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Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Canada Bound: Caesar's Head

Tonight we are at Caesars Creek State Park in Ohio. We have a lovely secluded site right above the lake.
Three quick things to share: 

1) If you are new to camper camping (especially with an older rig), learn from us and make sure you use a pressure reduction valve. We have owned one since last year but have never needed to use it. Last night our campground water pressure was really high and we woke up to a cracked water pump and water all over the inside of our kitchen 😬 One stop at Camping World later we are the proud new owners of a new water pump. Thankfully Daniel was able to replace it before dinner tonight.
 

2) We drove to a beach tonight after dinner. It was threatening to storm so we decided not to let the kids swim but agreed to let them wade. Daniel told them if they got their clothes wet they would have to walk back to the camper. Issac kept getting just a little deeper, awfully close to getting wet. Daniel asked him if he wanted to walk back. He looked right at Daniel, grinned and said, “I want to walk home” and promptly squatted down in the water 🙄🤣 When we got back to the car, Daniel wouldn’t let him get in and made him walk (just across a parking lot). After a lot of tears and a lecture about obeying, he let Isaac strip down and get in the car. Hopefully our youngest learned a lesson.  

And finally 3) If you have read this far, and you are a Harding alum, you might get a chuckle out of the fact that Daniel is subtly preparing our boys for the Maybee challenge. When we camp and use the bathhouse for showers (or the our outdoor shower as we did tonight), D has the kids walk back the camper in just a towel, or buck naked 🤣 Tonight was at our remote campsite and it was the latter. Our kids think it is awesome!  

If you're still reading: I took my turn for the outside shower after the boys were all done. As I was stripping off my clothes, I heard something big running through the woods behind me. I screamed and turned on my light just as our dog, Sophie, came barreling out of the woods. I almost had a heart attack. 

Trip Stats:

Campground: Caesar's Head State Park, Ohio

Highlights: Showering outside in the buff

Days on the Road: 3

 

Monday, July 29, 2019

Canada Bound: Natural Bridge and Friends

For our first hike of this vacation we did a short out-and-back to Natural Bridge in Red River Gorge. The best part was walking through the Needle, the narrow passage that led us up to the top of the arch and walking across the Natural Bridge itself.

Last night we had the opportunity to catch up with one of my dearest friends and her family. They moved to Kentucky last fall and we have missed them terribly. I am grateful for our time together and loved that we all picked up as though we had just seen each other last week.

Trip Stats:

Campground: Natural Bridge State Resort Park, KY

Highlights: Natural Bridge, Seeing friends

Days on the Road: 1-2 

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Canada Bound

My mom is originally Canadian (she was an alien for most of my life, now a US citizen), which means a majority of our family on her side live in Canada. Pretty much for as long as I can remember (except when we lived in Papua New Guinea) we have been making yearly trips north to see my family. This has continued since I have a family of my own (we try to go every other year). 

Since we made the big trip out west to Utah last year, we felt like we needed to go due north this year to spend time with my family. My nana lives in a nursing home in Niagara Falls now and we really feel like we should see her, and our big family reunions are a favorite experience for our boys (and Daniel and I) when we can make it. So that is where our big trip is this year.

We are taking the camper and three weeks with lots of extra stops planned this time. Normally we head straight to see family. This year we will spend more time exploring before and after the family reunion.