Visiting Vogel and Dahlonega

 I enjoyed being invited back to Vogel State Park to tell ghost stories at Possum Hollow (at the base of Blood Mountain) for a third year. 

We always stop at Penland Apple House to buy a few Evercrisp apples to take with us.

Vogel is a beautiful state park that I visited with my MYF and with my family as a preteen and early teen when we lived in Ellijay. We enjoyed looking through the arts and crafts tents at the Fall Festival there. 

The leaves are not in prime color yet, but still pretty.

We were early to arrive at "Possum Hollow" so we walked around for a while with the scores of Trick or Treaters going from ghoulishly decorated campsite to ghoulishly decorated campsite. Notice the "leg" sticking out of a door in the RV (upper left)?

 This is the tiny stream that flows past our storytelling circle. 

I opened the well-attended campfire ghost story session with a recital of "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. Then Melanie Knauff (above), Denise Mount, and I alternated with spooky tales. 

Afterward the three of us posed by the campfire for a commemorative photo.

Our friends Denise and Mike Mount had invited us to be house guests of theirs in Dahlonega so that we wouldn't have to drive back to Rome so late. We were happy to meet up with Troi again, here comfortable ensconced in her easy chair.

On Sunday morning we had "church" in the woodland behind Mike and Denise's beautiful rustic hillside home.

The rapidly expanding habitat of Joro spiders includes Dahlonega.

I asked about this wonderful offbeat birdhouse. I should have realized it was the creation of the father of our mutual friend and storyteller Melanie Knauff.

Sunday afternoon and Troi is once again making herself comfortable.

Denise and Mike are Trekkies and had this shirt hanging on a door. I had to record it to share with my Trekkie son-in-law.