Amanda had asked about checking out a few spots for camping and maybe taking a hike. We agreed on the time and place and headed out a little early so we could stop at the Dutch Oven en route. My plan was to get bread, cheese and likely some buckeyes. $42 later...I know better, I can't just run in that place. We left with macaroons, 2 loaves of bread, hot red pepper jelly, gummy frogs, buckeyes, a bag of chocolates, yerba mate drink mix, muscadine cider and some 'add water' types of soup mixes that we want to try for backpacking. But no cheese.
We arrived at the Brushy Lake Day Use Area and got parked and walked around a bit before having a snack. Then we walked the .5 mile trail to the dam and opted to keep going and walked along the creek a ways to a backpacking camp site that we all agreed was perfect. So we set up camp there. The big kids took off while the adults and littles picked trees that needed some leaning against and we did little more than talk some and listen to the water flowing by. There was some stick playing and Matt tried to impress the baby by twirling a stick between his fingers like a drumstick. When he finished Matt said, "Whoa!" and they both chuckled. Then Bird waved HIS stick around like a crazy conductor and yelled, "WHOA!" with his big round eyes and mouth. The 5th time was no less adorable.
We walked a while and saw this, then walked a good while longer before actually finding the kids-barefoot with no gear at all.
Rho took these, I missed the snake, yay! It's a cottonmouth.
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| I do not know what this is. Yet. |
The falls from the dam are at the top of this picture, you could hear them quite well as we walked beside the creek.
The trail that goes to the top of the cliffs. We used to walk this EVERY Sunday when I was a kid.
Scariest picnic ever!
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| Are you lichen my hair? |
After a picnic in which Amanda graciously shared her much healthier fare while we kept the gummy frogs hidden from her kids, we walked over to the campground and looked around. It's $5 a night to camp and a couple of the sites are QUITE nicely situated. There are 2 water spigots between the 10 sites, but only a pit toilet at the campground. At the day use area, about...100 feet away, there's a bathroom with flush toilets and hot showers. The showers look super manky and in need of repair, but if they get fixed up, it would be a great place to camp-Brushy Lake is really pretty.
We headed out from there to the bridge and looked around, but still no good creek access. Our last stop was at Rush Creek, where Matt and I went a couple years ago to geocache and got stuck on that mesa! It's a beautiful creek when it's flowing and we decided that was the spot! We are going back ASAP when it's warm enough to get in and play. I already have been daydreaming about this very spot for tubing with the kids. No leeches. :)
Matt took these, I was unwilling to get in the water, it was about 32.1 degrees.
Chan headed on home with Rho, we go tomorrow to lead an organized hike in Huntsville EARLY IN THE MORNING and will be picking up Ben and Elan-they are at Alex's house-afterward. Then we can meet up with Amanda tomorrow evening and swap kids back around at the Mexican place we all like. Another great day in the making!
Anyway, that was our day-sweet and sunny with a side of chill. When we got home, I crashed HARD for about 2 hours (after I vacuumed) and now I am WIDE awake. I knocked out a good bit of the mess in the house-it's mostly things just not where they need to be. And did laundry, of course. Matt must have thought my nap was permanent, he's been passed out since before dark. Now that I think about it a bit, I am not as wide awake as I thought. He's awfully warm and snuggly and it IS chilly in here...I think I will leave the rest of the to do list for another day. G'night!
