The Georgia Five: Alive and Kickin'

The Georgia Five: Alive and Kickin'

This is the rest of the true tale of the "Georgia Five" ladies who were left wet and bedraggled after our all-day journey into the night. The trip in September started out beautifully. We were all dressed up and full of excitement, anticipating our four-day excursion to Moravian Falls, North Carolina. We were so naive.

One of us had read on the internet about a large mountain cabin available for lease. We viewed the lovely photographs on the website, contacted the owner, eagerly paid our money and left home early one Sunday morning on a trip which MapQuest reported would take six hours but eventually took over ten.

We five "girls", as we call ourselves, have been friends since the early 1970's, close as sisters, and we share the precious bond of faith in Jesus which cannot be broken and actually grows stronger as we age. We have supported each other through the good times and the hard times - together going through the births of babies and grandbabies, rearing our combined total of fourteen children, facing operations and illnesses, reeling through divorces, rejoicing through marriages and remarriages, crying with and praying for and upholding one another through the deaths of parents and spouses - always with Christ maintaining His love among us. We find humor in the least little thing, and we laugh together often which definitely has been a factor in preserving our sanity! The Bible verse "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" is one written on the tablets of our hearts. That proverb came into play during our NC trip, for sure.

Three of us registered to drive the van that we had leased. Why didn't I recall an old adage my daddy had repeated time and time again? Never volunteer. I think that will be the last time we three raise our hands to offer our driving skills on a road trip. After unexpectedly being forced to wait two hours for our rental van to arrive from its station at the Atlanta airport, I started out driving four of us to Newnan in order to pick up our fifth passenger, our friend Sandra. A sprinkling rain was beginning, but we dashed in to see Sandra's new sofa then loaded her luggage and ourselves back in the van so we could take off. One minor detail: I was unable to release the parking brake so hopped out of the van to reach down for the handle, failing to put the car into "park". It was in "neutral", and Sandra's driveway was a slight incline. Between the driver's door bumping me and almost knocking me down as I reached for the parking brake handle, and with the others screaming instructions in fright, "Stop! Put it in gear! Step on the brake! Get back in the car! Turn off the windshield wipers!", somehow I managed to do all five things. Laughter was not accompanying us at that point.

Somewhere between Newnan and the other side of Atlanta, Darlene offered to drive. Our agenda usually includes locating a good restaurant, and we always manage to do that at mealtimes. This small diner at a crossroad advertised homecooked vegetables, so by early afternoon, we had filled our tummies; little did we know that it would be Monday before we ate another complete meal. Thunderstorms were in the forecast and the rain caught up with us before we crossed over the South Carolina state line. It was still raining when we crossed into North Carolina. Spying a grocery store in a small town near our destination, we stopped to buy a few staples. By the time we had unloaded the sacks of groceries from the shopping cart into the van, it was dark. Mary Frances volunteered to drive the remainder of the way. We did not dream what loomed ahead. The following hours were filled with our harrowing adventure, trying to conquer a North Carolina mountain in the unrelenting rain.

"The First Day of Four For the Georgia Five", found on Our Echo website, gives details in epic poetry form of our arrival at "Hidden Hollow" cabin. We five had no idea what we would be experiencing as the events of the night unfolded. Traveling up the slippery, muddy mountain road was a major obstacle as soon as we turned off the highway in Moravian Falls. We tried to follow the driving directions which the cabin owner had emailed, but we soon knew that we needed more help than a piece of paper offered. With only one of our five cell phones receiving service in the area, Darlene telephoned the lady for additional directions. The rain was coming down in sheets, washing down the narrow road, and there was not a star or guiding light or moon in sight. Fog had enveloped us and so had fear. About the time the owner was giving the warning to avoid the big rocks in the little creek which we would be crossing, the phone signal died. There we were, left in the pitch black darkness of this rainy, foggy night. Mary Frances was valiantly maneuvering the van up through the mud and gravel, almost driving blindly. She is convinced that an angel took the wheel. The rest of us were gripping the seats, peering into the darkness and asking God to help us up that steep mountain. Suddenly, the Red Sea appeared in front of us covering the road. But it didn't part in the middle as in biblical days. This was the "little" creek the owner mentioned, and there was no bridge. With water swirling up past the hubcaps, we plowed through this "sea", having no clue where the rocks were located or even where the creek's banks were. Once we passed through the surging water, the rear of the vehicle began to "fishtail" and lose ground. We four passengers jumped out of the van thinking that the tires would be able to gain better traction if the load was lighter. What did we know? Mary Frances was doing the best she could to drive forward. She rounded a deep curve, and the four of us, who were trudging up the hill behind the van, watched the red tail-lights disappear in the darkness. Patsy and I had small penlights with us which gave about as much light as the period at the end of this sentence. We would not even allow ourselves to think of the wildlife lurking in those woods as we struggled to walk up the slippery pockmarked road in the dark. Actually, I don't know where we four thought we were going because we certainly could not make it to the top of the mountain on foot. Thankfully, within minutes, we saw the van's tail-lights traveling in reverse around the curve. By this time, our heroic driver had been able to partially feel her way through and around gullies in the road, so we hopped back into the trusty van and resumed our upward climb. We discussed whether the second or third gear should be used while going up and down mountains. I still don't know the answer to that question. Coming upon a cabin which we thought could be ours, we weren't sure whether to bow our heads in prayer or hold a thanksgiving service. That thought was short-lived when we were surprised by the sight of an elderly woman standing in the doorway, holding her gun. When she approached the car, I have to admit that all five of us were scared nearly senseless. However, after our initial conversation, she was helpful and gave us directions to the top of the mountain where we finally reached "Hidden Hollow" cabin with a collective sigh of relief.

The night was not over for us. We carried our luggage and sacks of groceries up a flight of steps and plopped them down just inside the cabin door. We were a ragged looking crew...we had lost our bandbox fresh appearance with which we had begun the day, and our chatter had slowed down considerably. You can just imagine how our frizzled hair, wet clothes and mud-caked shoes made us look at this late hour. On top of that, we were exhausted. We all agreed that it was a miracle we had arrived safely. But that is not yet the end of the night's events. I walked over to a kitchen chair to sit down and promptly the four wooden legs splayed outward. I fell to the floor, landing on my back and hitting my head. My companions ran to me and began to pray and assess the situation before they helped me to my feet. Although the room and their voices dimmed momentarily, I never lost consciousness and no bones were broken. That's when we said, "Thank You, Lord."

After sitting and staring at nothing for almost ten minutes in silence, contemplating our long day, we decided to draw straws to see where we would be sleeping. Mary Frances drew the basement bedroom. About the time she reached the bottom step with her suitcase, she yelled and raced back up. There was a mousetrap on the staircase and mouse droppings littered the floor, the sofa, chair and bed. Guess where she did NOT sleep that night or any other night. That's when I began vowing that if we ever got the nerve to drive back down the mountain, I was NOT coming back up...and who thought up this trip anyway? I was all in favor of grabbing my belongings and checking into the nearest motel. Utter fatigue caused us to fall into bed around 1:00 o'clock in the morning, mice or no mice.

I awoke to the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee Monday morning. Sandra had awakened early and had put the pot to perking. We each wrapped up in our warm robes and afghans, carried our cups of coffee to the front porch and watched the morning mist roll away across the mountaintops while listening to the birds cheerily welcome the day. Sleep and the beauty of the early morn had helped erase the bedlam of Sunday. Our good moods reappeared...all muttering ceased...even laughter returned with the light of day!

The drone of a tractor scraping the road could be heard later that morning. What a beautiful sound! About mid-afternoon, we felt like venturing down the mountain in search of a restaurant and to see the town which we had not been able to see the night before. Funny that the road was a mere two miles long that afternoon, but it had taken us an hour to drive that short distance at night because of the weather and road conditions. In a way, it was quite a blessing that we had been temporarily blinded to the dangers located on the sides of that winding road. In the daylight, we saw that on one side there were ditches, thick underbrush and trees; on the opposite side were sheer drop-offs to the valley floor below. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we knew that our Heavenly Father had protected us on our perilous drive up that mountain in the dark of night.

Moravian Falls was a pretty sight in the sunshine, and we were able to discover some of the interesting history of the place. The following two days, we enjoyed sunny afternoons and visited much of the surrounding area, meeting many of the friendly folks who live there. Returning to Georgia on Wednesday, our only mishap occurred near Atlanta when we had a flat tire on the interstate highway. We are convinced that it was due to a drive-through-slashing from the rocky bed of the creek!

It will take more adversity than we had endured on this trip to defeat us and deflate our spunkiness! It is not so certain that the same can be said for the Chrysler van. We did not call to ask, but we surmise that our poor abused vehicle was permanently removed from the van rental pool after the GA-to-NC journey! Hmmm, I wonder if we could save our money and hire a chauffeur and limousine for our next road trip...perhaps to the beach? No, then we would have to don swimsuits, and even though the "Georgia Five" are alive and still kickin', nobody said a thing about us being brave!

Story ID:	1723
Written by:	Susan Hammett Poole (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Travel
Location:	Moravian Falls NC USA
Year:	2006
Person:	Sandra, Patsy, Darlene, Mary Frances and myself