Week Six to Week Eight Helen, Georgia for Octoberfest

I spent a few weeks at an RV park in Cumming, GA, just about 14 miles from my daughter. With she and Mike we made a day trip to Helen, GA which is a unique town, it looks just like an Alpine village.

After the Cherokees left the area on the “Trail of Tears” the area was populated by white settlers. In 1828 gold was discovered nearby and the Great Georgia Gold Rush was begun. Thousands of miners came to the area and mined gold for over a century. Settlers left since mining operations quit at the end of the century. The next major industry was all about timber. A great sawmill was built and a railroad came up the Chattahoochee River to Helen. The sawmill operated until 1931 and again people left for other places.

According to  http://www.helengeorgia.com:
By the 1960's, there was nothing left except a dreary row of concrete block structures. In 1968, local businessmen met to discuss what could be done to improve their town. They approached a nearby artist friend, who had been stationed in Germany. He sketched the buildings, added gingerbread trim, details and colors to the buildings, giving an Alpine look to the entire town. In January 1969, business owners and local carpenters began turning ideas into reality. Now all downtown stores have been renovated and many buildings and cobblestone alleyways added. Faces of buildings were painted with scenes of Bavaria and North Georgia, mirroring the migration of early settlers. 
There are now over 200 shops and you may tube down the Chattahoochee River, visit an amusement park, pan for gold and gems, take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, or enjoy international dining. You may fish, swim, canoe, raft, play tennis, hike, ride motorcycles or golf.

Here is just a little bit of Helen:

Can you pronounce this:

It started raining just as we were leaving Helen. Here is part of the rainbow that stretched across the sky:

Nice experience, wonderful day with the kids!

Week Five–Talladega Superspeedway, Riding Around the Track

William "Bill" France, Sr. broke ground on the former Anniston Air Force Base in 1968. He wanted to build a track faster and longer than Daytona International Speedway. Originally named Alabama International Motor Speedway. The name was changed in 1989  to Talladega Superspeedway. The track opened on September 13, 1969. The cost was $4 million. The track is a tri-oval and is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long tri-oval.

  

The seating capacity is 80,000.^[1] The seats are purposely red with white interspersed. It always looks like they are occupied.

Out of the bus and to take photos on the stage of Victory Lane.

I missed taking a photo of Turn 2

Most of the photos were taken through the minibus windows. It was a “Fun Ride”
.^[1]  ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talladega_Superspeedway

Week Five–Talladega & Lincoln, Alabama National Motorsports Hall of Fame

The museum is located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. It houses many racing and high performance vehicles.  The collections are constantly changing and features racers from the world of Indy cars, stock cars, Can Am, TransAm, sprint cars, powerboats, truck racing, drag racing, motorcycles, air racing, and even racing snowmobiles.

 1940 Mercury Eight, ran on the beach in 1947.

1978 Dodge Magnum, Red & White Series Show Car. Built by Petty Enterprises. Documentation shows that is was the last Dodge Richard Petty drove.

Dale Jarrett's #44 

One of the many galleries

1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Dale Earnhart to his first NASCAR Winston Cup Championship in the 1980 season.

Patty Moise 1988 Buick #45 Amway/Freedom Fuel Car. Patty won four pole awards and was NASCAR's most successful female driver.

Hemi Hurricane 1940 Willies Coupe. Raced in the mid 1960's by Lamar "Bunky" Bobo from Rome, GA. He won three championships in the 1966 and 1967 Winter Nationals in Deland, FL.

The Budweiser Rocket Car 39'2" long and weighs 4,430 pounds with fuel. Fastest run 739.666 mph at Edwards Air Force Base on December 17, 1979.

Dale Earnhart 1951 - 2001. (One section of the museum is the Earnhart Gallery.)

1964 Alfa Romeo Guilia Spider Veloce, one of only 1,091 ever built. Top speed 125 mph, it won numerous SCCA races.

1966 Chevelle, raced by Ray Owen. Raced 186 consecutive times from August 1966 to July 1968 without a loss. Won 676 runs out of 692.

1933 Chevy Modified Car #41 Goody's. Raced for 17 years in the National Dirt Track Association. 1967 Dirt Track Championship in Kingsport, TN. 

Davey Allison's Battlestar #28. 

1986 Buick LeSabre #22, driven by Bobbie Allison. He drove it to victory in the Winston 500 at Talladega in 1986.

And the one that didn’t win the race. Pontiac Grand Prix #30 driving by Michael Waltrip. Wrecked at Bristol on April 7, 1990. Sustained no serious injuries. 

Week Four–Dunn Falls, Mississippi

On my way to Dunn Falls Water Park located in South Lauderdale County, Mississippi along the Chunky River. Created by John Dunn in the 1850's the waterfall is 65 feet. 

This view is typical of the two lane highways in Mississippi. Very picturesque with hills, curves and lots of trees lining the road. Since you can’t see beyond the trees, you never know what’s back there!

I inadvertently took the back road (if you could call it that) down the hill to Dunn Falls. Just off this “road” is a very small, primitive campground. There were two families staying there for the weekend.

Fortunately, this area provided enough space to turn the truck around. However, at this point I was not too impressed.

Then this wonderful 1865 historic grist mill with some of the original equipment. This mill was moved in 1987 from Cave Spring, Georgia and reconstructed on the site of John Dunn's original mill. The front of the mill.

Some of the original equipment.

The back of the mill.

Steps down to the falls.

This is the actual entrance on the highway to the Falls, I was pleased that I experienced the back road that ended at the mill. From the front entrance to the mill it is a pretty long hike. 

This is what should be  feeding the falls. There is construction and there are no falls. When they are finished some time toward the end of 2015, the falls should be in place again. Back once again to provide fishing, swimming and canoeing