After going on the same campout almost every year since I was 2 months old, I thought maybe I should explain it a bit. This is no ordinary campout :) This is a family reunion--well the reunion is every other year, but everyone enjoys it so much that many come every year...willingly. Four generations of my immediate family come (my grandparents, their 5 kids, all of "us" (all the cousins my age) and then all of our kids). Plus- my grandma's sisters and all of their decendants too. (I lose track of how we are related to everyone, and generalize everyone to an aunt, uncle or cousin).
A lot of time is spent just wandering back and forth from camp to camp catching up with relatives. For one night we get together and have a big dinner, the rest of the time we just cook our own dinner at our own camp. When the kids are old enough it is great--because they can wander around and play and we don't really worry because after all--we are related to everyone there. (we basically reserve the entire loop of campsites). Everyone feels welcome at anyone else's camp anytime. Have pancakes at uncle Roberts, have cobbler after dinner at uncle Lennie's, go snitch some doughnuts or tootsie pops from grandma and grandpa, and have smores by Uncle Charlie's campfire--just bring your own chair. As teenagers we would disappear for the day and build forts out in the woods and then play night games like kick the can when it got dark. Now we mostly visit around campfires and card tables.
As for the facilities-a few familes (such as ourselves) are still in tents, but at this point most people have justified purchasing a trailer. (go figure). So the sites have paved slabs, and faucets nearby with clean water, and the bathrooms have toilets that flush.
Here is the view from the entrance of the campground. This lake is within walking distance.
This is the view from the top of my favorite hike-Pinks Trail. It doesn't take very long, only about 20 minutes, and it is only about a half mile, but it is straight up! Loved that we got to go this year.
Lots of people want to know what you do for 10 days while you are camping in a tent, so here are some highlights:
*set up camp: tent, and gazebos, and makeshift kitchen, and shower (without which I think i could only do 3-4 days max)
*play LOTS of cards
*take a walk to the lake with all of your cousins and have a picnic
*take a drive to the lake and go fishing
*take turns borrowing your grandma's new wheelchair and push other people down the hill in it
*try to catch chipmunks with a stick, a piece of rope, a plastic tub, and some trix cereal (guaranteed entertainment for days!)
*search for pitchy pine (best wood for building fires)
*drive to the village 5 minutes away and buy ice for the coolers and get an ice cream or a snow cone, and maybe a souvineer (a new idea this year--I thought after camping in the same place for 28 years I should have a stinkin' t-shirt or something :)
*pack up camp (takes about a half day with all the stuff we haul up there)--then race to grandma's house to take a real shower and have a pizza party on the lawn (wierd to see how excited we are to eat together when it is the same people we have been camping with for 10 days lol~)
*escape to the village to the internet cafe for a few hours to check emails for work
*take a 30 minute drive to the good lake and try and catch some really big fish
*take a 5 minute drive to the close lake and let the kids catch some tiny fish and feed the chipmunks that eat out of your hand
*eat smores, roasted marshmellows, tang, lots of dutch oven cobbler, tin foil dinners, and hot cocoa just because
*play bingo at your aunt's camp complete with prizes
*Bombard your second (or third, or forth) cousins' camps at midnight by dressing in camo and throwing marshmellows at them from the bushes
*visit the ice cave
*hike pinks trail
*hike cascade Falls (closed this year)
*Walk through Mammoth Cave, a lave tube (in pics above) It is about 100 yards of complete darkness. Not sure why these bars were there--we are sure they aren't trying to keep us out, so we just ignore them and crawl through. At the end it was pretty muddy and you have to squeeze through a pretty small opening. One of the favorite quotes of the week was from Rachel in the final large area of the cave where it was super muddy, and super dark.
"I am SOOOO DONE with this cave!"
2 comments:
What a fun trip! That Rachel is such a doll. Love her quote! And the pics of her on her first day of school. DARLING!
Looks like quite the adventure!
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