Forsythe Georgia and the Catastrophe
We were cruising so well too. Got to the lousy campground along the highway, but, it was supposed to just be a stop as we were looking for much more interesting parts further north. We stopped, unhooked our toad from our RV and decided to go chase down some waterfall. And that is when it happened. UGH. I totaled the Toad!
On a positive note, Rich, myself and the two dogs were all fine and the other person in the other vehicle was also OK. His airbags deployed but he walked away and so did we. But, this did throw a big monkey wrench into our plans for Georgia. But, we decided to stick to the plan. We were going to be moving on and we were going to go to our next destination: Cloudland Canyon State Park in Rising Fawn Georgia. It is near the Tennessee border by Chattanooga. We ended up renting a car in Dalton Georgia for three days and were able to find a vehicle that could be towed! It turns out it isn’t that easy to get a Toad configured (we sort of knew there were a lot of steps) but we didn’t remember how hard it would be. Anyway, we bought a used 2019 Ford Ranger and we were able to get the baseplate installed in Dalton. It wasn’t a perfect scenario because we expected the air brakes and tail lights, but, those didn’t work out as expected. We were going to hassle the install of the towing components for a long time and through many miles. We really miss our Escape but we couldn’t buy one of those in Georgia at the time. With the strange supply chain troubles, and our urgent requirement to get a vehicle, we settled and we are growing to love our Ranger.
Cloudland Canyon State Park
We stayed here for three nights. We had a rental car during our stay as the TOAD2 was being purchased and was being fitted with the complete tow package (so we thought). But, in the end, they did help us a lot and we had a vehicle. While in Cloudland, we were able to enjoy the hiking trails that were there. It was springtime and the Mountain Laurels and the Rhododendrons were in full bloom. It was beautiful! We hiked each day and then went into Dalton to deal with the truck. There wasn’t Wi-Fi at this campground and only 3G cell service so it was quite difficult dealing with the insurance company and the new car and the installation of the tow package. But, in the end, it mostly worked.
The rhododendrons were blooming throughout the park as were the Mountain Laurels. It was a delight to walk along their trails and they had some beautiful waterfalls. Our campsite was fabulous, very private and surrounded by trees. The dogs were happy and we worked to get beyond our accident.
