Dockery Lake - Future Fall Camp?

I wake up this morning not in a hurry to get up to move around. The heating company is not coming until tomorrow so what's the rush. Oh, yeah, I need to order Jack's food and pick it up, today. Nothing else pressing except some housekeeping that really can't wait another day.

I turn the TV on.  Jack lifts his head as if to ask me why I'm disturbing the quiet. Then, he decides he might as well ask for a sweet potato chip or two or three. He gets them and follows me to the door to go out to relieve himself. I don't bother to leave the door because he'll be back in within a minute, get a drink, and go back to bed for a while.

I do a few things around the house until about noon. Then a light goes on. I was going to go up to put peppermint oil in the trailer, today, and retrieve the small cooler! How could I forget.  Okay. Shower quickly and get stuff ready. This is my first attempt to use the new, lighter ramp that I bought for Jack. Let's see how the old back holds up. I pack water for him and I'm ready in minutes and Jack senses that we're going somewhere.

Jack's back legs are getting weaker. It breaks my heart. He has no trouble walking, but he can't jump up to anything any more. He tries. I don't want him to feel failure. The new ramp IS a big improvement. I can handle it better. I'll spruce up the old one and find someone who needs one for a big dog. The small one I'll use so he can get on the couch when it's time.

We're off! I get to Wild Willy's and there is no one there. No problem. I have a key hidden somewhere on the trailer. Good deal. Jack is walking around in the field as I retrieve it and hurriedly get to the door. It doesn't work. Geez, that's strange. Oh, wait. I had them replace the door lock. DOH. I call and leave a message for Otto to call me when he gets back to the shop. I'm going to explore the area and I'll be back. I don't take any pictures of Wild Willy's because it seems like a sad place to leave my little trailer. There is an electric gate so it is protected at night. I can't wait to have it back in my driveway.

Right down the street is Lake Zwerner. I stop just to take a look. It's a reservoir that supplies drinking water to the area. Nice to see a body of water, but it's nothing special.

We leave the driveway and turn left on to Route 60. Curvy and hilly. I see nothing but motorcycles. Some are almost horizontal as they take the curves. I come upon an overlook. Nothing spectacular, but I stop. It's better than what I see where I live. A car pulls up and three people get out, and I say hello. They speak with a Scandinavian accent of some kind. They take pictures of one another in front of the vista, then one of the ladies asks me if I want her to take a picture of me. I tell her no thanks, I'll break the camera and she laughs. We bid each other good bye.

Up the road a ways, I see a sign that says Dockery Lake, Chattahoochee National Forest. Why not. I think the sign said 1.7 miles. It seems much longer because it's a single lane dirt road that goes down hill. I don't see another vehicle on the way down. I don't expect to see a campground, but there it is right in front of me. It certainly isn't for motorhomes, but darn I sure wish I had my trailer hitched on the back of my truck. I drive around--it's completely empty. I find the best campsite in this little piece of the forest. Huge and a put in for kayaking right from the campsite. I know my camping friends would love it as they are avid kayakers. There's water nearby--probably need to use a water thief to fill the fresh water tank as there isn't one on the site. Okay, now I know why I bought the quiet little Honda generator--to recharge batteries! Yes! I haven't been any place this quiet in what seems like forever. Bear safe garbage dumpsters tell me it might not be so quiet at night, but what a great place for a campfire. 

I don't take many pictures because my little camera can't capture the birds across the lake. I do see one bird sitting on a post--I zoom in as close as possible. It's a "can bird". Good siting, Nancy.

This is the campsite. It's huge. The truck is at the beginning of it. I'm standing down toward the water

A nice little stream that feeds the lake

Taken at quite a distance across the lake That little white spot is the can bird.

This is the put in on the campsite

Dockery Lake

And a nice trail leading from the campsite - I'm thinking it goes around the lake,  but I don't know.

I want to let Jack into the lake and to take the hike, but my back is feeling a bit taxed. I'm so isolated so I decide I better not hang around too long. It is a fee pay area and I didn't pay just to drive around to take a look. For the little time I'd be able to spend, it isn't worth getting the truck all wet and smelly.

Okay, so back to see if Otto has returned. Again, my company is motorcycles. I pull off at every pull off to let them go by me, and they are coming the other way, too. Otto hasn't returned but there is another man in the office. He doesn't seem to work there and has no idea where my new keys are so he calls Otto on his cell phone. I find them and out to the trailer I go. I leave Jack in the truck and put cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil in every corner of the trailer. It doesn't take long. I put tire covers on the tires and go to return the keys to the office, but the guy is gone. We're outta here.

I'm slipping. No pictures of Jack. Can't have that. I'll cheat and find one. I always think of the days I traveled with Rich when I am driving. I may have posted this picture before, but it still makes me smile. Whenever Rich left the driver's seat, Jack would take his place.

He's keeping his eyes on the road