2015 southeastern us
ADRENALINE OVERLOAD!
We woke to the soothing sound of an acoustic guitar from our neighbor. After a breakfast of porridge with a twist we headed to canoe the Hiawassee River.
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2015 southeastern us
ADRENALINE OVERLOAD DAY 2
Cody woke up and checked on Snaily, Jr. Snaily, and Mini Snaily. We found more smaller snails hiding on our picnic table. Scott took Cody to the creek on the path from our campsite. The kids worked on reconstruction of The Lost Creek. After cleaning up our mats, sheets, and sleeping bags I eased on down to the creek to see what they were up to. I caught a quick picture of Cody’s wet footprints as he scurried across the rocks. It turns out it is easier to catch a picture of his footprints than a picture of him.
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2015 southeastern us
Cody was up at 5:45 which was much too soon since the campers a few sites down that joined us after we had gone to sleep were up until at least 3. The kids quietly amused themselves until 7:20 and then the giggling could no longer be contained. Brooke was busy with dressing and accessorizing her American Girl doll this morning while Cody was busy working on his Lego creations. Scott had checked on the towels we had put on the line from swimming at the falls last night. He said, “Nothing is dry. No surprise. This isn’t the west.” Brooke didn’t skip a beat and said, “West is best.” Score! Scott has been on a quest for years to get the kids to fall in love with the west. Then they can go to school out there and live out there long term. Then we can retire out there. (Lynn W. you are an inspiration!)
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2015 southeastern us
A rooster crowed at 3:33, 4:44, and just kept on going hourly. I was thankful there was no crow this morning, like yesterday, answering back. Somewhere in the five o’clock hour I had nudged Scott and told him it was raining, so that he could help me put the fly on the tent. He responded, “I know about it. Don’t worry about it.” I was rather tired, and so I rolled over even with the slight water torture on my head every now and then. It turns out Scott did not remember the conversation at all. The conversation only came up because he was wondering why everything was slightly damp. We laughed about it later as it seems to be his default statement to cover all of my concerns. “I know about it. Don’t worry about it.”
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2015 southeastern us
Scott thought a quick stop in Alabama to add another state to the kids’ map would be a fantastic objective for today. So after a delicious breakfast of French Toast and the most amazing showers we have had the entire trip (complete with temperature control and no need to press buttons to keep the water flowing), we headed towards Russell Cave National Monument.
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2015 southeastern us
This was one of our favorite days, and not just because it was our fourteenth wedding anniversary, but because we hiked, canoed, and had an incredible dinner and evening together.
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2015 southeastern us
I woke up at six and seriously contemplated a run, but thought I should give the family a little longer to sleep just in case I woke them in my attempt to sneak out. Then I awoke at seven with a vivid nightmare about Cody and I knew it was time to get up. I went for a run to the amphitheater, visitor’s center, down and a nature trail, and then to the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave. It was a nice perk to go near the cave entrance and feel the natural air conditioning coming out of the cave as I was sweating before my run even began at seven in the morning. We were longing for summer back at home. We found it!
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2015 southeastern us
Notice the first picture and where Scott is eating his eggs from? Someone, I won’t name names, dropped a water jug on the edge of his plate and sent the eggs flying.
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2015 southeastern us
Scott and I both popped our heads up at 5:45 to the sound of rolling thunder. Last night was the first night on this trip that we slept with the fly off. We almost made it the whole night without rain. The thunder gave us a nice fifteen minute warning to get up and get the fly on. We might have been up for the day, but we discovered something last night. We now know why Cody is so skinny. He frequently practices Kung Fu moves in his sleep and Scott has the bruises to prove it. We rested in the tent until 7:45, but not much more sleep was had. Scott cooked up some porridge with a twist. We had plenty of time to hop on the 10am Domes and Dripstones tour.
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2015 southeastern us
The campsite at Clifty Falls State Park was conveniently tucked next to a playground and well shaded just in case the sun would come out. However, the sun never did come out and the site was a bit slantly. The kids slipped down their mats all night long. Scott and I both took turns pulling the kids back up to the top of their mats after they had become a puddle mashed into the tent. We headed to a pavilion to cook up some French Toast and avoid the impending rain. Anyone notice a theme with the ritual of finding a pavilion? We happened to be right where a machine shop of Amish workers was having their company picnic. We were able to watch their baseball game. Even after the heavy rain had scattered most of the spectators and sent them running for cover, the game was pretty intense. We had a chance to talk with Dwayne who was with the Amish group while Brooke sat in a tire swing watching the game in the rain.
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