The joys of the great outdoors. . . The cool temperatures of the mountains, children that run free and sleep well, gazing at all of God's creation, the smell of campfire in my hair. . . okay, that last one I could do without.
We spent our weekend in the NC Mountains and enjoyed every minute of it. There is something about camping and the mountains that just soothes my soul. It is my therapy, my medication. Sometimes we just need to get away from the busy-ness of life and slow down to realize just how blessed we really are.
For the Reporter's sixth birthday, we decided to give the gift of experiences. We let this book be our guide to choosing experiences and locations. Our extended family had a great time choosing outings to lighthouses, conservation centers, museums. . . but the hubby and I wanted to take her to the place that we love best--the mountains. When a friend suggested a family camping weekend, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give her our "gift"! Our goal was to visit a waterfall, a swimming hole, and caverns. . .
We chose to camp at a small, private Campground close to Linville Falls with the hopes of hitting all 3 spots over the weekend. I must take a minute to highly recommend this campground. The Linville Falls Trailer Lodge and Campground was one of the cleanest, best maintained campgrounds I have ever visited ( and I camped across the country for a full month of my life in college). The owners live on-site and have thought of every thing you need! They have a wonderful camp store full of goodies you may have forgotten--s'mores makings included! The bathrooms were cleaned daily and the showers were fabulous! I cannot say enough good things about this campground!
The Little Guy wanted to help put up the tent and I immediately remembered trying to camp with The Reporter before she was walking--ugh. Camping with a crawler is messy and challenging--especially a curious little boy! But I relaxed, threw a tarp on the ground, and let him get dirty crawling around, chasing the other kids!
Saturday was started off with a trip to Linville Falls to see magnificent waterfalls, hike a bit with the kids, and enjoy nature. However, the kids all wanted to stick their feet in the water (a no-no at Linville), so our fearless leader told the group of a "secret" waterfall about 30 minutes away which included an 50 foot waterfall and a swimming hole! (Check another site off our list!) After a quick lunch of Chicken Spedies, everyone suited up for our trip to Elk River Falls.
We did a little of this. . .
Some of this. . .
And the hubby even swam in the BIG swimming Hole!
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| I scaled a rock to get this shot! |
We ended the day with hot dogs and s'mores over the fire.
Sunday morning was filled with yummy camp breakfast and a trip to the great grassy play area while camp was cleaned up. There is nothing I love more than kids running wild and free.
All in all, a perfect weekend. No caverns this visit--but we WILL be back!
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.” – John Burroughs
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