Winter Storm Benji hit the South with a vengeance December 2017. And when I say it hit the South, some counties in Georgia got over 12+ inches of snow. As a girl raised in South Georgia, I can honestly say I haven’t seen snow a lot in my life and when I do, I tend to freak out in a good way. I get middle-school girl excited even when it’s just a dusting.

On Saturday morning, I spontaneously decided to gift myself for my birthday a crazy adventurous idea. I had been tossing the idea around when I saw the projected snow fall the night before. My friends and family all thought I was insane bemoaning the danger of ice and the crazy potential traffic, but when it snows in Georgia, you wake up at 3:30am to go see it before it melts. With my alarm set early, I bundled up, gassed up my SUV, and hit the road north. I had my destination in mind, Red Top Mountain State Park, located right above Atlanta because it was in the “snow zone” and looked like it would be perfect for photos. Let’s be honest, it’s all about the photos. As the miles stretched and the hours passed, I had driven through rain and then all of the sudden just below Atlanta, I started to see snow swirl around my car. Y’all, I kid you not, I laughed and giggled with excitement! Almost immediately, I was able to see the snow on the ground despite it still being dark due to the ungodly hour. It wasn’t until I was on the northern side of Atlanta that I really saw the winter wonderland.

And what a dang

winter wonderland

I have never seem this much snow in my life. My first destination was outside of Red Top. Unfortunately, most of the area was without power and I honestly didn’t feel comfortable on the smaller country roads to the park because they were so curvy and slick, so I stopped about halfway and got some great photos on the side of the road.

After my soujourn, I trekked back to the interstate in search of food! I was starving for a Chick-Fil-A biscuit but EVERYTHING was closed because no one could get to work and/or power outages. I on happen-chance found a convenience store near Kennesaw and grabbed a banana and string cheese. Glamorous food of the adventure traveler. Another spur of the moment decision and I hit up downtown Kennesaw. This cute little downtown area had an even cuter little park and of course, my trusty cheap tripod I purchased that morning was used again to grab a few photos.

As I was leaving the downtown area and about to trek home, I saw a brown historic site sign for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and as was par for this trip, I made a spontaneous decision to go there.

I am here to say, spontaneous adventures are what life is all about because oh man, this was my favorite part of the trip. The vastness, the sheer amount of snow, and my feet actually sinking into the 12+ inches of snow was perhaps the most incredible moment of my day. I only wish I had something I could use to sled down the hill!

Winter Storm Benji was probably a headache for most people, but for this adventurer, it was the best birthday present a girl could ask for!

Do you live in an area that gets a lot of snow? What is your favorite snow activity??

xx,
Sami

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