Your speed is...

Driving around north Georgia, there has been a noticeable change on the landscape. Some communities have created speed signs with radar guns in them to tell you what a policeman would see if he were pointing his radar gun at you. One city, Roswell, actually flashes the speed if you are doing more than the posted limit.

Speeders may not like these, but law-abiding folks probably do - a gentle reminder to "Slow it down" as the Roswell police have been trying to do, seemingly unsuccessfully, for years. I must admit, I do speed - a little anyway, normally no more than 5 miles over the speed limit, with gusts up to 10 over as my wife likes to say. So when my speed is gusting while passing one of the Your speed is signs, its time to back off on the accelerator.

Another great thing about these speed guns is it gives us a place to test our speedometers. It may not be easy when the roads are crowded, but early in the morning you will be able to see your exact speed. Then, the next time somebody comes up on your butt, you'll know that you are doing the limit (or 5 mph over).

Georgia has passed a new super-speeder law that increases speeding fines across the board, up to $400 extra if you are caught doing 85 on a four lane highway. This will keep more people within the legal limit without a doubt. With the economy the way it is the quickest way to change bad habits is through the wallet (or pocketbook, as the case may be). A law-enforcement friend has told me that at least initially, when the law goes into effect in January, 2010, some departments are intending stricter enforcement. Some cities have already begun stricter enforcement. According to the Gainesville Times, the police are already out citing drivers for speeding infractions and trying to slow down cars in general.

Now if your a "5 mph over" guy like me you may want to check your speed the next time you go past a radar gun speed sign, not because you will get a super-speeder ticket but because of the stricter enforcement. And if you are in the super-speeder category, the next time you get stopped and fined for speeding watch for a second bill mailed to you from the state. This will be your super-speeder fine.

Before you ask, the super-speeding money (estimated to be $32 million in 2010) is tagged to support trauma care in the state.

November is finally here!

October is always a busy month as the leaf change hits full swing in North Georgia, but by the start of November we trim down our travel and concentrate on the area just north of Atlanta. In fact, sometimes Pam and I don't have to travel very far. I took this photo of a tree in our back yard this morning. While the surrounding trees are past peak, this guy looked stunning in the early morning light, brilliantly reflecting sunlight right into the camera. We hit a number of our favorite stops this year, from Brasstown Bald to Blood Mountain to the Rocktown Trail.

One of our articles in About North Georgia will be about the Gorilla Haven in Fannin County on Paris Mountain. We are excited about the work these folks are doing, giving homes to, well, gorillas here in North Georgia. One final tour is available on November 28, 2009, and according to the web site, it has not filled up yet. If you love gorillas (and who doesn't), you can give to the Gorilla Haven on line! If you have a blog, or even better a Facebook page, why not help them out and add a blurb for this wonderful cause.

More Fall in North Georgia

This image from the Bartram Trail by Annette Gelbrich shows some excellent color in Rabun County at higher elevations and plenty of leaf change to come. It was taken on the weekend of October 24, 2009. The leaves at the top of Brasstown Bald were gone by October 22, although the drive to the top still had some excellent reds and yellows.

To the west, GA Highway 52 from Ellijay to Fort Mountain was in full color on the weekend of October 24 as well. Its a beautiful and easy scenic drive with multiple pull-offs for the peepers.

Fort Mountain has a scenic overview (near the CCC tower). While nearby trees are in full color, the valleys nearby are only at 25-50%.

Have a fall update? Please add it to our comments section.

Fall is in the air

I just finished a 5-day stay at Enota Mountain Retreat in Blairsville, Georgia and the fall colors are moderate to good. Just before we arrived a rain storm passed through, followed by fairly high winds (gusts to 30 mph). This blew a lot of the early fall color off the trees. The good news is that only about half the trees had begun to change at 2000-3000 feet, so there is still plenty of leaf change to see. Below 2000 feet it seems the fall will run a little later than normal with the best weekend probably being the last weekend of the month for the northern counties and the first week of Atlanta for counties closer to Atlanta.



We stopped by Cucina Rustica in Morganton for some of the best Italian food in the Southeast United States this past Thursday. This restaurant has become a standard on our trips to North Georgia. It will be a feature in an upcoming issue of About North Georgia.

We also visited some of the lesser known CCC works in the North Georgia mountains and plan to continue this journey in the near future.

Seems like the drought is really over

Finally, Georgia seems to be catching up on the rainfall it lost over the last eight years. I just wasn't expecting it to come in a couple of months, September and October 2009. Lake Lanier is near full levels (of course, Lanier is not a good way to judge a drought since the levels are controlled by the Corps of Engineers). The Chattahoochee River flooded badly in September and portions are flooding with this October. The ground is saturated and its actually fun to do the fall planting, if you can get a day without rain.

The rain brings back memories of months were rainfall totals were less than 1 inch and dire predictions of weather change because of global warming. Of course, 2008 was the first year that the average temperature fell in 10 years. I'm not sure but it seems this year is unusually cold so 2009 may be the second drop. The good thing about this rain and the cooler weather coming behind it is that there will be a positive effect on the leaf season. If you haven't planned a trip to the mountains, this is a good time to go. Plenty of fall events abound, our favorites being the Apple Festival and the Sorghum Festival.

Noise, Noise, Noise

Have you notice how noisy its getting in our North Georgia? Even when hiking a trail where it seems impossible to here traffic noise, it seems to be right around the corner. I was hiking Desoto Falls Trail the other day and had to listen to the noise of cars and bikes until I finally came to the Falls, about a mile and a half from the start of the trail.

I think Georgia needs to pass a noise ordinance.