Back from Atlanta

Dear LDD’ers,

I’m finally back from Atlanta. I had the most amazing time. Atlanta is quite astonishingly beautiful; it is like a city inside a big forest. Everywhere you go you are surrounded by trees! It is quite easy to forget that you are still in a large city since the trees buffer out most of the traffic noise. It is only when you look up to the tree tops and can see the Atlanta skyscrapers peeking through, that you are reminded that you are in a large city after all!

Hiking part of the Appalachian Trail was simply awesome! The air was so fresh with wide wilderness stretching out ahead. Although I was told that I missed the prime leaf colour, it still looked pretty amazing with vibrant colours of yellow and red. The leaves underfoot were all crisp unlike the UK where they are all mulch due to the damp weather! You certainly can't find stretches of wild like that in the UK, they even proclaim to have black bears!! I wish I had brought a tent, proper walking boots and a trangia, then I could happily camp for a week or two and explore the wilds of Georgia...although I'm not sure what I would do if I came face to face with a bear - play dead I guess! We had lunch in a Bavarian type village called Helen, where we had sauerkraut and red cabbage - very Eastern European!

Thanksgiving I spent in Acworth GA, where I was kindly hosted by a fellow Brit. Thanksgiving was actually very special since it was the first Thanksgiving I've ever celebrated!

Thank you to those of you who made it to the LDD gathering! I hope we manage to keep in touch!

All the best,

~C~