General Goals

So, for years now, I've been chipping away at this little goal I have of visiting every state park in Georgia. There are 47, not including the historic parks which brings the total to 62.

While doing the Day One Hike at Smithgall, I had the flash of brilliance and math capability to realize that there are 47 parks and, heyyyyy, 52 weeks in a year! Why not get them all done in one year?

So here we are.

I started with the idea of having someone at the Visitors' Center sign and date the entry on the yearly brochure that lists all the parks, but this isn't really feasible due to the times when the park itself is open but the visitors' center isn't (like my MLK day trip to Watson Mill) or when they're busy and I respect their time. It feels more validated having them sign it, but I had to move on for simple practicality. Now, I just use a sharpie marker to write in the date. I've been collecting park patches whenever I go also. I have 24 patches so far, just over half.

I've kind of mentally "zoned" certain parks by location. Due to distance, I've got a zone of parks in the southeast, out by Savannah and another smaller zone for the ones in the southwest. I have a zone for the ones just south of me with the ideal of taking my kid along for those at least since they're closer to where they live. I have a small zone as well for the parks within an hour's drive of me that I can use for 'emergency parks', where I can visit even if I don't feel that great but the weather is okay.

I plan to take a few days off this summer for the southeast group since there's a number down that way. I'll hit up the national parks as well, such as Fort Pulaski, Fort Frederica, and Cumberland Island. I figure the southwest ones, and any others in the bottom of the state that I can't make during my holiday to the Savannah area, I can do on weekends here and there. I was able to day trip Providence Canyon and Florence Marina, so it's really just a narrow band of ones that may take a touch more time.

The parks that are on water I'm also leaving for when the weather warms up. I keep a bag of beach towels and swimwear in the car so I'm ready!

I need to practice getting my tent set up here at home so that I'm less intimidated to take it out by myself. Also need to see if my camp stove still works.