Once again, I have lost track of time and maintaining this
blog (that has just turned into a picture catalog site) has taken a back seat
to life. Truth be told, things are moving at such a rapid clip and it’s hard to
keep up. Summer is over half-way done as I type this and it’s rather depressing
to think about. I have been able to take off a good chunk of time this season
to spend with my family but it never seems like it’s enough.
One of the interesting things I have learned about maintaining
this blog is finding the content to fill a page. Early when I started these ramblings, it was a
lot of writing with photos and files peppered in. Now out of essentially the lack
of time and laziness, my posts typically consists of photos of things we have
done or adventures we have taken with a little snippet about each photo as I try
and piece together the thoughts. That’s what this blog has turned into. I find myself
struggling if this is the right approach. Granted, there is something to be
said to capturing memories on film (or in today’s case, SD memory) but while
focused on trying to capture the moment with a device, often I take myself out
of the real memory all together. Sounds
extreme right? Yes, probably so. I guess
what I am trying to say is that I see so many, including myself, watching their lives on a 3"x 5" screen in real
time rather than with their own eyes. It’s scary.
Now on to my photos (With Brief Snippets of Info)!!!
May and June were busy with Ribfest, a close week day trip to Rend Lake, Kentucky lake/ Smoky mountains and the Birthday week. Wow! Lots of things packed into 2 months. It was fun, I wish we could do it over again. As strange as it sounds, Summer is done.
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| Rend Lake South Sandusky Pine Tree Loop. Site 186. Brand new FHU Sites. We were the first to use them this Season. |
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| We tested out the new Kayak, All thumbs up. Really need to look at getting more so we all can go out. |
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| Our Site at Rend Lake. No on on the Door Side and Extra Parking for a Boat |
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| Max being his usual goofy self. This was after we nearly ran over a Heard of Deer in the campground. |
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| Nice Sunsets. No street lights. Everything Right. |
Here are some from the big summer blow out and knowing what I know now, I would have not broken the trip up, but rather just traveled to one destination for the 8 nights. Live and learn....its was still a lot of fun but it didn't feel long enough with the travel day in the middle of the trip.
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| Hillman Ferry Campground site 100 |
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| The lake here never disappoints. |
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| Chopper parking at the playground |
A day on the water was I feel the highlight of the trip. Sam surprised me with his quick to take lake swimming. Like a fish. What a great day.
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| The Noise and Motion of the boat put Max sound asleep. |
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| Hillman Ferry Campground from the water. |
The next stop on the trail was Imagination Mountain Campground in Cosby Tennessee. In 5 years of traveling with an RV, this was the first private campground we had ever stayed at. We chose our first time to experience this type of park correctly. This place was great and seemed more like a hotel than a campground. I had never seen such attention to detail at any campground. Meaning there was zero trash anywhere. Even after the only rain out day we had, the owners were out picking up leaves, branches and re grading gravel that had been washed out due to the water. Everything was clean including immaculate bathrooms and showers should you choose to utilize these options. A Salt water pool, Game room, Karaoke (Was a complete hoot), Nightly movies for the kids that start at 6pm and an Ice cram parlor that served.....You guessed it.....Blue Bell Ice Cream.
I felt safe also letting the kids roam, and by roam I mean walk across the street to the playground. This place was ultra kid and family friendly complete with an escort to your campsite and full backing direction to put you in the right spot. Again, first time for that.
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| Imagination Mountain Campground |
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| Stream Side Site. Running water 24 hours a day made for a peaceful atmosphere. |
Obviously the attraction to this area was not the campground, but the national park. Having thought about this in more detail, I should have known that our kids were not up to the task of really experiencing the park. Albeit hot and an incline, we attempted a small hike and got maybe 1/2 mile into the woods before they gave out. Possibly it was the threat of bears or my Dad trying to convince them he heard one in the woods. The kids were content with digging rocks out of the stream in the campground.
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| Nearly Running out of Gas on the long trek home! |
