Newsletter & Availablity Report

NEWSLETTER
& AVAILABILTY REPORT

This Newsletter Last Updated: October 25, 2005

.....As we see the cost of fuel up so much higher this year, we are hearing about lots of airlines and hotels that are starting to impose fuel surcharges on their rates to help pay for the increased cost of the jet fuel or heating oil. Some of the cabin rental businesses are closing down some of their cabins for the winter, and draining all the water from the pipes, so that they will not have to leave the heat turned on. Right now, we are not planning to do anything, because many of the winter weekends and holidays are likely to be fully rented. But we do not expect to be at all profitable in the winter months. Over the last 3 or 4 years, we have replaced all of our old cabin furnaces with new, very-efficient, gas furnaces, which should help us with the fuel costs. We had not had any really cold weather yet this fall, but today (Oct 25) we did have our first snowfall of the year. You had to look fast this morning to see it because there was not much of it. If you have stayed with us in the past, you may recall that we have always tried to recycle as much as we can. We encourage our guests to recycle as well. We collect cardboard, corrugated cardboard, plastic bags, plastic bottles and jugs, tin cans, aluminum cans, glass, and newspaper. Our county will not take most recyclables, so we have to haul it 40 miles to Gainesville. We recently checked to see how our neighbors handled their recycling, and we were amazed to find that none of them did any recycling at all - even just aluminum cans. Not even at the state parks, nor the outfitters, nor the forest service ...and not even the fancy resorts where some of the state and national environmental groups have had their conventions! But if you are staying with us, we do encourage you to recycle and we provide bins and haul it to the recycling centers.
.....The highway in front of our store has become a really popular bicycle riding place. Last spring there was a really great bike race, including Lance Armstrong, called the Tour de Georgia that came by. There were crowds all up and down the road to watch and cheer the riders. Then in September, there is a really popular bike ride from Dahlonega, called the "Six Gap Century". That one had probably over a thousand riders riding by on a Sunday morning. It was very colorful and again there were lots of spectators. That one was a ride rather than a race. But I cannot imagine riding 100 miles over the mountains.
.....This summer has been a big summer for bears. I would guess that we have seen bears right here on our property thirty or thirty-five different days, and probably at least eight or ten different bears. We have also seen them on the roads and trails. Many guests have gotten great pictures of them, right around the cabins. No one was threatened by them, but they did get into bags of trash and make a mess until we ran them off and picked up the trash.
.....Thanks for taking time to look at our website. We also have some other pictures stored on the site temporarily, waiting for our webmaster to use them. Type in www.bloodmountain.com/photos and you will get a listing of about 50 pictures. Click on one of the listed pictures and it will show up on your screen. The pictures are of various cabins, waterfalls, wildlife, and sunsets. We will be adding another fifty or so pictures to the website in the next few days. I am sorry that I am unable to figure out how to finish putting all the pictures into the photo gallery, but I will eventually get it figured out.
.....On our main page, you can download copies of our brochures. It used to take forever if you did not have high-speed internet connections, but our webmaster has improved that now. There are also websites for the Green Mansions Cabins at www.greenmansionscabins.com, and for some of our private vacation homes at www.treehousevacationhomes.com Be sure to check out the websites. Call us at (800)284-6866 if you would like us to mail the brochures to your home.

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