Tallulah Gorge State Park, Tallulah Falls, Georgia
“Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.~ Genesis 22:7b-8 In the Old Testament, a burnt offering of a lamb signified two things. 1. The burnt offering can be for; a voluntary act of worship; atonement for unintentional sin in general; or an expression of devotion, commitment and complete surrender to God. This third reason is Abraham’s. 2. Using a lamb. It was required that the lamb be without blemish, in other words, the best the person has to offer. (As is Isaac to Abraham) And lambs were used to make atonement for sin – whether for intentional sin or unintentional sin. And in this case, Abraham has told Isaac that God Himself will provide the lamb. As far as Abraham knows, God has already provided it, in Isaac. Oh, the faith, love, wisdom and strength of conviction Abraham must possess!
Blaine was feeling really ambitious this morning, so he took off to hike the steps again. I thought about having him committed, but then realized, who’d drive the coach? So instead I say, “Good for him!” 😊
Besides. It was FREEZING this morning! He warmed up pretty quickly once he got on those steps. 😊
The other day, we noticed a trail that wandered off the edge of our map. We decided today was the day to check it out. It’s called the Terrora Trail, and we had to drive to the trailhead. The map also showed the “old jail”. Well, we had to check that out too!
It turns out, the jail was moved from its previous location to here, at the trailhead, and now just sits. It didn’t look like a jail – inside or out.
When we began the trail, we weren’t too awfully impressed, but it was full of ups and downs and all-arounds, and eventually, we came to a view of the river, which was very nice.
The trail also tied to another bike/hike trail that covers the old rail line that used to go through here.
Guess it’s not a bridge anymore. : )
Back to the Jeep, where we drove up to the Interpretive Center in order to obtain a pass for our final hike in this Park. There was a lot of commotion at the IC when we arrived – ambulances, rescue crews, park rangers . . . “I’ll bet someone fell on the steps.” was our immediate thought.
While I waited outside for Blaine to get the pass, two hikers came close to me and I asked if they knew what was going on. They said someone fell from one of the cliffs and they had to go rescue them. They said someone told them it was a woman, and there was a rope bag – indicating a climber. We said a little prayer they’d be okay.
Anyway, the trail is called the High Bluff, and it starts at Inspiration Point, but why you need a permit was beyond our comprehension. There were no people (i.e. no one to check our permit) and no dangerous places. Well, except for a hot spot we came across, which was very surprising after 13 days!
Seems thirteen days ago, they spent 4-5 days up here doing a prescribed burn. And lest you think that’s why we needed a pass, they always require a permit. Things that make you go hmmmmmm . . . . .
It’ll turn up again later. : )
but without the burn, we may not have been able to see much.
They’re used to deliver water to the plant.
During our hike, we spotted two helicopters flying circles around the gorge area, and wondered if they might be news crews filming. Turns out, they were. More on that later.
Can you believe that! After nearly 2 weeks?!?
and miraculously stayed still long enough for me to take his picture!
At one point during our hike, Blaine was able to pull up a news report
that confirmed a woman had gone over the edge.
We returned once again to the Jeep and took off on a dirt road that had the potential for some additional exploration, and Jeepin’!
I’ll say this. it was certainly an interesting drive. 😊
The road was much more twisty than this shows. : )
and every one of the them was filled with stuff – clothes, artificial flowers, etc.
That’s where the prescribed burn sign hangs on the gate!
In other, very tragic news, a 58-year-old woman fell/jumped 250’ from Overlook 2 today. Overlook 2 is the place where everyone seems to congregate – the place where the 1,062 steps trail begins. Every time we’ve walked to there, there’ve been many people around, and no place you can walk out onto the ledge. She would’ve had to climb over the fence, and it would not be easy. We can think of no reason why she’d be on the other side of the fence, unless it was suicide. We grieve for her, her family and friends, the Park Ranger whom some say she was talking to before she jumped, the witnesses (whether by sight or sound), and the rescue workers who were forced to recover her body.
I used this one because ours didn’t show the fence.
Dinner is worth mentioning. I whipped up the second potential casserole candidate for our Family Dinner on May 8th. There are some in our family I thought might like this one, and it turned out very well! Once again, I made a half batch, but this time, because it’s so thick (deep in the dish), we only ate about half of the half batch. It has the added bonus of being very simple to make.
SHEPHERD’S PIE TATOR TOT CASSEROLE
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/3 C. diced carrots
- 12 oz canned corn, not drained
- 1/3 C. frozen peas
- 1/2 cup water
- 0.87 oz beef gravy mix
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
Mashed Potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp margarine
- 4 oz instant mashed potato mix
- 1/2 cup milk
Topping
- 28 oz frozen tater tots
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Brown ground beef a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions and carrots to the pan with the ground beef while it’s cooking.
- Stir well and continue cooking until the onions are translucent and carrots are soft.
- Add the canned corn and peas to the pan and stir well.
- Add the water, gravy mix, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to the pan, cooking and stirring until the gravy thickens.
- Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish and spread it out evenly.
- Set the dish aside while you prepare the mashed potatoes.
- Pour the water and margarine into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling remove the pan from the heat and pour in the mashed potato mix and the milk.
- Stir just until combined and then let the potatoes sit for 1 minute.
- After one minute stir until smooth and creamy.
- Spread the mashed potatoes over the ground beef mixture in the baking dish.
- Place the tater tots in a single layer on top of the mashed potatoes.
- Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until the tots are brown and crispy and the meat is bubbly.
- Remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the tater tots.
- Return the dish to the oven and continue baking until the cheese on top is completely melted.