I Hate White Rabbits!

Eagerly anticipating our weekend getaway, the six casual campers bought some food, packed some warm clothes, and loaded up the mountain bikes.

We just forgot to reserve a camping spot in the most beautiful October weekend in memory.

So, after the driving, the searching, the slight panic...we found ourselves setting up on the edge of the lake in Fairview in Tims Ford State Park.

As the night grew darker (and colder!), the group began to set up camp. A ring of camp chairs steadily grew around the fire pit and the three tents rose, the sleeping bags were unfurled, and the girls all put on numerous layers of sweats, knits, and wool socks. While the guys pulled out the hot dogs, we cracked open the s'mores.

Hmmmmmm. S'mores.....

I know you are already thinking to yourselves- God, I want some s'mores. But wait, think of the beers- Oh, I forgot, no alcohol in state parks. Well, that's why my group passed on the beer and decided to just drink Bravos.  Not beers. Bravos. And if you called it by the forbidden word- you just have to finish your Bravo.

It's not a drinking game. 

It's not.

So, I'm not really an outdoors kind of girl. Sure, I'll cut a worm in half and bait it on a hook, rub some dirt across my face, and squat in the woods- okay, no. I won't squat in the woods. I'll hold it until I get to the visitors centers very nice (very clean!) bathrooms. But I will attempt to camp.                                       

Which means blowing up the air pad- and somehow end up blowing a hole in it which sounded remarkably like a gunshot echoing across the water. 

And attempting to chop wood, and scaring the daylights out of the people watching you attempt to chop the wood, miss, and be very close to burying the ax into your shin. 

Or snuggling up in sleeping bag, knit hat, fleece jacket, and sweat pants and waking up in the middle of the night to notice a spider had also become very comfortable as well.

 So, crawling out of bed wasn't my favorite, nor was the Arctic ice shower, but the food, y'all.
 

Luckily, our resident cook Matt was on hand to cook us some of the best food you have ever tasted on a camping trip. We had chili hot dogs, juicy hamburgers, sausage, bacon, and biscuits, not to mention the gourmet praline and chocolate chip pancakes.

Needless to say, we ate well but we worked for our food. Between Kevin keeping the fire alive with his expert boy scout expertise or Tad's endless supply of food stocks- we were set. The ladies merely had to do the dishes, make the S'mores, and eat the food.

Well, now that I'm done waxing poetic on our food and camp site, I can actually mention some of the things we did in between all that eating.   The boys decided to bike the eight miles to the Tims Ford State Park and I like a toddler decided "me too!"

The boys were kind, stopping at various side streets as I labored behind, pumping my legs, cursing at my lack of athletic abilities and wishing like hell there was a downhill ahead. My inner playlist included "I Believe I Can Fly", "Fly Like an Eagle", and "Benny and the Jets"- I'm not sure where that last one came in but it was fun to sing.

We arrived, ate some more food, and then let the boys go on a bike ride while we walked the dogs behind them. My rear end was increasingly grateful that I had not completely lost my mind and we enjoyed our stroll to Weaver's Point, stopping occasionally to let the dogs play in the water or force them to take cheesy photos with us.

Mostly we let them play, sniff, and explore and continued to make up what they were thinking in their mind- while the guys biked ahead only to return to us highly disappointed that Weaver's Point was a turn around and not much else.

But before we could head to the next trail, I found a jungle gym and made everyone come play with me.

We jumped off swings, tight roped, climbed up poles, and rode bikes down the slides. We are basically the reason they don't let adults on playgrounds with children.

We'd give them ideas.





Well, after that, we explored the Lost Creek for a while. The gang got to run across a hanging bridge, wash the pee off their feet when Rocky decided that was good of a spot as any, and skip rocks across the sunset rippling across the lake's surface.

All in all, it was the most beautiful Fall weekend, spent with my favorite people on this Earth. You couldn't walk past the water without pausing to watch the autumn colors swaying in the wind or look to your left at your laughing friends and think of how lucky you are to be here, now, at this moment and outside living a life worth living.

Sure there's was fatigue, mild uncomfortableness, griping, and a sincere wish for a hot shower. But there was something immensely gratifying about knowing I could do all of these things- maybe not well- but that I could do it, enjoy it, and look back on it in the future as one of those rare perfect getaways where everything was how it is meant to be.

 

There's a few more pictures behind the cut...