Camping in the Smokies

Well I cant say I had FUN at my camp...but it was definitely a experience :-) In the one week I was at camp I got stung more times than I ever have in my life. It was many different things that stung me: 3 yellow jackets, 2 bees, 1 sweat bee, ant the worst one out of all a hornet! That was a MEAN sting. My thigh broke out in hives and swelled up. I also got stung by a plant called stinging nettle. It hurt worse than a yellow jackets, but not quite as bad as the hornet.

We played a lot of games. Some of the games we played are: professional 20 questions, Killer, Clothes pin, and a few card games at night.

Going to the bathroom was not fun. We used leaves to wipe, and when we had to do more that just pee, we would take Stanly the shovel for a walk. ;-) "Who is Stanly the shovel?" you might ask. He is the shovel that digs your toilet! “The better your aim the smaller your hole can be.” Was our quote from the leaders Brian and Mary.

There were 16 kids total at camp. We got divided into 2 different groups. In my group there was:

Winona, the vegan. It was interesting watching what all she ate, or should I say what little she ate.

Nathan, “sexy white”. I honestly think he made the trip. He was so funny and didn’t even know he was being funny.

Kyle, my kooky cousin.

Marie-Claire, she was pretty outgoing

Ian, nice...a little full of himself, but nice.

Sam, got distracted VERY easily
Tyler, DON’T get him started on religion or politics...you will never stop him.

More of my experiences to be shared later!!!

Mom's turn: On High

The last few days of a lovely vacation were spent relaxing, catching up on some much needed photo editing in preparation of getting my new computer, knitting an afghan I’m determined to have completed for Teeny’s graduation, and finishing a great book The Friday Night Knitting Club. The critics compared it to Steel Magnolias in a knitting shop…it was a great read and I highly recommend it.

However, somehow all of my vacations involve wearing goofy helmets!!! What’s up with that?!?!?! After we picked Teeny up from her last day at camp we decided to surprise her and take her hang gliding!! Once we got there I was lucky enough to be included, too. What an awesome memory! This time is was Travis’ turn to fur-babysit and take pictures :-D I went up first

Elen's flight

and Teeny was right behind me – so we were in the air at the same time.

Teeny soaring with a smile

Teeny and I had the most perfect weather you could hope for on a flight; we could see for miles and miles over the mountain tops!

another glimpse of Travis' turn

It’s an indescribable feeling – not scary at all…more like floating without any sort of feeling what so ever. Breathtaking…and another "highly recommended" activity!!! I’m glad I was able to experience something so magical in my lifetime…now time to “come back down to Earth” and drive the rest of the way home. And we couldn't get out of there without buying goofy t-shirts to commemorate our experience!

Elen's goofy shirt

Teeny thought "human lawn dart" was funny...HA

We got in around 1 am, ugh. Just in time to rest up for company :-D

Mom's turn: Sweet Surprise!

Travis had a few surprises up his sleeve for me to keep my mind off the fact that we weren’t able to camp. First we stopped on the Cherokee Reservation to get some fudge – they have the absolute best fudge ever…or maybe it’s the memories that go with it. That is the same vacation stop we made when I was pregnant! It’s also always nice to pass through their and remember a part of my heritage from my father’s side. Then he stopped at a hotel in Sevierville, TN right on the French Broad River so we could see Teeny go whitewater rafting on her all day trip on Wednesday. We headed over to the outpost bright and early Wednesday so we could ask them where to go along the river and catch them on the rapids for some great pictures. WELL – we got there a little too early and the kids hadn’t boarded the bus yet. That ended up being a good thing because the person in the outpost informed us that the river was inaccessible and pictures could only be taken from a kayak. Hmmm – that won’t work! We spied on her for a minute before she realized we were there and she was laughing and yawning and having a good time! When she came over to the truck we were able to get a hug & kiss, and some quick details of her camp so far!!! She was a little nervous because they had just found out that they were taking duckies down the river!

Kyle & Christina all geared up and ready to go!

I was so glad to have just had that experience so I was able to put her mind at ease. She also said they had hiked SIXTY miles, she got four blisters, and was stung seven times getting into a yellow jacket nest and stirring up some hornets (which she said was the worse sting she has ever gotten instantly causing hives all over her leg). She also stepped in a stinging nettle which she claimed was worse than the yellow jackets, fell on her first day hiking and had two monster bruises on both knees, and caught a cold on her second day hiking! GOOD GRIEF – all that and she was still smiling!!! Additionally she made up a little poem…but that is her story to blog when we pick her up tomorrow!

After they got on the bus to head to the drop off point Travis and I went on to see Asheville, NC to visit and shop since we couldn’t watch her raft over the rapids. Asheville was a lovely community and a place Travis had always wanted to see and the weather was gorgeous.

does NOT make me homesick!!!

We got some coffee and a little treat and then visited some of the shops where I got some surprises for Teeny. She loves to bead and is always making me sweet treats, so this time I found some stuff and decided to make her one so she would have a memory of NC. Of course I went with the Asian theme and added some iridescent beads on a beautiful two tone silk ribbon. Then I found something for myself…a wonderfully scented beeswax tea light holder and an elephant. That is always the best way to remember NC by! We headed back to the hotel but stopped at the Knife shop first. When we got back, Samson said it was time to play…again! He found a new source of entertainment – there was an apple tree by the cabin and he snuck one in his travel house and brought it with us!!! Funny boy.

Mom's turn: It's a bird!

We left Sewanee to head towards our camping ground taking the back roads, about a 4 hour drive. We stopped at the Sewanee Natural Bridge, made by a natural sink hole. We walked across that with the boys and down to the cave where Travis passed a tree and stirred up a hornet nest and Samson promptly stopped to tee-tee on them ignoring my pleas to “come.” Thank God no one was stung and we scurried out safely!!! After that we passed through GA on the way to TN and we saw an American Goldfinch on the electric line…he was too fast for a picture, but I have a vivid image in my memory. We also passed the largest smoke stack that either one of us had seen. Travis’ creative side came out and he wanted to stop for a quick picture…so I played along! Another stop was something Travis has always talked about, Lookout Mountain where you can watch people hang gliding.

The "novice" run - a paved jump

I finally talked him into not watching and dreaming but actually doing it! He chose a double high tandem flight at 4000’ with 20 min of flying time with an aero-tow to get him lifted off the ground.

Getting harnessed up

The tandem gliders getting towed in

uh - what did you talk me into???

He looked just like a human kite!

the aero-tow with an ultra light plane

lift off

the release...he's on his own

He had a fabulous time and I can’t wait to get the better pictures developed and see him close up. Next time we pass through hopefully all of us can go. Now we were all set to go camping in south Cherokee National Forrest at a primitive campsite, Tumbling Creek Campground – about 12 miles of unpaved, winding mountain road to get there. Unfortunately, we arrived after dark to set up camp and we ran into a “little” glitch. Travis brought Christina’s single sleeper tent instead of our family sized one. Needless to say Travis barely fit in no less our blow up mattress. Thankfully we had a double sleeping bag for a little comfort. We got that laid out, both of us and both dogs squeezed in for the night. That was the longest night of sleeplessness I’ve ever had, thanks in part to a very persistent bullfrog close by! I think we both managed a few hours of restless sleep, but we now have a new appreciation of how sardines feel. Around 6am the “alarm” went off – a forest bird of some sort declared very loudly that it was time to get up. We ate a quick breakfast, went for a hike with the dogs, read and relaxed a bit, then decided to pull up camp and try again next time with the proper equipment.

Mom's turn: Sewanee

We arrived to Travis’ old stompin’ ground, the University of the South, Sewanee. I’ve been before, but the campus is always breathtakingly gorgeous! We took the bikes out for a ride as soon as we got settled in the hotel. It was an awesome 13 mile jaunt around campus where we saw lots of wildlife, mostly deer. Food options were wonderful, too. We ate at the Smokehouse restaurant next door for breakfast both mornings where I also found my FIL a cute “grandpa” gift – an RC cola in a glass bottle, a moonpie, and a hat with a picture of both that says, “It’s a Southern thing.”

Our second day there we went hiking for several miles on some trails Travis remembered. We came across two ponds that Samson loved playing in and a turtle that he was not so fond of. Afterward, we went out to eat at a very lovely restaurant right off of campus, Pearl’s. It was a wonderful date night and some very special time spent with my HH. We ordered a bottle of 2005 Pighin Italian Pinot Grigio, a fruity, light, white wine, a cheese plate appetizer, grilled salmon for me, rib eye steak for Travis, and the best key lime pie & bread pudding I’ve ever had! Travis said he wants to make sure we get our money’s worth out of our new gym membership. :-/ Oh my - even though I will have to work hard to get rid of the residual they were definitely worth it! They both had fresh blueberries on them with raspberry purée.