Spring Break 2013 – Day 2 – Our camp for last night.
Lanie couldn’t be bothered to pitch her tent and slept in the van.
It was a pain being camped right near a light, but it worked out well being close to the showers in the morning.
We were camped near a light because the camp hosts picked our spot for us. Normally we’ll drive around and select the most secluded spot we can find. We let the camp hosts know we’d be arriving late, and not knowing that we are seasoned and fully equipped campers, they put us in a spot with a light so that we would have light to set up camp.
Part way through the drive we realized we didn’t know what time-zone the campsite was in, so we had to pick up the pace in case we had an hour less to get there in time to check-in. Had it been light I might have driven a bit more slowly up the mountain, because, as we discovered on our way back down, some of the roadside drop offs were impressive.
Taking a picture of me standing by the car has become a bit of a tradition – if you can call doing so on two separate occasions a tradition, so we took another picture this time too.
The first stage of our drive took us past Mammoth Spring Arkansas, and we couldn’t resist stopping to take a look. A short stop became extended when Lanie spotted, and proceeded to run to ground, some poor muskrat.
No backpacking for us this Spring Break – we’ve got a family wedding in Florida to go to, which is going to involve lots of driving. If we’re lucky we’ll get a chance to do some hiking in Florida.
To save cash we’re camping in State parks while we’re travelling, pitching our tent in Ginger’s brother’s backyard and one night in a cheap motel while Lanie gets to stay in the swanky hotel with the wedding party 🙂
The rest of the days drive went off without incident – apart from the omission of not checking which timezone our campground in Cheaha Mountain State Park was in. For a moment there we thought we’d arrive after it had closed for the day. The drive up the mountain in the dark was fun, lots of sharp and sweeping curves. Had we arrived during the daytime, so that I was able to see the steep drop-offs we’d probably have taken it a little bit more slowly…
The camp-hosts, knowing we were arriving late, had already picked a spot for us. Next to a light so we could see to put up our tents! Not what we’d been looking forward to, but, oh well, they had good intentions. At least it meant we were also near to the showers for the morning.
St. Mary’s Guild Mardi Gras LunchI just happened to be visiting church lunch time and a stumbled on the St. Mary’s Guild Mardi Gras Lunch. It looks like a great time was had by everyone.
Commitments for the kids, work projects, and voluntary work have all conspired to keep us from hiking, camping and backpacking for the past couple of months. This afternoon we made the effort to leave our desks behind and hike what we call the ‘Hill Loop’ of the Busiek Silver Trail – 2.58 miles and 574 ft of Elevation. …
Jim brought in this fantastic kaleidoscope for me to get a few pictures of. He’s found a source of very thin mirrors that virtually removes the lines between the images. It is a wonder to behold.
I put this image together for a customer using one of my stock photographs and a favorite verse they mentioned. It matched the spirit of the book well.
Ginger’s parents have been asking us to come down and visit for ages. For some reason things always seemed to be getting in the way and our weekends haven’t been clear. Either Lanie had to be at church – or I’ve either been ushering or needed to grab a couple of pictures for the Church Facebook page. To top it off October has been Ginger’s month of being ‘choir mom’ so she’s had to be there each week too.
Looking at our schedules, we knew I had to be in Springfield the weekend of November 3, as I’m speaking at the diocesan gathering and on Saturday I volunteered to take pictures of the Diocese’s Youth Gathering ‘Zombie Rave’. So this weekend, Lanie got excused from choir, Ginger got excused from ‘choir mom’ duties, and we packed our bags and Friday night straight after school we headed down to Ginger’s parents.
The guest house had been warmed up and prepared for us and Lanie stayed in the house with her grandparents. The last time I stayed in the guest house was on my second night in the US on August 12, 2007!
We had a great time. Saturday we went on a short hike up the bluff and and around to the north of Ginger’s parents farm. We made a short diversion to visit a farm with baby pigs, baby goats, chickens and turkeys. More cuteness than Lanie could possibly cope with.
In the evening we had a big fire with toasted hot dogs, marshmallows and s’mores.
Sunday Lanie took me exploring up the hill, to find Ginger’s childhood cave hideaway. Lanie had only been there once and I’d never been there so we had great fun looking for it. We found Lanie’s uncle’s old abandoned shack in the woods, and after a while found the bluff by the creek and then Ginger’s cave.
Fall bouquets. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Fall bouquets. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Last of the color. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Weekend at Thornfield. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie – up a tree. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Ginger and her dad. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Ginger and her dad. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie in Ginger’s ‘secret cave’. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie in Ginger’s ‘secret cave’. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Gary hidden in Ginger’s secret cave. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Gary hidden in Ginger’s secret cave. Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
