Saturday, September 11, 2010

"Camping"

Josh was out of school on Thursday and Friday for teacher workdays, so we came up with a big plan to take the kids tent camping in the N.C. mountains for a few days. After thinking that over, we decided we could think of 10,000 things we'd rather do than spend two days with the kids in a tent, so we rented a "camping cabin" instead.

We were pleased to find that our cabin had electricity, bunk beds, a double bed, a ceiling fan and a porch. The bathrooms and showers in a nearby bath house were cleaner and nicer than a hotel, and we enjoyed cooking our meals outside. I think tent camping may be a thing of the past for us!

We spent yesterday at Chimney Rock State Park, which was developed around a spectacular rock formation in the 1940s. It even has a 26-story elevator that was drilled through the mountain to allow more access to Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock

We took the elevator to the top, then climbed a staircase to Chimney Rock and a few higher outlooks. Then we thought it would be a good idea to walk down the 452 steps to the parking lot. Our leg muscles are paying for that today!

We then ate our picnic lunch and bribed the kids with an ice cream from the gift shop if they would hike with us to a waterfall. I was very proud of Molly--she climbed down the mountain steps by herself and hiked to the waterfall and back with minimal complaining.

The top of the waterfall was more than 400 feet above us. Chris helped the kids climb over some rocks so they could sit at the base of it.

Ice cream is a powerful motivator

1 comment:

corinne said...

This may not be possible, but I think that your kids are getting even cuter :)

And, oh, how I wish that my parents had had thoughts like yours before taking us tent camping over and over again as children. Cabin camping sounds much more pleasant!