Week Seven: Changes

Song of the Week: Changes by David Bowie

I was going to wait another week to do a blog on all the changes that have happened around the property, but I'm just too excited to wait. Our roads have been widened and all the areas for our cabins, dining hall, horse barn, etc. have been cleared. After months and months of planning, it's exciting to finally see changes happening to the property.

Change #1: We've got WATER! Our first well went in a couple of weeks ago. They drilled down 300 ft and hit 75 gallons a minute. For all of you (like me) who don't know much about water wells, apparently that's a lot of water. YAY!

Change #2: Tree Chopping! If you've ever had the pleasure of watching a logging company cut trees, you know how fascinating the whole process is. Really, I'm not kidding. This crazy little machine in the picture above is the cutter. He's a multitasker. He cuts trees at their base, and then uses his monster of a hand to hold the tree in his grip as he continues to cut more trees. Once he's holding like six or seven trees (and I mean really big trees, not little twigs) in his claw, then he gently lays them in a pile.

Change #3: Trees go bye bye. You can see a little green machine in the background of this picture. That's a skidder. He picks up the huge piles of trees, and drags them here to the loading dock. The yellow machine is the loader. The loader picks up a bunch of trees with his arm, and runs them through this little machine that cuts off the branches. The trees are then placed on the back of truck and hauled off.

Change #4: No more roots and stumps. So once the loggers leave, the dozers come in. The root rake pulls up all the roots, and then the big daddy dozer pulls up all the stumps. They take the mess left behind from the loggers, and push all the brush into a big pile for burning.

Change #5: New Entrance. Drew finally got to play on some of his "toys". The new third entrance, leading to the maintenance area, has been cleared. In this picture, Drew is putting the pipe under the road.

Change #6: Digging Foundations. Drew has begun the process of digging out the foundations for our cabins.

Change #7: Burning the brush. We were able to get most of the piles of brush burned this weekend.

So many changes. Can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks bring.

Week Six: Rain, Rain Go Away

Song of the Week: Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by B.J. Thomas

It's been a strange winter in Georgia. Rain. Rain. More rain. Some snow. More rain. They call it the 10,000 year flood, and it has caused us some delays building.

News Flash! It's finally dry enough to start cutting trees. Check back in two weeks for more pictures of all the changes happening on the property.

Week Five: We are the World united by love so strong.

Song of the Week: We are the World 25 for Haiti by Various Artists

Last week Drew and I were in Honduras with 33 students, parents, and staff from the Lovett School in Atlanta. We spent the week serving side by side, doing our best to try to make a difference in this world. These students had hearts for service and it was amazing to watch them give everything they had.

Yona understands how important it is to give back, and our desire is to pass this love for service along to our girls.

Week Four: Our Community

Song of the Week: Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles

Camp Yona is located in the quaint little community of Crawfordville, Georgia. This week we highlighted our town and a few of it's Hot Spots.

Downtown Crawfordville. Population 572.

Crawfordville is known as the movie capital of Georgia. Several scenes from Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon, were filmed downtown.

Alexander H. Stephens, who served as a U.S. Congressman, Governor of Georgia, and as Vice President of the Confederate States of America, called Crawfordville home. His home is now a museum and part of A.H. Stephens State Park.

Hungry? If you're ever looking for a good meal in Crawfordville, you must stop by Heavy's. It's a local favorite, and has amazing BBQ.

Margaret's Grove Baptist Church is located across the street from Camp. The church once owned our property.

Got Milk? Our neighbors do!!! Williams Dairy is operated by Wayne and Pet Williams. We're so lucky to have them next door.

Camp Yona is located in the heart of Georgia's lake country. Lake Oconee, the second largest lake in Georgia, is close by and we will use the lake for several of our water activities.