As we cruised up I-75, I looked at the Georgia Attractions book we picked up at the Georgia Welcome Station.
I asked tgg if he would mind taking a brief detour to Dahlonega to pan for gold and gem stones. He said it sounded like fun and I began calling campgrounds to reserve a site.
I was able to get us a spot at the Etowah River Campground. We checked in, found our site, and immediately departed for the Crisson Gold Mine in Dahlonega where we would learn how to pan for gold and gems. I couldn't resist buying a gold pan before we headed back to the campground with a grocery trip to the Gold Mine Wal-Mart on the way.
I headed for the shower while tgg set-up the camper on our site.
When I came back, tgg was deep in conversation with a guy from a nearby campsite. Gary was 45 and had lost his wife to illness a few years ago. Gary was a schoolteacher and he was spending the summer panning for gold on the creek branches feeding into the river. He left every morning in his canoe with his pan. He had already found enough gold to pay his expenses for the summer and was having fun.
Gary was 5'4", stocky, but in good shape. He had a beard and his hair had not been cut for several months so he looked like a typical miner from the 1800's - right down to the soft brim felt hat he wore. He stayed at the campground rather than camping in the wild because he liked having a hot shower each night and having flush toilets.
Tgg invited Gary to have dinner with us and already had it on the stove and in the oven of the motor home.
We shared a meal and beer, and got to know each other.
Gary offered to take us panning with him tomorrow and we took him up on it.
I whipped up a big batch of pancakes and sausage links for breakfast. We took the leftovers with us for lunch. Sausage wrapped in a cold pancake tastes pretty good when you're hungry.
When we reached the creek shelf that Gary was working, tgg took a pan and said he was going to find his own shelf farther up the creek.
I was having trouble getting the hang of swirling the pan so Gary worked with me hand over hand. Gary stood behind me as we worked and because of our size difference, he had to look under my arm to see how we were doing.
I guess my unfettered breast brushing his face and arm got to him because I began to feel a hard lump in his jean shorts pushing against the back of my thigh.