ELBERTON!!!

Hey, my friends! Since I don't blog as often as I used to, lots of things happen over time that I forget to tell you about. I definitely have plenty to share with you, even though I'm not traveling and visiting exciting places like I used to. I hope you'll still enjoy the somewhat Adventure-less Toaster as much as you used to enjoy the Adventurous Toaster. I'll hopefully be traveling again in the future, but when that will happen remains unknown. 

Here's what's been going on over the past few months. First, Gary and I celebrated our birthdays in February. Neither of us are thrilled with getting older, but there's no escaping it. I don't feel any different being 50 than I did being 40, or even 30. They say that you feel as good as you act, so I still act like a kid as much as possible. Gary puts up with my childish behavior, but I am seeing more eye rolling on his part than ever. 

As I previously told you about, we bought three properties in Georgia last year. They are various sizes (acreage) in different parts of the State. The original plan was to simply own some Georgia property. But Gary decided (after spending lots of time in the area), that the northeast part of the State is where we will live someday. Who am I to argue? Over the years, we camped all around the area he's decided on settling down in, and it's my favorite part of Georgia as well. One of the three properties we bought last year is in the area we really love, but it just isn't big enough to build what we want and have the privacy we also desire. So, all three of the properties we bought are going up for sale this week. While on a camping trip without me in February (with Casper the cargo van instead), Gary found a 17 acre parcel of land in Elberton that he instantly fell in love with. An offer was made and accepted, and we got it! A short time later, the adjoining 17 acres went up for sale, and we bought that one too. So now we have an enormous 34 acres in the Granite Capital Of The World, Elberton Georgia, and we are BEYOND excited!!! We also sold our second (and last) 1-1/4 acre lot here locally in March, so all we have left in Florida is our property here at Green Acres. We have to hang onto that one for awhile, since we don't have anything built in Elberton to actually move into yet. We'll work on that, but we need to sell the three properties we bought last year first. 

After buying the first 17 acres in Elberton, and while in the process of buying the second 17 acres, Gary and Casper went up there to camp for 10 days in April. They stayed at nearby Richard B. Russell State Park, a place I've never been to, but hope to visit whenever I get to travel again. Campsite 18, overlooking Lake Russell, was theirs, and it looks BEAUTIFUL!!! There's a VERY old house on the property (uninhabitable) that Gary spent time cleaning up around, and he dug up a bunch of "treasures" in the yard, some of which he brought back for me to see. He says there's a lot of "stuff" there, and we all know how much Gary loves "stuff". The garage here is full of it. 

As I write this, it's an 84 degree Florida morning (with a feels like temperature of 90), and this is only the beginning of the typical hot and humid summer that we reluctantly endure every year. It will only get worse as the days roll by. Oh goodie! It gets hot in northeast Georgia too, but it doesn't stay that way for as long as it does in Florida, and it stays cooler up there for longer. Elevation makes a big difference in the temperature. The elevation of here in St. Augustine is ZERO, and the elevation in Elberton is 702. I get cooler just thinking about that higher elevation. 

That's about all that I can think of to tell you about at the moment, but isn't that enough? It's been a very eventful year thus far, and I doubt if it's going to calm down at all. I'll try to keep Gary in line. Lord knows he needs the help. I'll blog again whenever something really exciting happens to tell you about. Have a wonderful summer, stay cool if you can, and be safe out there. Until next time, this is your pal Toaster. Over and OUT!!!