we saw fog on many morning walks. Momma Dog loved how the sky and clouds came down over the mountains. And she had an amazing view of these Blue Ridge mountains from her bathroom window! I was not tall enough to see out-but there were some mornings when she said the mountains would disappear.

The humans were “work camping” which means our RV site at Crossing Creeks RV Resort was free in exchange for 20 hours of work from each of them. My job was being handsome and friendly to fellow canines and their humans.

On April 1 when we arrived it was 24 degrees Fahrenheit and when we left on June 27 it was 84 degrees. The RV Resort was very pretty with cabins and RV sites. All the sites are owned and lived on by the owner or rented out for the owner. This place had numerous amenities including a salt water pool, hot tub, pickle ball courts, massage chairs, massage therapists, a club house and activity center.

While the humans toiled in their boots, work gloves and sun hats, I rested and thought about food. Their jobs included pulling numerous weeds, laying sod, applying mulch to many areas of the resort, cleaning RV sites when guests left, picking up canine poop at the seven dog stations, salt water pool maintenance, evening rounds of all the public buildings and additional maintenance jobs as needed. They also escorted new guests to their sites, which was the favorite job! They enjoyed the hard work, met some great people and hope to stay connected to some of the other workcampers in the future. However I do need to report they both required additional naps, early bedtimes and extra protein!

Momma Dog and I spotted a protective mother bird and identified her as a Killdeer. We spotted her nest on the ground embedded into a bike rack. These birds build nests on the ground and fiercely protect the eggs by actively flying around, making their distinctive Killdeer sound and even acting like they are hurt to attempt to lure humans away from the nest. A few days later the nest was moved by a human, and about two weeks later we saw three baby birds. They were such a cute miniature version of their mother. And we watched them learn to fly. Momma dog even had a few tears watching these baby birds out in the big world.

The humans found the north Georgia culture a bit different than Atlanta. However they did enjoy the food they found at Jim’s Smokin’ Que. And I even received a doggy bag from there!

Big Dog and Momma Dog visited Vogel State Park soon after they arrived. They also hiked to Panther Falls and experienced the Union County Farmer’s Market. They took me on a trip to Helen, Georgia. It is a German inspired town and they ingested German beer and food and then we hiked to Anna Ruby Falls. I received lots of attention on this fun but very steep hike. The humans also enjoyed Hamilton Garden near Hiawassee, Georgia. Dogs were not allowed there!

The walking sticks were helpful on the steep terrain.

Since Blairsville is two hours from Atlanta we managed to visit with the family several times. And they came to Vogel State Park for Mother’s Day and rented a cabin.

The humans visited Brass Town Bald Mountain-the highest point in the state of Georgia.

Big Dog chose to check out the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway and Momma Dog agreed to go because it involved a 2 hour stop to eat and shop. Dogs were not allowed on the train!

Momma Dog and Big Dog met some friends who are also living the full-time RV life. Susan and Bill Platt, who we first met at a Texas state park in 2019, and were RV “neighbors” in Stone Mountain, Georgia,have been working as camp hosts at High Falls State Park in Georgia. So the good friends got together in June to swap stories and picnic in Atlanta-and I was invited!

Momma Dog’s June birthday was fun with a day of errands and food and family. They enjoyed Tucker Brewery with Joanna and some Sankey folks-Jim, Steve, Jennie and Annie. And Joyce Sankey made delicious birthday lemon bars.

Then a few days later we all celebrated Father’s Day. Although I have never been a father, I do appreciate and understand all the amazing things that human dads do on a daily basis. Big Dog is a very good father to me.

During our last week in Blairsville the humans ate a delicious Low Country Boil, courtesy of a fellow work camper couple and had a free steak dinner which was from the owner of Crossing Creeks RV Resort! He invited all the staff out to dinner and my humans pretended it was their going away dinner. Both meals were reported to be extraordinarily delicious.

In conclusion, the humans enjoyed their first gig as work campers. They had three months to explore the beauty of the north Georgia mountains, test their physical stamina, see the family, and most importantly keep my food bowl full at 6 am and 3 pm.

Beginning on June 30 we will be traveling west and hope the heat and fires stay away. New states to be seen include Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California. And we will travel through many states we have seen before including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. I am definitely a well traveled canine and realize when the humans open the RV door I have another new place to sniff out.

Thank you for reading my lengthy travel blog. We appreciate all prayers for safe travel.

LOVE, SNIFFS AND TAIL WAGS,

MAGIC