Baby's first trip out

Early last week I was really dying to get out and do some hiking. The baby is not old enough for a hike yet. As soon as she can hold her head up well enough, then I will carry her on the hikes. We're not there yet. So, we took a drive over to the Hartwell Dam.

The dam was completed in 1962 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It provides some hydro power and also acts as flood control downstream of the Savannah. We parked under the highway and looked around the river area for a bit. Baby did a great job sleeping during this.

We drove up closer to the dam and I was able to walk along the top of it. In the picture from a few days ago, you can see the trail leading onto the dam. About a third of the way across, they have a fence preventing you from going further. I think this is more about keeping people from Georgia trying to make their way into our state, than keeping me off the dam. Here's a photo looking down the river from standing on the dam.

We sat down at at the side of the river for a few minutes for me to take some pictures. I used the opportunity to get the flash out and play with some of my equipment.

Next we drove over the bridge into Georgia. That's where the visitor center is located. It's true that I warned Cari as she got out of the car, "Watch your back, you're in Georgia now". I don't really know what that meant, but I looked back at the car as I went inside as a precaution. Inside they had maps and photographs. The most interesting thing we saw was a display showing some of the wildlife from the area. They had a bear, fox, beaver, and a few other specimen in the display. Have you ever seen a beaver? THESE THINGS ARE MUCH BIGGER THAN I WOULD HAVE GUESSED. The size of a small dog. I don't know what I was expecting, but somehow, I thought a beaver would be the size of a large cat. Certainly no larger than a groundhog.

Brenna did a good job going out with us. It was windy and cold on top of the dam, but she didn't complain one bit. Neither did Cari.