I am having kind of a hard time juggling what goes where, I have a trip/camping website and this blog and the new 'my stuff' blog and...where do I talk about this or that at? I did the website because I could write it while not online while and arrange photos and such while we were still off running around. I have a new computer, but my copy of photoshop is so old it will only run on the old laptop-same for my .html editor to build pages, so I go back and forth between them and I use 3 different cameras at any given time, I feel like I am juggling! I guess it will sort itself, but for now,
here's the link to our quick overnight at South Cumberland last week that I put on my other blog. At the end of the day, I really do enjoy going back and looking at the things we have done, I have no desire to stop tinkering with blogging, just need to figure a way to streamline more. And perhaps start thinking about handing off the roamschool copyright to a younger family to carry on while I head into the next phase!
Matt had a 4 day weekend and we had planned a longer backpacking trip. That didn't happen. So Saturday I suggested heading to Guntersville to hike.
I can not read this map. That middle trail part no longer exists and getting around the far left side, the trail goes from wide and clearly blazed to head-high weeds and no clue, passes under a pylon and BAM, back to wide and blazed.
It used to loop around and climb to the bluff where you could see the dam. We brought our hammocks with the intent to hang out up there a while, but where it starts going up, the trail forked and only the new part that is nearly flat and leads back to the parking area is clear. The other trail was covered over in fallen limbs and leaves and looked like you were not supposed to use it.
Wide, blazed.
The view on the overgrown bit, I was not exaggerating that it's higher than my head.
Straight up
And, back to a trail!
Look how wide and clear that is. !
We headed from there to another trail we started hiking last fall with Nia and a tree had fallen and blocked it. As we were leaving, a crew had shown up to clear it and the leader said it was the prettiest trail on the lake. So, we headed back to check it out.
The trail was badly overgrown and after about a mile of wading through weeds, poison oak and spider webs-not to mention totally losing the trail in a series of blowdowns, we headed back to the car.
At this point, I was discouraged. 2 crappy overgrown trails leading nowhere I was interested in seeing. So, we abandoned the hiking plan and started geocaching.
Hmmm Maybe that should have been our plan from the start. Garh
Beauty berry
We had late lunch at Arby's, which Matt pointed out was RB's for Roast Beef. I wondered why there was a hat on the sign!
Another geocache
I want beauty berry in the yard, so I harvested some seed from the side of the road.
Horrific flesh wound!
Today, Sunday, we planned to go to the Ocoee to swim and then camp out. Matt developed a huge nasty blister yesterday (not sure how as we did not actually hike) and all the campgrounds were booked, the kids were lethargic about going-though Ben and Chan did get up early and start loading their backpacks. We changed it to backpacking at one of our favorite balds and then decided 12 hours of driving in the next 36 hours was not going to be much fun. We hemhawed around until all that happened was Chandler went back to bed and Matt put the new bike rack together. I have been nursing a stomach ache, I can not eat onion in any form, it makes me SO sick. I think my fries were cooked in the used onion ring grease! I sound paranoid and crazy, but it was the same icky tummy feeling I get from onion-the icky tummy I used to get traveling and never knew why. People who have camped with me know ALL about my 2 a.m. crawls to the bathhouse, moaning. If I make it that far. At least I hope that is it because if curly fries start giving me belly aches, I will be SO sad. And probably 15 pounds lighter. *sigh*
We have one more day left of Matt's 4 day vacation. There are plans. I hope they work out.
