Fire!

Today was an exciting day! It started out like any other day - Dan and I went to work and that went well - other than the fact that the credit card machine didn't work. (I thought I was doing something wrong, so I called the gift shop over at the Lodge and talked to the girl there - I wasn't doing anything wrong - it was the machine!) Anyway, we completed our shift and the money in the register balanced (YEAH!) Then we came home and packed. We had these great ambitious plans of going into Atlanta this afternoon and see Crystal (my oldest daughter for her birthday) and then go out to my mom's and spend the next couple of nights so we could plan her birthday party in April.

So, we started out on this adventure - we don't get out of the park when we realized that we forgot all our cash at the house. So, we turned around and came back to get some money. We start out again. This time we make it all the way through Helen when Dan asked me if I got the medicine - No, I said. Well, he said we weren't going home after it. Okay, we have some spare in the truck - it will get us through the next couple of days. We'll be home on Tuesday - no problem.

We get all the way to Gainesville when my phone rings - it's one of the camp hosts wanting to know if we had already left the park. Now, mind you, this is the girl who relieved me at the store today - so my first thought is, "Oh S***! I screwed up something!". I told her yes, we had already left - then she tells me "we" (meaning the campground) is on "High Fire Alert" - that there is a fire about one and a half miles away from the campground and heading our way. I tell her we are coming back. I hang up the phone - tell Dan what is going on and we turn around and come back to the campground. On the way back, I call my daughter and tell her we will not be able to get down there to see her for her birthday (first time I think I have ever missed one unless it was when she was in college). Anyway, I was bummed.

By the time we get back to the campground we are still on "Fire Alert", but they had dropped the "High" part. We settled in here and decided that we would just wait and see what happened. In the meantime - we keep hearing this helicopter. Dan and Don (our neighbor camp host) finally figure out that the helicopter is using our lake to take water to the fire - so we both jump into our trucks and head to the lake - I grabbed my camera on the way out the door.

These are just some of the pictures I took - it was really pretty cool to watch him come in and just hover long enough to fill the basket and take off again.

Anyway, after we watched the helicopter for awhile we went over to the Lodge for dinner (I hadn't planned on being home tonight so I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer for dinner). I had the salad and soup and Dan had the buffet - it cost us $7.18 total! That's with drinks and dessert. I don't think that is bad at all!

Tomorrow, I think, we will try and again to go down to Atlanta - just spend one night with my mom and try and see Crystal to give her the birthday present we were going to give her today. Anyway, it turned out to be an interesting day! And in case I don't say it later - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL!!!!

In case you are wondering about the Oscars - no we can not get them on our TV - remember, we only get NBC and I think the Oscars were on ABC. Anyway, I'll have to wait and see who won tomorrow - remember my predictions? We'll see tomorrow how well I did (I just like to see the dresses anyway on the night of the show - I can see them tomorrow on all the shows that will give the run down of the show tonight. )

Hope you guys had a great weekend. It was beautiful weather here today - not too cool - but certainly not hot ( I think it was around 61 as the high) with a beautiful blue sky - as you can see by the pictures above. (Oh in case you are wondering, after dinner we saw one of the law enforcement officers, and he said that they had the fire contained and the danger was over. YEAH!)

Take care all and ---------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!