 |
| Brad reading in the tent |
 |
| the kids enjoying their supper |
 |
| taking a break as we explore Unicoi (deep thoughts by Nick) |
 |
| the boys wading in the creek |
 |
| mine and Rachel's tent |
 |
| hotdogs anyone? |
 |
| Brad's mean camp face! |
 |
| Trent rolling down a grassy hill |
 |
| the gun show |
 |
| Our precious little boy |
 |
| lovely campers |
 |
| our campsite |
 |
| our pretty girl in the stream |
 |
| Trent's pile or rocks and sticks that he collected next to this tree |
 |
| Anna Ruby Falls |
 |
| halfway up to AR Falls |
 |
| the beautiful falls |
Our first camping trip was a success! But, we did learn some things that we want to differently next time.
1- I need a better sleeping mat/cot, etc...
2- Camping food can/should include easy meals like cereal and ramen noodles
3- Camping in the summer is HOT, but the fall would be more comfortable
4- it'll be more fun if we can park directly next to our campsite so that we don't have to haul heavy coolers to our site
5- the kids will have fun no matter what the circumstances/conditions
6- I am the biggest complainer in the family :)
So, we really did have a great time, even if this list looks like I'm focusing on the negatives here. Unicoi is a beautiful state park not far from Helen. It's huge and has a swimming beach, playground, hiking trails and a large campground. The swimming beach was very nice and the water was clear (unbelievably), and we had fun swimming in it. We only played on the playground once, but the kids enjoyed it. There was a cold stream that ran right beside it and the kids had fun playing in that too. We didn't try out any of the hiking trails this time because of the heat, but they would have been fun, I'm sure. The campground had RV and tent sites. There were over 30 tent sites and even though they were clustered in the same area, we didn't feel like our neighboring campers were all over us or anything. We were able to choose a shady, tree-canopied campsite that was perfect! We took 2 tents: 1 for the girls and 1 for the boys. :) The kids enjoyed every part of camping, from carrying stuff to the site, to setting up, to sleeping on the hard ground, to catching fireflies at night, to whittling sticks. They are at an awesome age/stage where this adventure was just lots of fun! Nick was way more content than I was and didn't mind the hard work that was involved in hauling, setting up, cooking, cleaning, etc... I didn't mind working hard, I guess I was just surprised that it was MOSTLY hard work with little time to relax. But, I think that can be remedied with a few easier meals and perhaps picking a park next time that has parking next to your campsite so you don't have to remove every item from your vehicle. Also, not sleeping well the first night due to the heat and discomfort of being on a sleeping mat on the ground, left me feeling pretty grouchy that next morning. I slept better the 2nd night because it had cooled off considerably and I might have been a tad exhausted. :) Everyone else slept great both nights, with zero complaints. :)
Since we were so close to Helen, we decided to go tubing while we were there. Tubing is so much fun even though the water was a little low in several spots. Rach and I were able to strap our tubes together and the boys strapped their tubes together. I thought it was very relaxing and we pretty much let the river move us wherever it wanted. At one point, we even knocked over a man who was looking for lost valuables in the middle of the river. It was pretty funny even though I'm sure being knocked out at the knees and slamming into rocks didn't feel very good. I had a hard time controlling my laughter about that poor man's face as he went down. But, I have no idea why he would stand in the middle of a tubing river, with 100s of tubers floating by in intervals and have his back turned to us. I didn't think that was very smart and he probably learned his lesson the hard way. ;)
We also hiked up to Anna Ruby falls one day. It was beautiful and cool and very impressive. It rained on us on the way up to the falls so everything was overcast and cool.
We spent 2 nights camping at the park and had a really good time! We packed up and left early on the 2nd morning there and only had a 2 hour drive back home, which was nice. There was plenty to unpack, wash and put away over the next week. One thing is for sure, camping is fun, but it takes lots of planning, preparing, setting up and cleaning up. :)
Till our next camping adventure...
